Sex education is very important to learn about. I have heard from a lot of students my age that they believe we haven’t had enough of an education on such topics, such as sex and sexuality. It is important to educate people about these topics because many people face discrimination and hate based on differences they show towards the socially constructed “right”. Everyone deserves to express themselves how they choose while being able to be safe.

It’s important to learn about Sex, Gender and Sexuality so people can be more secure in their persons. Education will allow people to handle the stress that often accompanies confusion around sexuality by themselves. Being aware of one’s sexuality is important as it helps let you know who you are as a person. There also are illnesses, mixed emotions and unintended consequences that can affect our sexual health when addressing one’s sexuality. An open discussion of sexual issues is important so it brings awareness to its sexual health and responsibilities. Your gender identity is an important part of who you are. Learning more about gender identity can help you understand yourself and the people around you.

To help clarify, below is a list of terms that people should familiarize themselves with in order to have a discussion on these topics.

Sex is biological, usually separated by male and female based on which set of chromosomes and genitals you have.

There are also people who fall out of those labels who are classified as intersex. Anyone who is intersex has anatomy that doesn’t fit in either of the male or female boxes. Most intersex people are completely healthy and have little to no complications because of their anatomy. Most of the time when a child is born as intersex,

the parents would choose which sex for the baby and they would receive corrective surgery and maybe later on hormones. More people believe today that unnecessary surgeries such as those should be saved for when the person is able to choose for themselves what they want to do with their body.

Gender is a characteristics of people that is socially constructed. It influences how people perceive themselves and people around them, how they act and interact, and even how power is distributed in society, such as how men are perceived to be masculine, seen as bigger and stronger than women since on average men are larger than women.

Sexuality is about your sexual thoughts and feelings towards other people. You can find people physically, sexually or emotionally attractive. There are different types of sexualities such as heterosexual (straight), which says you are attracted to the opposite gender. Another example would be homosexual (gay), saying you are attracted to the same gender.

In conclusion, there is a lot more the education system could do to educate students on topics such as gender and sex. They are important topics to learn about and help people come to conclusions about themselves and not have to put themselves in a box that they don’t fit into. A lot of people don’t learn and never get the chance to learn about important part of life such as these.