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{ ethics and sociology | for sexual conduct
{ of sex |
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{ psychology of sex | for sexual health
{ | and conduct
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{ aesthetics of sex | for attitude

[Sidenote: Sex and reproduction.]

Since the original purpose of sex was perpetuation of plant and animal
species, and since in the study of biology the idea of sex is
illustrated and developed by examination of the reproductive processes
in various types, it has been customary for many writers on
sex-education to use the terms "sex" and "reproduction" as if they were
synonymous. This is no longer so in human life; for while reproduction
is a sexual process, sexual activities and influences are often quite
unrelated to reproduction. In fact, most of the big problems that have
made sex-education desirable, if not necessary, are problems of sex
apart from reproduction. It therefore seems clear that, while studies
of reproduction are prominent in sex-education, they should be regarded
as introductory to the problems of sex, especially for young people.

Sec. 2. _The Misunderstanding of Sex_

[Sidenote: Objection to word "sex."]

Some educators have expressed the wish that some one might suggest a
satisfactory substitute for the terms "sex-hygiene" and
"sex-education," omitting the word "sex." This word and its companion
"sexual" are objectionable because they are associated in the minds of
most people with vulgar interpretation of the physical aspects of the
beginning of individual life, and much of the opposition to the
proposed sex-instruction in home and schools is evidently based on the
feeling that the very word "sex" involves something inherently vulgar.

[Sidenote: Definite words necessary.]

It is probable that many decades will pass before the majority of
intelligent people cease to feel that the words "sex" and "sexual" have
had such vulgar associations that they should be kept out of our
everyday vocabulary, but I can see no hope of developing an improved
attitude towards the sexual aspect of human life if we continue to
admit that we are afraid of the necessary words. It seems to me that in
one decade there has been a great advance in that the scientific
writers and speakers on problems of