Shakopee's sex-ed program harkens back to the 1880s [history of sex-ed courses]

Minneapolis Star-Tribune ^ | 6-17-08 | Katherine Kersten

[DeweyCA]

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The sex reform movement actually began in the 1880s, according to Rochelle Gurstein in her book "The Repeal of Reticence." Proponents of "sex hygiene," as it was called, started with the premise that the myriad problems related to sex -- venereal disease, prostitution, out of wedlock births, unhappy marriages -- were the result of a stuffy Victorian prudery.

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By the 1920s, says Gurstein, some of the progressives who had spearheaded the new openness realized with dismay that they had opened Pandora's box.

They discovered, she writes, that love had become "disenchanted."

In 1919, the social critic H.L. Mencken, not exactly a sentimentalist himself, denounced with disgust the "deadly matter-of-factness" of the new way of thinking about sex.

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But "if you start with the belief that love is the pleasure of a moment," Lippmann added, "is it really surprising that it yields only a momentary pleasure?"

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Sex-ed programs have helped to trivialize sex, emptying it of mystery and romance. "Openness," we've learned, has all the erotic power of a nudist camp. It's about as sexy as the co-ed bathrooms on many college campuses.

Today, many young people view sex as "no big deal." Romeo and Juliet's transcendent passion? They can't imagine it.

In the words of philosopher Allan Bloom, our young people today have "flat souls," "souls without longing." We have taught them everything except the true language of love.

[DeweyCA]

It's so sad what has been forced upon today's youth. They are being stripped of the higher ideals of life and also the awe and wonder that only comes with pursuing traditional virtues. It's the kids who will suffer the jaded consequences of the ungodly adults. It's such a shame.

[wintertime]

ping for later

[uptoolate]

It is amazing how many people will laugh at romance like this:

Song of Solomon 4 (New International Version)
New International Version (NIV)

Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
[NIV at IBS] [International Bible Society] [NIV at Zondervan] [Zondervan]

Song of Solomon 4
Lover
1 How beautiful you are, my darling!
Oh, how beautiful!
Your eyes behind your veil are doves.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
descending from Mount Gilead.

2 Your teeth are like a flock of sheep just shorn,
coming up from the washing.
Each has its twin;
not one of them is alone.

3 Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon;
your mouth is lovely.
Your temples behind your veil
are like the halves of a pomegranate.

4 Your neck is like the tower of David,
built with elegance [a] ;
on it hang a thousand shields,
all of them shields of warriors.

5 Your two breasts are like two fawns,
like twin fawns of a gazelle
that browse among the lilies.

[ArchAngel1983]

”But "if you start with the belief that love is the pleasure of a moment," Lippmann added, "is it really surprising that it yields only a momentary pleasure?"

Truer words have seldom been spoken…Don’t expect that quote to ever see the light of day in our government school systems.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Nothing beats Stephen Foster for romance, lyrical imagery and tragedy...

I dream of Jeanie with the light brown hair,
Borne, like a vapor, on the summer air;
I see her tripping where the bright streams play,
Happy as the daisies that dance on her way.
Many were the wild notes her merry voice would pour,
Many were the blithe birds that warbled them o’er:
Oh! I dream of Jeanie with the light brown hair,
Floating, like a vapor, on the soft summer air.

I long for Jeanie with the daydawn smile,
Radiant in gladness, warm with winning guile;
I hear her melodies, like joys gone by,
Sighing round my heart o’er the fond hopes that die:
Sighing like the night wind and sobbing like the rain,
Wailing for the lost one that comes not again:
Oh! I long for Jeanie, and my heart bows low,
Never more to find her where the bright waters flow.

I sigh for Jeanie, but her light form strayed
Far from the fond hearts round her native glade;
Her smiles have vanished and her sweet songs flown,
Flitting like the dreams that have cheered us and gone.
Now the nodding wild flowers may wither on the shore
While her gentle fingers will cull them no more:
Oh! I sigh for Jeanie with the light brown hair,
Floating, like a vapor, on the soft summer air.

[TypeZoNegative]

She dances her special dance
Waltzes around when the lights flash
She holds me tight when the sirens scream
I also dance when the sirens splash

She turns green into silver and red
She turns the silver and red into clear
She holds me while affirming myself

Sleep my darling and rock when you dream
Talking without words, cold eyes gleam
Wake up, sleeping beauty, I just gave you a kiss
When you wake up from rocking, you are in bliss

This is the poem I wrote about my epileptic fiancee. I usually kiss her when she has a seizure so every time she wakes up, she smiles instead of cries.

[wintertime]

Your post is so sweet. It touches my heart. How lovely!