SPFPP 276: Sex Education is Intersectional Health Education

Despite how hard I tried, herpes still came up in this conversation that had the least to do with herpes specifically out of any podcast interview I’ve done. Justine Fonte is our guest this episode. We initiate the conversation with the intention of disseminating the difference between a sex educator and a sex education advocate, but we travel down the intersections of intersectionality beyond mainstream thoughts ie race, sex, gender. As a math teacher in Houston, Texas, Justine caught on to areas of students’ learning being impacted by intersections that people are actively fighting for us to be able to turn a blind eye to because we should “let kids be kids”. The reality is that there are relationship/family dynamics, understanding (or misunderstanding) about our bodies, and their natural responses to developing, our interactions with the world around us, responsibilities, and way more than I can list that influences our ability to do math. It was a student who missed a year of math class because she didn’t know she was having a natural body development occurrence, (her period) because no one wanted to talk to her about her health. Within the intersections of HEALTH lies sexual health, which lies at another intersection of intersections that really gets tricky to navigate, which is why we need professionals who are trusted and present information that is medically accurate to create not only learning environments conducive to the students, but also equip them with the tools to understand their bodies so that they can move through the world. This episode is for anyone especially with conflicting information or beliefs about what sex ed is. It isn’t intercourse ed. People are being educated about the things that make up sex, and I believe many adults think their youth are being taught to engage in intercourse. The reality is that youth need the tools of educators so that they can tell the difference between misinformation and accurate information about their bodies and the space between theirs and others. Connect with Justine: Website: https://www.justinefonte.com/ Instagram: @ImJustineAF