Sex Education in India – “Together We Change It.”
2013, class 8th, when I was standing behind the class cum science teacher in punishment. She called the interim class monitor and asked her to get the topics reviewed by her colleague (other science teacher) whether she has ‘omitted’ enough topics to be ruled out to be taught in class or not. It was “Chapter 9 – Reproduction in Animals” and the topics were “Human Reproduction”, including male reproductive system & female reproductive system respectively.
Why did she omit those topics? Wasn’t she qualified enough to teach those topics?
Yes, she was aptly qualified & experienced to do so, but she felt that it wasn’t the right time.
The Sex-Education in India has always been a matter of ignorance, carelessness and prejudices, but it hasn’t been the case in history.
Ironically India is the 2nd most populous country on earth, the land of the legendary “Kamasutra”, the ancient Sanskrit text on sexuality, eroticism and emotional fulfilment in life. Written by “Vatsyayana” in post-vedic period around 200-101 BCE.
Apart from that, multiple temples have carved sculptures depicting the consciousness towards the same. E.g.:-
1. UNESCO World Heritage Site Khajuraho Temples (Chhatarpur, Madhya Pradesh)
2. Sun Temple (Konark, Odisha)
3. UNESCO World Heritage Site Virupaksha Temple (Hampi, Karnataka)
4. Jain Temples (Ranakpur, Rajasthan)
5. UNESCO World Heritage Site Lingaraj Temple (Bhubhaneshwar, Odisha)
CURRENT PROBLEMS :-
Equation with the old ones / elders:-
As our older generation received most of such knowledge from their peer and pornographic content, the scientific backing & logical reasoning behind it is least likely to be found, rather half knowledge is dangerous.
Diversion / digression of discussion / conversation to other topics is one of the most encountered instances of us when tried to talk to them regarding the same.
Let alone the usage, even the concept of contraceptives like condoms are stigmatised by them which is quite ironical as condoms not only protect us from ‘Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs)’, but also from ‘Unwanted Pregnancies’.
Elders need to understand, rather than being unresponsive that putting up queries, questions and exploring curiosities aren’t out of uncourtesy, but are necessities.
The hesitation to talk about such issues has caused them to be labelled as “Taboo”.
Victims of molestation, sexual abuse in young age aren’t able to share it with their loved ones, as the molester might be one of them, don’t understand what’s being happened to them, etc.
Even if they are, then they lack trust to share due to lack of communication or the molester is one of them.
But they neither can’t be completely blamed as ‘this is a cultural issue and not individual’, nor all are to be blamed, because India as a whole has come a long way in terms of Sex-Education.
The Non Profit Organizations (NPOs) & some of the government policies indirectly are working on the same but are somewhere ineffective due to lack of masses joining them.
Juvenile Adolescents:-
For those who freshly attain the puberty, this is a whole new concept of life. Puberty brings life changing events with itself due to upsurge of certain hormones like GnRH from hypothalamus & Gonadotropins from gonads.
The morphological, anatomical, physiological, emotional and social changes are seen within them; therefore, tons of questions are understandable. But what’s not understandable is ignorance and curbing of such curiosity.
Girls attaining puberty have to fight a lifelong battle of menstruation (menarche) which might be a scary incident for some; painful for others as bleeding is perceived as a natural sign of danger by human brain. Apart from that, sanitary pads are sold in ‘black polythene / newspaper’ so as to avoid it being the eye-catcher in public as if it is a bomb.
The stigmatisation of menstruating girls / women is concerning and lacks logical argument. During menarche, self-confidence of a girl is dampened due to emotional changes.
Every young girl is taught to be a ‘Virgin’ till her marriage & to suppress her sexual needs, which isn’t morally apt, because “being sexually active / inactive is absolutely a subjective choice and the society is no one to set a criteria / parameter for the same.”
Choosing the partner is also one another subjective choice and nowadays, a cautious task as well for obvious reasons!
Adolescents & Pornography:-
It’s the natural human tendency to explore something from which he/she has been deprived from / kept far off. The same goes for the budding adolescents, when their queries are cordoned off under the aegis of ‘taboo’, they’ll obviously tend to go for alternates to know about the same.
Pornographic material is the prime substitute for young teenagers to satisfy their curiosity, followed by the consequences.
The pornography isn’t just the right platform to do so as the content shown by these websites is scripted / fake and normalises uncanny sexual behaviour (violence & unnatural sex).
Such curiosity in later stages of life, leads to the competition of more libido between their partners & among peers as a sign of masculinity (Alpha Male Behaviour).
Majority of males look up to pornography as the answer to their budding curiosity, which scars & corrupt their thoughts regarding intimacy and coitus.
Practises like “Effective Personal Hygiene” including pubic hair growth, channelization of brute internal energy towards productivity, etc should be encouraged among the teenagers.
According to the report of USA based National Centre for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) on HIV mortality & infection in India, 1.1 million homes were subjected in the survey and out of which 8.1% of all deaths among adults aged 25 – 34 years. Out of these 8.1%, 40% of deaths were reported from Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), 26% were due to Tuberculosis and rest via other causes.
Behavioural Consequences:-
When sought porn for something which was meant to be taught by parents & teachers, men become unaware of the fact of letting / preparing their partners for coitus because they consider everything shown in it to be applicable in real life as well.
The relevance of foreplay is still a mystery for most and inclination towards “Oral Sex” is bizarre and mostly based on false expectations.
All this is because the actresses in these movies / videos are depicted to be enjoying & cherishing it.
And how can we forget the myths that develop during this entire process – a female friend of my acquaintance tells her that masturbation leads to lack of orgasms.
A prime example of misconceptions & ignorance towards healthy sexual behaviour can be – a girl (another female friend of that same acquaintance) is unwilling to use contraceptive (condom) due to her trust on her partner’s “Natural Abstinence” (pull out method to avoid pregnancy), whereas, the fact is that a female doesn’t need the ‘semen’ to be “inseminated” to conceive, rather, a “pre-cum”, meant for lubrication of penis is capable of inducing pregnancy, as it contains sperms (spermatozoa).
But unfortunately, walking on that thin line of luck doesn’t work for long.
SOLUTIONS:-
Problems & solutions go hand in hand and talking about the former without the later would be unfair, so we can contribute in this gigantic transition in following ways:-
1. Teach before its too late – The chapter Human Reproduction being skipped & delayed till class 12th would deprive the non-medical students from this basic knowledge as beyond class 10th stream specificity divides students, which will require for non-medical students to go out for pornography.
2. Talk about it – The communication gap between the current & the older generation is a rift that is obstructing the ease of the equations with one another.
The role of teachers & elders is a crucial one, after all they just need to put down their old frame mentality and focus the need of the hour.
3. Adapt with time – The North-Eastern states are more acceptable to this issue than the rest of their counterparts, including live-in relationships in order to have an understanding with their partners.
That in no sense means that their culture is in danger or they’ve lost gratitude, this only means that they prioritize themselves above the social norms.
4. Opening the minds – Orthodox mentality has been a major roadblock for changes to come in society, be it any aspect.
Recently, the disgraceful remarks of a political leader on someone’s attire & morality clearly show his visualisation about the females in the society. (I’d love to take names but will avoid due to the filthy politics involved in it). “Sanskaar is above suppression.”
5. Educational reforms – With National Education Policy 2020 (NEP 2020) looking promising on paper, it still leaves some scope for management & respective faculties to be taken care of:-
• Provision of workshops not only for the students, but also for teachers as well within the schools to de-stigmatize the same via “Normalise, Adapt and Act” for the same especially in rural & sub-urban areas.
• Provision of at least a couple of psychologists and not counsellors (Male & Female) in close contact with the schools for the same.
6. Religious radicalisation — There’s no denying in the fact that yes regressive persona is observed more in radicalised institutions, so they need to review their practices, keeping in mind that why “Kamasutra” was created.
Other religions need to have a bit more of tolerance towards the concept of sexuality. (won’t comment more on this due to security reasons.)
In the end, we would like to request the older generation to kindly think about our necessities. We respect you & your ideology but all we are asking is to “Just Talk About It!”
Special thanks to the following for their crucial inputs in content structuring :-
1. Mansi Gupta
2. Anumeha
4. Tanya Sharma
5. Disha Gupta
7. Anonymous (Requested)
Comments
Post a Comment