Whose job is it to teach the public about sex? Parents? The churches? The schools? And what should they be taught? These questions have sparked some of the most heated political debates in recent American history, most recently the battle between proponents of comprehensive sex education and those in favor of an "abstinence-only" curriculum. Kristy Slominski shows that these questions have a long, complex, and surprising history. Teaching Moral Sex is the first comprehensive study of the role of religion in the history of public sex education in the United States. The field of sex education, Slominski shows, was created through a collaboration between religious sex educators-primarily liberal Protestants, along with some Catholics and Reform Jews-and "men of science"-namely physicians, biology professors, and social scientists. She argues that the work of early religious sex educators laid the foundation for both sides of contemporary controversies that are now often treated as disputes between "religious" and "secular" Americans. Slominski examines the religious contributions to national sex education organizations from the late nineteenth century to the early twenty-first. Far from being a barrier to sex education, she demonstrates, religion has been deeply embedded in the history of sex education, and its legacy has shaped the terms of current debates. Focusing on religion uncovers an under-recognized cast of characters-including Quaker and Unitarian social purity reformers, military chaplains, and the Young Men's Christian Association- who, Slominski deftly shows, worked to make sex education more acceptable to the public through a strategic combination of progressive and restrictive approaches to sexuality. Teaching Moral Sex highlights the essential contributions of religious actors to the movement for sex education in the United States and reveals where their influence can still be felt today.

About the Author
Kristy L. Slominski is Assistant Professor of Religion, Science, and Health at the University of Arizona. She received her Ph.D. in Religious Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara, specializing in North American Religions with a Feminist Studies emphasis. Her research focuses on the interaction of religion, sexuality, and health sciences in U.S. history. Before joining the faculty at the University of Arizona, she taught at the University of Mississippi and served on the Board of Directors for the American Academy of Religion.

Reviews
These texts powerfully make the case that organized religion is less of an antagonist to scientific authority than it is a lens into the broader deliberation about American public norms. What I most prize in Slominski's work is the delicate way that she identifies the most pertinent theological concepts for a historian of education. * Lisa M. F. Andersen, The Julliard School, Historical Studies in Education *
By illustrating how the sex education debates were really a case of Christian versus Christian, as opposed to Christians facing off against the secular, her work offers an important corrective to an underlying assumption in the sex versus religion binary and further demonstrates that not all religious efforts to shape sex have been restrictive. For all these reasons, I strongly recommend Moral Sex to anyone interested in the areas of religion, sexuality, or social movements. * Courtney Ann Irby, American Religion *
Current scholarship tends to focus only on how conservative Christians have vocally opposed comprehensive sex education; less is documented about the influence of liberal religious groups. Here, Slominski demonstrates how medical science and religious moral education combined to form contemporary sex education and how this religious foundation shaped the terms of debate over this topic on both sides of the aisle. * K. Ladell, CHOICE *
Should sex education teach morality? As Kristy Slominski reminds us, that's the wrong question. The right one - across American history - has always been which morals to teach, and why. Our answers inevitably came from religion, the wellspring of sexual morality for liberals and conservatives alike. Most Americans didn't separate their ideas about sex from their understanding of God. Nor will historians, after reading this rich and rewarding book. * Jonathan Zimmerman, University of Pennsylvania *
Teaching Moral Sex is the definitive history of American sex education. Slominski shows that this history is a religious one, set in motion by liberal Protestants who sought to ensure that medical information about health included a moral education. Contemporary observers may think religious talk about sex is invariably a prescription for abstinence. Slominski debunks this caricature, showing that curricula about proper sexual behavior always included reminders of proper ethical action. * Kathryn Lofton, Yale University *
Teaching Moral Sex provides a fascinating excavation of the role of liberal religious actors in the creation of sex education US. Through a detailed historical account, Slominski uncovers the mutual work of medical experts, scientists, educators, and liberal religious leaders who sought to promote sexual awareness within a specific moral framework. The result is a critique of a dominant narrative that erroneously equates public sex education with secularism while highlighting the role of liberal religious leaders - for better and worse - in shaping public health and public education. Thoroughly researched, this book is a significant addition to the growing scholarship on religion and sexuality in the United States. * Amy DeRogatis, Michigan State University *



Book Information
ISBN 9780190842178
Author Kristy L. Slominski
Format Hardback
Page Count 376
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 640g
Dimensions(mm) 155mm * 236mm * 36mm