Margaret Grace Myers is the author of the new book The Fight for Sex Ed: The Century-Long Battle Between Truth and Doctrine. Also an educator, she is based in Maine.
Q: What inspired you to write The Fight for Sex Ed?
A: I really fell into the topic of the history of sex ed in the United States while doing research about my great-grandparents for my MFA program. They were both biologists at the turn of the 20th century in Baltimore.
They were casually involved in the social hygiene movement, which was a public health effort that tied together morality and medicine in an attempt to curb STIs, and where we really see the beginning of modern sex ed in the United States.
From reading those early accounts of meetings and literature, I was struck by the fact that the debates seemed very similar to questions I had heard in my own life about how, what, when, and where to teach young people about sex. That was the seed of the book.
Q: What do you think are some of the most common perceptions and misconceptions about the teaching of sex ed in the United States?
A: Well, first of all--I think people tend to think very rarely about sex ed! That’s been one of the more interesting, and challenging, things about conceptualizing the book for myself and for readers. Sex ed as a subject really doesn’t have much of a story for people to hold onto, and that itself is a big part of its history.
But there are two big things that tend to come up: that sex ed is new in any way (it’s not!), and that there aren’t good conclusions about its efficacy (there are!).
Q: The writer Emma Straub said of the book, “This meticulously researched book, written with passion and wit, illuminates a history that is more vital than ever before.” What do you think of that description, and how did you research the book?
A: First, I feel so lucky to be part of such a lovely literary community, including my old boss at the bookstore Books are Magic and fabulous novelist, Emma Straub. She is such a generous reader and that description is so kind--it’s certainly what I was going for!
This book took a long time (in my estimation) to research. The idea for it first crystallized in 2017, and I don’t think I can say I ever was done with the research part of the work.
Primary sources are very important to me, so I spent a lot of time in the archives, which luckily for me mostly meant being stationed at my laptop--going through medical and society journals, and then many, many newspaper archives, along with books and other media.
The story of sex ed happened--and is happening--on every level, so I needed to be looking on every level.
Q: What do you see looking ahead for sex ed in this country?
A: The type of sex ed (meaning broadly, comprehensive sex ed, which is evidence-based, medically accurate, and age appropriate; or abstinence only or sexual risk avoidance, which is often shame-biased and is not required to be evidence-based, medically accurate, or age appropriate) that a particular young person is given is highly dependent on many things: where they live geographically, where they go to school, their parents, the political party in charge at the state and national level.
There is exceptional comprehensive sex ed being created and implemented every day, and there is really destructive abstinence-only or abstinence-focused sex ed being created and implemented every day.
Traditionally, Republicans have funded those abstinence programs far more consistently, while Democrats have funded CSE. So, like many social issues, it really depends in many ways on the political party in charge, and it is young people who are hurt by this tug of war.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I somehow have found myself running an early childhood education center--a preschool--which is taking up much of my time. I am waiting for the next meaty topic to find its way to me.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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