Book ID: CBB507806197

Sex Ed, Segregated: The Quest for Sexual Knowledge in Progressive-era America (2015)

unapi

In Sex Ed, Segregated, Courtney Shah examines the Progressive Era sex education movement, which presented the possibility of helping people understand their own health and sexuality, but which most often divided audiences along rigid lines of race, class, and gender. Reformers' assumptions about their audience's place in the political hierarchy played a crucial role in the development of a mainstream sex education movement by the 1920s. Reformers and instructors taught middle-class youth, African-Americans, and World War I soldiers different stories, for different reasons. Shah's examination of "character-building" organizations like the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) and the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) reveals how the white, middle-class ideal reflected cultural assumptions about sexuality and formed an aspirational model for upward mobility to those not in the privileged group, such as immigrant or working class youth. In addition, as Shah argues, the battle over policing young women's sexual behavior during World War I pitted middle-class women against their working-class counterparts. Sex Ed, Segregated demonstrates that the intersection between race, gender, and class formed the backbone of Progressive-Era debates over sex education, the policing of sexuality, and the prevention of venereal disease. Courtney Shah is an instructor at Lower Columbia College, Washington.

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Reviewed By

Review Alexandra Lord (2017) Review of "Sex Ed, Segregated: The Quest for Sexual Knowledge in Progressive-era America". Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences (pp. 372-374). unapi

Review Lisa Andersen (2016) Review of "Sex Ed, Segregated: The Quest for Sexual Knowledge in Progressive-era America". Bulletin of the History of Medicine (pp. 561-563). unapi

Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB507806197/

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Authors & Contributors
Patterson, Andrea
Khary Oronde Polk
Williams, Brian K.
Mendes, Gabriel N.
Fields, Cheryl D.
Hatch, Anthony Ryan
Concepts
African Americans
Racism
African Americans and science
Science and race
Medicine and race
Public health
Time Periods
20th century
19th century
21st century
20th century, early
20th century, late
18th century
Places
United States
Southern states (U.S.)
Silicon Valley (California)
New York City (New York, U.S.)
Alabama (U.S.)
Institutions
Lafargue Mental Hygiene Clinic
Tuskegee Veterans Administration Medical Center
American Red Cross
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