What's wrong with being sexy?

The Spitzer saga unleased a stream of sex-related stories on TV and in the usually more staid MSM press. The New York Times is still running with it, as evidenced by a story yesterday, revealing that the operator of Spitzer's favorite call girl ring got into the biz to deal with the stack of bills from his late wife's health problems.

The escort service accused of enticing Eliot Spitzer and a host of other clients was operated by four improbable masters of temptation: a rejuvenated tax specialist, a boarding school pixie, a literature major from Virginia and a clog-wearing nutritionist.

Even the ProJo had an op-ed the other day looking at the dearth of sex among many married couples.

Anyway, some Brown students have developed an exhibit looking at the history of sex education, and it opens tonight:

Providence, RI – Students in Brown University’s Public Humanities Masters Program unveil a new exhibit on the history of sex education this week. Beyond the Birds and the Bees: Sexual Education in the 20th Century opens April 8 at the John Nicholas Brown Center (JNBC) Carriage House Gallery, 357 Benefit Street. The opening reception will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 pm. The exhibit explores how Americans have learned about sex over the last 100 years. It examines five places teenagers learn about sex: in the military and schools, from parents and friends, and through popular culture.

 

“This exhibit takes a sophisticated approach to analyzing the history of sex ed. It’s not just about curriculum or policy,” said Steven Lubar, Director of the John Nicholas Brown Center. “It acknowledges both the official and unofficial ways that young people learn about sex, and considers the ways that sex education has changed over the course of the last century, and why.”

 

The exhibit features:

 

••a military barracks during World War I, when the army worried mostly about avoiding sexually-transmitted diseases;

 

••a bedroom from the 1960s, where learning might have involved parents, books, magazines, or friends;

 

••a basement hangout from the 1990s, where kids learned about sex from TV, popular music, and magazines; and

 

••a classroom from the early twenty first century, a place to examine current debates about controversial topics including abstinence-only education and whether sex education should even be taught outside the home. ...

 

In addition to the April 8 opening reception, the exhibit will be open to the public free of charge Monday – Friday, April 9 through May 23 from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. The project organizers are also planning public programs including a panel discussion and lectures to accompany the exhibit.