---
title: "Reading List: Crash Course in Sex Ed for Adults"
date: 2009-10-03T00:34:27-04:00
author: OBOS Admin
canonical_url: "https://ourbodiesourselves.org/blog/reading-list-crash-course-in-sex-ed-for-adults"
section: Blog (Archive)
---
[Donate](https://ourbodiesourselves.org/donate)

[From the Archives of Our Bodies, Our Blog](/blog)# Reading List: Crash Course in Sex Ed for Adults

By Christine Cupaiuolo • October 3, 2009

Please note: This entry -- originally posted at [Our Bodies, Our Blog](https://ourbodiesourselves.org/blog) -- has not been updated since the publication date listed above.

Following up on the [battle over funding](http://www.ourbodiesourblog.org/blog/2009/10/health-care-reform-update-effort-to-restrict-abortion-coverage-fails-mixed-results-on-abstinence-only-funding) for comprehensive sex education, here's a list of [40 books and articles about sexuality](http://www.alternet.org/story/142916/40_books_about_sexuality_that_you_have_to_read?page=entire) that are well worth a look at any age.  
  
Compiled by Anna Clark, who blogs at [Isak](http://isak.typepad.com/), these texts cover not only the basics, but the complex policies and politics surrounding birth control, gender, race, abortion, adoption and more. From the introduction:  
  
> If we can agree that few teens learn about sexuality in an accurate, age-appropriate, and comprehensive way, then where does that leave adults who came through the same school systems they did? Many of us are still full of questions that we aren’t quite sure how to articulate. Few can claim that they’ve figured sex -- and its social influence -- out.  
>   
> If you want to graduate to the next level of sexual health, pleasure, and social awareness, now’s your chance. Get yourself schooled with a crash course in sex ed for adults. From orgasms to organs, from contraceptives to court decisions, look to the reading list below for the can’t-miss books and articles about sex.

  
  
There are a number of titles here that I've been meaning to read, including such recent releases as "The Girl Who Went Away: Hidden History of Women Who Surrendered Children for Adoption in the Decades Before Roe v. Wade," by Ann Fessler, and "The Means of Reproduction: Sex, Power, and the Future of the World," by Michelle Goldberg. Any books on the list that you'd highly recommend, or other titles you would add?

---

#### 0 Response

Our Bodies Ourselves is no longer able to accept comments.

![](/assets/img/monogram.webp)Topics

- [Books](https://ourbodiesourselves.org/blog/topic/books)
- [Sex Education](https://ourbodiesourselves.org/blog/topic/sex-education)
- [Sexuality](https://ourbodiesourselves.org/blog/topic/sexuality)

![](/assets/img/monogram.webp)### *Why You Can* **Trust Us** 

- We rigorously evaluate all content
- We embrace a reproductive justice framework
- We don’t accept ads or sell products
- We reject funding from the pharmaceutical industry
- We counter misinformation and disinformation
- We address the social, political, and economic factors that affect health and sexuality

[read more](https://ourbodiesourselves.org/why-you-can-trust-us)

Share

[](javascript:void();)[](javascript:void();)[](javascript:void();)[](javascript:void();)