School In Singapore Has Horribly Sexist Sex Education Workshop, Teen’s Critical Response Going Viral
Over the past month or so, there have been situations pertaining to sex education classes in schools that have caused concern for a lot of people, especially parents. The Inquisitr reported on such issues. One prime example is that Common Core sex education classes are teaching about masturbation, intercourse, and even abortion through both graphic pictures and teacher presentations.
Now, a school in Singapore is in hot water for utilizing textbooks which seem to have some very sexist bigotry within its pages. What’s even more interesting about this situation is that the open letter given to the principle from one of the class’ students is so brilliant, it is now going viral.
According to Identities Mic, Agatha Tan, a student living in Singapore, participated in a sex education workshop which was considered to be particularly bad. Afterwards, Tan wrote to the principlem eviscerating the lesson’s promotion of gender stereotypes, rape culture, and bigotry.
“While sexuality education rarely manages to teach me something that I have not already learnt through past sessions or mainstream media, this booklet was different. From merely glancing through this booklet, I learned a simple yet important lesson: that bigotry is very much alive and it was naïve of me to think I could be safe from it even in school.”
One of the biggest arguments that Agatha Tan made sure to bring up was the propagation of gender inequality. For example, there was a chart that contrasted what women say with what they really mean. What is worse is that the chart is supposedly presented in a humorous way.
“By endorsing these stereotypes as a tolerable joke, they effectively tell students that these are acceptable views and that it’s perfectly okay to adopt them.”
Agatha Tan also took pictures of the textbook to help enforce her opinions of just how sexist it is. To the right of this article is the chart that supposedly shows that women say is different from what women truly mean. It also should be known this isn’t an isolated instance in the textbook, either. Throughout its pages, there are numerous examples of sexism written in, such as “gals” being fragile and in need of the support of “guys.” Summarized, it prints women to be hopelessly dependent beings who are incapable of surviving without men.
This isn’t the first time that Agatha Tan has taken to the sponsor of the workshop, Focus on the Family. According to the Daily Dot, Tan posted her excoriation of Focus on the Family earlier this week and it has been shared over two thousand times. In response to the uproar, Focus on the Family spokesperson Vicky Ho told the Online Citizen that the workshop is not meant to be taken as a sexual education program, but is designed to be a relationship program to help young people unravel the world of the opposite sex, uncover the truths of love and dating, and reveal what it takes to have healthy and meaningful relationships.
As of now, Focus on the Family is trying to get this situation fixed with all relevant parties and to address Agatha Tan’s concerns about the curriculum.
Now that you’ve read the report on this situation about a sexual education workshop (though it is said not to be a sexual education workshop), what are your opinions? Please let everyone know in the comments below.
[Images via Agatha Tan’s Facebook Page]
