Episode 182: Sex 101 for Mormons

Fascinating podcast.  You know you’ve done a great job if even a gay guy was fascinated by your description of the female anatomy.  This should be played in sex ed classes.  It also shows how much you two care about each other and that’s inspiring. 

I thought you both did an awesome job on this subject. Definitely a keeper.

At one point in this podcast you discuss male circumcision. Recently a friend said to me that he had read that something like a foreskin can be regrown but that he also read that the effort in is not worth doing. Do you or any others listening to this podcast have experience related to this topic? Worth the effort? Not worthwhile?

It makes me so sad to know that so many people are in utter ignorance of their bodies, their biology and psychology, that they think that there’s something wrong with them, and in fact that they are evil, if they masturbate or want to have sex without being married to someone.

What’s really interesting is the double-speak I see in our culture.  We can see people calling sex so beautiful, sacred, a gift from God, etc … but how do you refer to a joke that’s sexual?  It’s a dirty joke.  Our culture is fully immersed in the Puritan/Victorian idea of sex, that it is dirty and wrong, something that women use to get love, etc.

Excellent podcast as always.  I will push you on one point though.  You started out by emphasizing the fact that sexuality is at the oldest parts of our brains which is totally true.  I can’t help but to consider how the more recently evolved parts of the human mind play into all of this.  I’m not sure how to define it physiologically but I am talking about the part of our minds that have evolved in a way that for good or bad makes us different than other animals.  Among other things I am talking about the human tendency towards religion which shows up in some form in every written record that we have.  So even though it has emerged in us more recently, religion and all of the suppresions that it tends to apply to our older functions is clearly a component that has evolved naturally in us.  I completely agree that this suppression can be aggrivated in an unhealthy way by some religios world views but I think we have to recognize it as something that is important to us or else why is it there.  I think this is the reason why being human can be so frustrating at times.  We are really comprised of layers of old and new components all consciously and subconsciously driving each other.

Thank you so much for doing this podcast. I’m in my fifties and learned a thing or two.  I think I need to go shopping now. 

Just a note about circumcision; I’m circumcised, but I can say that if my penis was any more sensitive during sex, particularly during orgasm, I would be in pain and would not enjoy the experience of orgasm at all.

I’m also gay, and personally if I discover a partner still has his foreskin, I’m kind of grossed out. There’s definitely a taste and it just seems to me personally that circumcised penises are cleaner.Also, there seems to be an air of antagonism towards the idea of circumcision here. I’ll admit that circumcision of infant males is morally problematic, but there are plenty of peer reviewed and cited articles that discuss studies of differing rates of STD transmission in men who are circumcised and men who are “intact”. Weiss et al state that “[m]ale circumcision is associated with a significantly reduced risk of HIV infection among men in sub-Saharan Africa”.(http://circumcisioninformation.com/weiss.html )

Given that adult men are probably less inclined to choose circumcision due to the fact it is a preventative rather than curative procedure, there needs to be more debate about infant circumcision as a method of disease reduction.

Catholics claim the high moral high ground with regards to condoms, and their ideology is responsible for the misery of millions who are dying from AIDS. Is moral outrage about infant circumcision also resulting in the spread of AIDS?

Just saying.

Long time listener, first time commenting. 

I just wanted to say how hilarious I thought this pod cast was. Listening to John and Zilpha teach sex ed 101 to deprived Mormon couples (no offense) was absolutely hilarious. When Zilpha said “The penis then becomes gorged with blood; this makes the penis bigger and kind of hard” I lost it while walking to class. For the inexperienced, it was an important topic to cover, but for the rest of us, John and Zilpha sounded like they were explaining human sexuality as if we were golden retrievers. I’m really glad they covered this subject, even though at times it felt a bit… tame. I was hoping for some really juicy content, but it was entertaining nonetheless.

I was also a bit disappointed that they didn’t cover the main reason WHY the church is so against sexual freedom, and why the sin of premarital sex is so grave. It really all comes down to the sexual freedom of women, and the idea that diseases/unwanted pregnancies are God’s punishment to those who dare follow their instinctual inclinations. 

Anyway, love you guys! great podcast. 

For those wanting to know a little more medical information about the human prepuce (sometimes called foreskin), this video was prepared for madical students. http://www.doctorsopposingcircumcision.org/video/prepuce.html

Ooh, I see wonderful splits in the future where the Elders Quorum also invite a cunnilingus expert while the RS are getting their lessons on fellatio.  

http://3dvulva.com/

This is a fantastic resource for learning about female anatomy. As the url implies, it is a 3D view of the vulva. Helps you to see the outside anatomy and understand the inside anatomy.

Also, you mentioned at the beginning the comparison of Europe countries vs. the USA on sex education. There is strong reliable and valid research that demonstrates that even though our approaches to sex ed are vastly different, the age of onset of sexual activity is the same in Europe as well as USA, averaging around age 16 (there goes the argument that talking frankly with teens will increase onset of sexual activity). However the USA has painfully high STIs and teen pregnancy whereas Eurpean youth are well educated in how to protect themselves. Although Utah has a low teen pregnancy rate, the rates of Chlamydia (and other STIs) are scary. I assume this is because teens avoid the pregnancy causing activity and thus focus on oral sex. But they have no knowledge of safe oral sex practices. Clamydia is especially dangerous as it may not have noticeable symptoms, but can cause infertility in especially teenage girls. Frank conversations with teens about how to have safe oral sex is drastically needed.