A Distinction Without A Difference (Also a pee waterfall)
Added 2015-05-01 23:12:05 +0000 UTCI don’t feel comfortable being called a sex educator.
“…but Erika, sweetie, you educate people about sex with your comics. Doesn’t it stand to reason that you are then a sex educator?”
I know, I know, I know that makes sense. But. Here is my thing:
To me, a For Reals Sex Educator is someone who has studied this topic in-depth in a formal capacity, they’ve gone to school for it and gotten some kind of certification. That is, this person’s knowledge and training has been verified by a qualified entity.
Sandra Daugherty, of Nerdist.com’s Sex Nerd Sandra podcast, completed the comprehensive sex educator training program provided by San Francisco Sex Information (SFSI). Dr. Emily Nagoski, author of “Come As You Are”, has a PhD in Health Behavior with a doctoral concentration in human sexuality from Indiana University (IU), and a master’s degree (also from IU) in Counseling, with a clinical internship at the Kinsey Institute Sexual Health Clinic.
Or, at the very least, they’ve invested countless hours into researching this stuff and attending classes and workshops and whatever else. Dan Savage has 20 years under his belt of sharing sex facts and being corrected by his audience when he gets something wrong, so even without a formal education he still qualifies as a reliable For Reals Sex Educator to me.
And then there’s me.
Everything I know, I’ve learned from PlannedParenthood.com, Scarleteen.com, and Wikipedia.com in the last couple years.
Which means I’m as much of an expert on sex as every other person who has looked up a given topic on any of those sites.
I see myself as an information scavenger, who collects the cold hard facts from reputable websites and then draws silly, irreverent pictures next to that text to make it palatable to a general audience.
I haven’t studied sex and sexuality and gender and humans in any meaningful, guided capacity. In college I focused on English and Art, taking not even one single sociology course. My crash course in sex and sexuality was lezzing out between many young ladies’ legs.
I’m not qualified to be a Sex Educator, and when people call me one I either deny or deflect it, which looks disingenuous because I AM effectively educating people about sex through my comics.
Like, think of it like this.
Let’s say I started doing comics that explained scientific concepts, using information I gathered from Wikipedia or other reputable science sites. The comics are factually correct and educational. You couldn’t call me a scientist because of that. Or instead of science, what if I started doing comics about historical figures? Again, using respected websites on that subject, so the comics are accurate. It wouldn’t be right to call me a historian, right?
What do I do? Do I stop making this distinction without a difference and embrace the title of Sex Educator, even though I do not feel nearly qualified enough to do so? Or do I keep insisting that, no, I am a cartoonist who does sex education comics, and really that is different from being A Sex Educator?
I don’t know!
In other news, I drew Lil’ Erika sliding down a waterfall of pee for next week’s comic. You’re welcome.
Comments
Okay, apparently when I said "recently" what I meant was "early January." It's episode 175: <a href="http://nerdist.com/sex-nerd-sandra-175-phone-sex-new-year-with-ashley-manta/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">http://nerdist.com/sex-nerd-sandra-175-phone-sex-new-year-with-ashley-manta/</a> Listening to it again, it sounds like it's more about Sandra not wanting to be a sex educator, with all the responsibility etc. that it involves, and preferring to just be a sex nerd. So maybe not quite the same, but I think still similar. But I'm really glad we could all make you feel more comfortable about it! :)
Sarah
2015-05-12 01:49:39 +0000 UTC"It's really interesting to me that Sandra was your first example of a sex educator, because recently she said on her podcast that she's not really comfortable being called that (just like you!)." Oh what, I missed that! Do you remember where she talked about that? What podcast episode? Thank you so much for the reassuring words, too. After everyone's feedback, I'm definitely feeling a loooot more comfortable with the title of sex educator.
Erika Moen
2015-05-12 00:49:11 +0000 UTCIt's really interesting to me that Sandra was your first example of a sex educator, because recently she said on her podcast that she's not really comfortable being called that (just like you!). She's spent some time discussing it and I definitely understand both of you not wanting that title. I see the argument people are making, that you're educating people therefore you're a sex educator, but I get why you're uncomfortable with the term and I think you have every right to not want to call yourself one. It feels like a title that comes with more responsibility to be objective, knowledgeable, and thorough. On the other hand, I'm not sure you should worry about not being "good enough," or something like that. You do a great job of giving people important (and fun) information! If you just feel like you don't "deserve" the title or haven't "earned" it, I'd argue against that. But if you don't feel comfortable with it and think that you don't fit that category, that's fine too! If you're happier that way, then keep making that distinction.
Sarah
2015-05-02 16:56:55 +0000 UTC
