A Boy Today…A Man Tomorrow
Here at WU Central, we're all about providing useful knowledge to our eager readers, serving as a resource to help them with their perplexities.For instance, I cannot count how many times readers have written in with this question:
Well, now you need no longer live in darkness and confusion, as we present the scanned pages of a 1972 youth sex-education manual: A Boy Today...A Man Tomorrow. The cover is reproduced below, and the rest of the content after the jump.
On a semi-serious note: we've all seen sex-education materials from earlier decades that are full of prejudices and misinformation. While I have not yet read every word of the current sample, I found what I did read to be highly broadminded and useful and in line with current teachings. Note that the version here is a 1972 revision of a 1961 revision of a 1959 original. I'd love to have the earlier versions, to see the differences.
It's easy to make fun of the Sixties, but their legacy in such matters as this is truly exemplary.
Comments
Listed in chronological order. Newest comments at the end.
Listed in chronological order. Newest comments at the end.
What happens if mumps "go down" on a boy?
Once Mumps gets caught he will probably have to tell everyone in the neighborhood he is a sex offender.
Can people have sexual intercourse before they are married?
How about after. It's ok then right? Thanks. Very helpful.
Once Mumps gets caught he will probably have to tell everyone in the neighborhood he is a sex offender.
Can people have sexual intercourse before they are married?
How about after. It's ok then right? Thanks. Very helpful.
Posted by Pablo in Jonestown on 08/12 at 08:07 AM
Pablo--we are happy to be of service!
Posted by Paul on 08/12 at 08:15 AM
How's about a PDF of the file for easy perusing in addition to individual JPEG scans?
Posted by calvinx in Kansas on 08/12 at 10:50 AM
You sure we still weren't using the same books in the 80's, too? This looks really familiar!
Posted by MotorX in Arizona on 08/12 at 11:56 AM
MotorX--someone at BOING BOING mentioned receiving this manual in the 80s.
Posted by Paul on 08/12 at 12:10 PM
What the-?! I was taught that people were physically incapable of having sex before marriage! That's why I got married at 14! Damn it-- played like a sucker again.
Posted by kingmonkey in Athens, Ontario on 08/12 at 01:43 PM
Must have been some interesting Optimist meetings way back then.
Posted by Paul Thomas in Athens, Georgia on 08/12 at 02:02 PM
Sex ed materials from the '50s and '60s with misinformation and prejudices? I went to public high school in the 1990s and the "expert sources" quoted for the efficacy of condoms were the back of the condom packages! No bias there. A decade later, they were still using these "experts" as part of the sex ed curriculum, which they finally confessed to the Board of Ed probe. The Board had to order them to rebuild their curriculum with real expert information.
Posted by Sara in Milwaukee, WI on 08/12 at 02:48 PM
Kingmonkey--biology has changed since you were a youth.
Posted by Paul on 08/12 at 04:51 PM
Paul Thomas--I'd pay to be a fly on the wall at those meetings.
Posted by Paul on 08/12 at 04:52 PM
Sara--enlightenment is a shifting and relative state. Can't say perfection is ever reached.
Posted by Paul on 08/12 at 04:52 PM
If anyone ever asks me what causes a penis to go stiff I'm gonna say: 'Rigor mortis'.
Yeah, I went there.
Yeah, I went there.
Posted by Fred on 08/13 at 12:49 PM
Fred--a not untruthful answer!
Posted by Paul on 08/13 at 02:22 PM
I actually have a mint copy of the 1961 edition! I was going through some old boxes of stuff that were my dads and I came across it. The Q/A's are hilarious!
Posted by Chris in Allen Park, MI on 09/14 at 05:56 AM
Chris--glad you have your hands on that enlightening document!
Posted by Paul on 09/14 at 06:58 AM
Enlightening indeed - in my version, there is no reference to homosexuality, birth control, or condoms. It also goes over masturbation in more detail. It states that religious and social codes deem it wrong and that it may become habit forming if practiced frequently and to get help from a parent or other adult. I could just see that conversation! Funny how much our society has changed in the past 40 years.
Posted by Chris on 09/14 at 08:00 AM
Chris--I had wondered about the differences between various editions of that booklet. Thanks for the info!
Regarding cultural changes: remember when "yoghurt" was something only beatniks ate?
Regarding cultural changes: remember when "yoghurt" was something only beatniks ate?
Posted by Paul on 09/14 at 08:12 AM
While we're on that thought, it reminds me of a conversation overheard by my late friend Bob Snyder in Morgantown, WV around 1970. Two hippies were holding a vigorous debate over the merits of something, but the conversation fizzled when they realized one of them was talking about yoga and the other was talking about yogurt.
Posted by Rodger on 09/14 at 10:35 AM
Rodger--I would've loved to be a fly on the wall during that conversation!
Posted by Paul on 09/14 at 11:01 AM
I'm not a boy not yet a woman 
)) Everyone is into the marire penis thing not loosing it.
)) Everyone is into the marire penis thing not loosing it.
Posted by sleepygirl in Iasi on 01/21 at 08:42 AM
Category: Babies, Customs, Education, Family, History, Science, Psychology, Sexuality, 1970's, 1960's, 1950's, Men