Vatican's new sex education guidelines sell women short

It may come as a surprise to some that the Vatican now is undertaking sex education. And it turns out there is more to its just released sex education guidelines for young people aged 12 to 16 than simply "Just say no." But the Catholic Church still is sending enough troubling messages to make any Catholic feminist weep.

I guess I should be thankful that the Vatican believes that the human body is not to be despised, contrary to what I was taught in parochial school long ago. And there are good things in this sex education package. It encourages teens to see boys and girls as people. It helps teens understand the power of emotions. I'm not quite sure what to make of the assortment of films the Vatican suggests for educators, since so much would depend on how they were interpreted.

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