Americans have been lying about the benefits of abstinence only education and the dangers of porn for decades — Quartz

Over the past few weeks, as the idea of a Trump presidency has gone from unthinkable joke to horrifying reality, I’ve heard a new term making the rounds, particularly among my friends in media. “We’re living in a post-truth era,” they tell me, citing Trump’s many lies and contradictions, the rise of fake news sites, and a growing distrust of the mainstream media as evidence that the American people are increasingly distanced from reality.

I think this is a fairly accurate assessment. But as someone who’s been writing and educating Americans about sex-related topics for over a decade, I can testify to the fact that we’ve been living in a “post-truth” era for years. Quite frankly, I’ve been dealing with a post-truth world for my entire career.

The easiest entry point for understanding America’s fuzzy relationship between sex and fact is the sad state of American sex education. According to the Guttmacher Institute, a mere 13 US states require sex education to be “medically accurate.” To put that in context, 39 states require HIV education to either stress or cover abstinence, in spite of the fact that there’s little proof that a focus on abstinence actually helps delay sex.

Indeed, America’s two-decade long love affair with abstinence-only education (which president Barack Obama has attempted to put an end to) feels like the epitome of “post-truth.” Study after study shows that abstinence-only education doesn’t reduce the rate of teen pregnancy, delay the age at which young people start having sex, or lower rates of STI transmission. But as long as telling kids not to have sex feels like the solution, these misguided lesson plans will likely persist. (In fact, it might actually get worse; president-elect Donald Trump and vice president-elect Mike Pence are not known for an enlightened outlook on sexuality. Pence once said on national television that condoms are “very, very poor protection” against STIs).

This aversion to the truth is much more than a failing of political conservatives. In my experience, liberals are just as willing to ignore the facts when it’s convenient to their larger narrative.

Over the years I’ve rolled my eyes at numerous acts of “journalism” that perpetuated half-truths and outright lies about the sex and porn industriesâ€"often in the supposed service of protecting women. >The Price of Pleasure, for exampleâ€"an anti-porn documentary created by NYU professor Chyng Sunâ€"misled many of its interview subjects and used manipulative editing to craft a vision of a ruthlessly exploitative porn industry that few porn performers recognize. A piece in The Atlantic once positioned double anal, an extreme sex act that even the most practiced porn performers need to warm up to, as a routine occurrence. And let’s not forget the New York Times’ own Nicholas Kristof, whose factually inaccurate writing has peddled numerous myths about sex work and who has positioned himself as a voice of authority in spite of numerous sex workers who’ve contested his version of the “truth.”

The topic of sex is vulnerable to this sort of misinformation for a number of reasons. It’s an intensely personal experience, and one most of us have some degree of experience with. This creates a personal sense of authorityâ€"even when we lack any facts or expertise beyond our own limited experience. Compounding this false confidence is the persistent taboo against public discussions of sexuality. Stigma around sex prevents us from openly and honestly discussing the topic, adding further fuel to the many “truthy” statements that circulate about human sexual experience.

A slumping news industry has coincided with the rise of social mediaâ€"a phenomenon that has made news consumption more individualized and created information bubbles that help reinforce what feels right over what’s actually true.While unfortunate, in this context it makes sense that we’re seeing a spread of inaccuracy in our discussions of politics, the environment, and other hot-button topics that have historically been more buffered from falsehoods than sex.

But if my work in sex education offers me a deeper understanding of the factors that encourage and enable a collective divorce from reality, it also gives me hope that post-truth isn’t a permanent state of being. If we stay committed to pursuing and promoting a reality-based vision of the world, it’s possible to overcome seemingly overwhelming odds.

On the same Tuesday that Trump secured the White House, California’s adult industry battled misinformation, ignorance, and a well-funded propaganda machine to defeat the egregious Proposition 60. Opposed by many health organizations and practically all of California’s adult film actors, the proposition would have violated worker privacy and potentially made it possible for regular Californians to sue porn producers if they believed actors weren’t wearing condoms. Around the globe, sex workers have banded together to make their voices and opinions heard, and are slowly chipping away at the post-truth ethos that’s oppressed their industry for decades (if not centuries).

And even though government-funded sex education is often mediocreâ€"if not outright harmfulâ€"a number of independent sources have harnessed the internet to provide smart, thoughtful, and fact-based sex education to young people around the globe. This is the lesson activists and politicians alike need to internalize in the age of Trump. With enough commitment, dedication, and persistence, the truth can ultimately win out.

Follow Lux on Twitter @luxalptraum. Learn how to write for Quartz Ideas. We welcome your comments at ideas@qz.com.

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An astonishing number of people believe Pizzagate, the Facebook-fueled Clinton sex ring conspiracy story, could be true

Here’s a question I never thought I’d ask: Do you think Hillary Clinton is connected to a child sex ring being run out of a pizzeria in Washington, D.C.?

If you voted for Donald Trump, there’s a decent chance you think it’s true. Or, at least, you’re not sure, one way or another.

Nearly 50 percent of Trump voters think the Pizzagate theory is either true or could be true, according to a new poll released today from Public Policy Polling.

It’s yet another reminder that “fake news” â€" an admittedly lousy term used to describe a wide range of untrue things on the internet â€" has a depressingly receptive audience.

In this case, the non-story is a made-up tale about Clinton, her associates and an underage prostitute network. It started up this fall in dark corners of the internet, but quickly bubbled up through Facebook, which weaponized the meme with its sharing tools.

And it’s the same tale that prompted Edgar Welch, a 28-year-old North Carolina man, to drive to a Washington, D.C., pizza place on Sunday, armed with a semi-automatic assault rifle, so he could “shine some light” on the claims. He was arrested after firing the gun inside the restaurant.

Welch told the New York Times that he didn’t vote for Trump last month. But people who did were particularly likely to think that Pizzagate was true, or might be.

Public Policy Polling, which surveyed 1,224 registered voters this week, says that 14 percent of Trump voters believe Clinton is connected to the nonexistent child sex ring, while another 32 percent aren’t sure. Nationwide, those numbers are 9 percent and 19 percent, respectively.

Public Policy Polling

Grain of salt? Sure: For starters, it’s possible that Welch’s story, which generated lots of attention earlier this week, helped seed the theory with poll respondents who might never have heard about it otherwise.

And more broadly, it’s a poll, so it’s going to have some noise in it. Which is the only plausible explanation for the fact that Public Policy Polling says that 5 percent of Clinton voters thought Pizzagate was true.

Or, in the words of Jim Williams, a Public Policy Polling analyst who worked on today’s survey: “You can ask anything to anyone, and you’re going to get 3 percent or 4 percent or 5 percent saying ‘yes.’”

It’s also true that crazy conspiracy theories about Hillary Clinton and her husband aren’t new, and have had a large national audience for decades. If you listened to talk radio during Bill Clinton’s presidency in the 1990s, you heard many tales about mysterious deaths, deals with drug cartels and more.

The difference now is that the internet, and Facebook in particular, makes this stuff so much easier to transmit, so quickly. This non-story didn’t exist a couple months ago, and now it has national traction. Imagine what we’re going to believe next.

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Ex-Wisconsin teacher sent to prison for having sex with student

A former Wisconsin English teacher cried in court after she was sentenced to two years behind bars for having sex with a student.

Sara Domres, 29, who has no prior criminal record, must also register as a sex offender and is banned from having contact with the pupil and his family, the Journal Sentinel reported. When she leaves prison, she will be on three years probation and a supervision order.

The former West Berlin High School teacher in August admitted to having sex with a 16-year-old sophomore in her English class after she’d developed a relationship with him over the course of the 2014-15 school year.

Domres often referred to the student as “baby boo” in the 1,100 text messages the pair exchanged over the course of their relationship.

Wisconsin teacher had sex with her student at Motel 6

Sara Domres was sentenced to two years in prison.

(Police Photo)

“Baby Boo, I love you now & forever! Please be mine forever & ever. Always your baby girl. P.S. Good luck on your quiz [smiley face],” she once wrote to him, according to court documents.

The student said their first sexual encounter occurred at a park-and-ride lot in July 2015, when he was only 16.

And while Domres only admitted to having sex with him on two occasions, he said they had intercourse between 10 and 15 times, including at a Motel six the night of Domres’ husband’s bachelor party in October 2015, the teenager told police.

Investigators found evidence that shows the boy's phone had been connected to the motel’s WiFi the same date motel records showed Domres reserved a room.

Wisconsin teacher admits to having sex with 16-year-old student

The student also admitted to police that his teacher sent him selfies while she was on her honeymoon.

A few of the student’s friends reported Domres back in January and the School District of New Berlin, located just outside Milwaukee, fired her the same month.

Former West Berlin English teacher Sara Domres is no longer allowed to work at a school.

(Fox6 NOW)

In her statement to the court, Domres said she was passionate for her teaching profession and detailed the hours she spent outside of work assisting her students and acting as their confidante, the Journal Sentinel reported.

She said the loss her job and the on-going media coverage surrounding her case made her feel as though “the consequences of my actions have been enforced tenfold.”

The prosecutor noted however, that had she not been a teacher, her dozen-plus sexual encounters with her student would have only been misdemeanors â€" because of the power and influence teachers hold over their students, her trysts are considered a felony.

“I don’t know how much brighter the line could be,” Assistant District Attorney Ted Szczupakiewicz said. “There’s no gray area. It’s absolute.”

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The crowd-pleaser: What is the most popular sex position?

This article originally appeared on AlterNet.

> Defining sex is easy, but having it is slightly more complicated â€" namely, because there are a lot of different ways to get it on. But is there a crowd favorite out there?

According to Dr. Ed, there is. In a survey of 2,000 people in the United States and the United Kingdom, the team at Dr. Ed found that more people prefer doggy style to any other position. According to their experts, doggy style “allows for deeper penetration,” making the G-spot easier to reach. Perhaps that’s why over 35 percent of respondents tagged it as their go-to favorite. Missionary came in second, with cowgirl following close behind.

Other popular positions included holding legs up, spooning and reverse cowgirl. The 69 position also made it onto the list, a rather unsurprising finding. Research suggests oral sex is one of the most reliable means by which women can achieve orgasm.

But while both men and women agreed that doggy style was the most enjoyable way to have sex, they weren’t able to see eye-to-eye in all areas. Men ranked anal sex as the ninth most pleasurable position, while it didn’t even make it into the top 10 list for women. (Some research has shown that anal sex is becoming more popular among some women.)

Sexual orientation didn’t seem to influence the respondents’ preferences in any significant way. Straight, bisexual and gay participants all ranked doggy style as their favorite position.

Curiosity about certain sexual positions spanned the spectrum of sexual orientation. All respondents were equally curious about the tabletop position (in which one partner sits on the edge of a table while the other penetrates them while standing up). The 69 position while standing up was another popular pick on the wish list.

Apparently, most of the guys learned about these stunts online. Fifty-three percent of men surveyed said they picked up their sex moves from porn. Women, on the other hand, said they learned about their favorite sex positions from a real-life partner.

But maybe there’s something about watching all that online smut that makes one a little bit more adventurous. Over 75 percent of men said they were the ones to initiate a new position. Fifty-nine percent of women admitted that their partners were the ones wanting to mix it up.

But as they say, in life, there is no pleasure without pain. Nearly 38 percent of men said the thing that scared them most about sex was the possibility of hurting their partner â€" not exactly a huge surprise, given the number interested in anal sex. Less than 9 percent listed hurting themselves as a concern (they must have missed our article on broken penises). Women were more worried about not being able to sufficiently please their partner. Over 31 percent were worried about not being flexible enough in bed.

Check out the rest of the survey results.

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