Partial profile · Book Profile — full narrative profile planned
S.E.X., second edition The All-You-Need-To-Know Sexuality Guide to Get You Through Your Teens and Twenties
A comprehensive, inclusive, and non-judgmental guide to sexuality for teens and young adults, empowering them with the knowledge and confidence to create healthy, authentic, and satisfying sexual lives.
A profile of this book is on the way.
What it’s about
Billed as the 'big sis you wish you'd had,' S.E.X. is a warm, conversational, and holistic guide for teens and young adults navigating the complexities of their sexuality. Author Heather Corinna dismantles shame and misinformation by providing accurate, inclusive information on everything from anatomy, puberty, and body image to gender identity, sexual orientation, relationships, and consent. More than a simple factsheet, the book offers a complete toolkit for self-discovery and empowerment, covering the practical mechanics of safer sex, contraception, and reproductive choices while championing the reader's right to define their own sexuality. It's an essential resource for any young person who wants to feel confident, informed, and joyful in their own skin and in their relationships.
The through-line
- Who it’s for
- The reader is a teen or young adult (ages 15-25) navigating the confusing, exciting, and often overwhelming world of sexuality. They want to understand their changing bodies, feel confident in their identity, and have healthy, satisfying relationships, but are bombarded with conflicting messages, misinformation, and social pressure.
- The problem
- A lack of accessible, comprehensive, and non-judgmental information about sex and relationships leads to significant risks like STIs, unplanned pregnancies, sexual assault, and unhealthy relationship dynamics. The reader feels confused, ashamed, anxious, and insecure about their body, their desires, and their choices. They fear they are not 'normal' and feel powerless to create the sexual life they truly want.
- The plan
- Build a Foundation of Knowledge: Learn the facts about anatomy, puberty, sexual response, gender, and sexual orientation.
- Develop Self-Awareness and Self-Acceptance: Explore your own body, desires, fantasies, and boundaries to become the expert on your own sexuality.
- Master Healthy Relationships: Learn the crucial skills of communication, consent, and navigating different relationship models.
- Practice Proactive Health: Understand and implement the mechanics of safer sex, contraception, and regular sexual healthcare.
- The payoff
- Feeling confident, empowered, and knowledgeable about your body and sexuality. · Having healthy, joyful, and satisfying intimate relationships built on communication and mutual respect. · Developing a positive body image and a strong sense of self-acceptance.
See our guide
Additional reading
- Our Bodies, Ourselves · The Boston Women's Health Collective
The book's foreword is written by the co-founders of this classic text, framing S.E.X. as an inheritor of its mission to provide accessible, empowering health information, but updated for a new generation with more inclusive language.
- The Ethical Slut: A Guide to Infinite Sexual Possibilities · Dossie Easton and Catherine A. Liszt
Recommended for readers interested in exploring the concepts of non-monogamy and polyamory, which the book introduces as valid relationship models beyond the traditional monogamous framework.
- For Goodness Sex: Changing the Way We Talk to Teens About Sexuality, Values, and Health · Al Vernacchio
This book offers alternative, positive frameworks for thinking about sex (e.g., using a pizza metaphor instead of baseball), which aligns with S.E.X.'s goal of moving beyond fear-based or purely risk-focused sex education.
- The Courage to Heal: A Guide for Women Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse · Ellen Bass and Laura Davis
A key resource for readers dealing with the trauma of sexual abuse, a topic the book covers in its chapter on harm and abuse, offering a deeper dive into the healing process.
- Trans Bodies, Trans Selves: A Resource for the Transgender Community · Laura Erickson-Schroth
Provides a much more in-depth exploration of transgender identity, transition, and health, building on the foundational and inclusive introduction to gender identity provided in S.E.X.
- The Gift of Fear · Gavin DeBecker
This book is relevant to the chapter on abuse and assault, as it teaches readers how to recognize and trust their intuition about danger, a key skill for personal safety in relationships and beyond.