Episode 211 – Breaking Bed: Rethinking Sex Education Among Filipino Americans

This Filipino American Life

Who taught you about SEX? Was it through school? Was it through watching porn? Whatever means you learned (or are learning) about the various aspects of sex, we could bet it wasn’t through your parents! With the Catholic Church shaping our Filipino way our being, sex education has been reduced to abstinence and “family life.” In many ways, Filipinos and Filipino Americans are quite prudish (at least outwardly) when it comes to sex. This is a subject we really never talk about it.

In this episode, we talk about sex (baby!). We focus on the politics of sex education and the cultural mores of pleasure. We talk about education of both sexual health and sexual pleasure with Justine Ang Fonte, M.Ed, MPH and Cecilia Villero, aka Goddess Cecilia. Justine is an award-winning intersectional health educator, ghostwriter, and professor, while Cecilia is a Filipina pleasure educator, advocate, and consultant.

Listen as we discuss the cultural taboos about sex in the Filipino American community, the vital need of sex education everywhere, how sex ed is vital in helping to prevent sexual assault, and precolonial sexual practices (and how religious patriarchy changed them!). Also learn a valuable lesson about not forcing children to hug everyone they meet.

Listen or download the episode through the embedded player on our site, or subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever your favorite podcasts are found.

Any thoughts about sex education as a Filipino American? Leave us a voicemail at (805) 394-TFAL or email us at [e-mail].