Perfectly Abnormal

A woman in Maine has stolen a sex-ed book from a local library and refused to give it back, stating that she'd rather go to jail than allow the "sexually graphic, amoral abnormal contents" back in the library. Here's the book in question:



Looks innocent enough, right? Well, I'm not sure what to think. If you look it up on Amazon, there are mixed reviews. Child experts give it dazzling reviews, recommending it to every parent and child. Customer reviews, on the other hand, range from outstanding praise to outright attacks, calling it "borderline child porn," with one reader saying that she was "sexually abused because of books like this." Oh my.

Far be it from me to judge a book based solely on its cover (sorry), but I get the feeling that people are outraged by this book simply because it deals with (gasp!) SEX. And, it has illustrations. Even the stodgiest textbooks have diagrams. This is a kids' book; of course it'll have illustrations. Granted, I haven't seen them, and I can't defend a book I haven't seen for myself but, still, wouldn't a perfectly normal child benefit from a perfectly normal discussion about sex in a book that might answer all those questions he or she finds too embarrassing to ask an adult?

OK, enough of all this talk about sex ed. I assume you probably share my views or you wouldn't be reading this fucking blog in the first place, so I'm just preaching to the choir. Which, by the way, what does that phrase mean anyhow? Preaching to the choir? Like the choir don't need no preaching? Isn't that why they go to church in the first place? Alright. I'm done. No more posts on this subject. I promise.