Founder of the nonprofit healthcare organization WomanCare Global, Saundra Pelletier, and Hollywood actress Jessica Biel do not seem like a likely pair to launch a series of online videos surrounding "sex ed"--but that is exactly what they are doing. The duo is launching videos that will cover everything from puberty to contraception in the hops of demystifying some misconceptions regarding sexual and reproductive health. Topics that can often be seen as "scary" or "gross" will now be approached via real-life stories of girls and women going through hormonal changes that affect us all. Biel describes the tone for the videos to be "informative but also goofy, smart, witty," encouraging women to speak out and not feel embarrassed or ashamed for perfectly normal bodily functions.
Indeed, general knowledge on sex education and reproductive health is severely lacking. There is currently no required standard for sex education in this country's schooling system, and only 13 states require sex education instruction to be medically accurate! Celebrity and non-profit interventions such as Pelletier and Biel's videos will help reach a larger population of women--and men--who may not have had any formal education in this arena. Similarly, Dr. Teresa Woodruff at the Women's Health Research Institute, is also launching a series of educational videos surrounding reproductive health--geared towards both men and women. The goal is to provide collegiate proficiency in the field of reproductive health from a reliable, accurate source. Dr. Woodruff's course will serve as a course complement to the real-life stories that Biel and Pelletier are producing. We're excited to see the dissemination of accurate knowledge on reproductive health through these many outlets!
If you're interested in learning more about Dr. Woodruff's free, online course on Reproductive Health, click here!
Read more about Saundra Pelletier and Jessica Biel's sex ed videos here.