Knowing the mechanics of sex is not the same as experiencing a sexual encounter. But having and enjoying sex still doesn’t make us sexually literate per se. Sexual literacy entails a deeper appreciation of who we are as sexual beings beyond the mere technical facts or experience.
For instance, literacy in terms of reading is much more than just identifying the words on a page. Names such as Abraham, Moses, or David, for example, or phrases such as “forbidden fruit,” “circumcision of the heart,” or “baptism,” have little meaning for the reader without relevant prior knowledge of these individuals and terms. While technically being able to read the words, they’re still illiterate in terms of understanding what the words mean.
And this plays out sexually for many of us. We’re functionally illiterate sexually even though we can spell out the basics of the act.
Sexual literacy would include knowing why God created our sexuality to begin with, and how our distinctions as males and females also set the stage. And we’re essentially just reading letters on a page, or, in this case, merely putting body parts together, without this foundational understanding beforehand.
We can see this everyday with horny teenagers. While they understand the basics of the act, this doesn’t automatically entail a deeper appreciation of what they’re doing. However fun and enjoyable, they’re still illiterate sexually. And many married adults are guilty of the same.
Without a deeper knowledge and wisdom present, sex easily becomes transactional, disordered, or otherwise disconnected from God’s best. And many sexual struggles in marriage can be traced back to this lack of meaning rather a lack of activity per se.
We must be intentional about our sexual formation – learning not simply the basics of the act, but the deeper and fuller realities of truth, goodness, and beauty related to our sexuality as well.
In the end, sexual literacy is more than the technical knowledge of sex. It includes a deeper appreciation of the story God tells through our very bodies.
Photo by Jonathan Borba on Unsplash
