in general, what is sex education about, what is it and what topics does it cover?

Sex education helps people gain the information and skills they need to make the
best decisions for themselves about sex and relationships, also helps young people
to develop the ability to make healthy and respectful choices regarding emotional
and physical health.

Even if sex education is not so common nowadays, it is not a new trend or a new
phenomen. I would like to provide you several datas to show this.

In Europe, sexuality education as a school curriculum subject has a history of more

than half a century. It first began in Sweden in 1955, followed by many more
Western European countries in the 1970s and 1980s

What is also interesting here- how the topics covered by sex education were
expanded and supplemented
The focus of sexuality education has changed in line with public health priorities of
the time, but most key elements have stayed the same. It started with the
prevention of unintended pregnancy (1960s-70s), then moved on to the prevention
of HIV (1980s) and informations about sexual abuse (1990s), finally included the
prevention of sexism, homophobia and online bullying from 2000 onwards.

Today, an analysis of gender norms and reflections on gender inequality are

important parts of sexuality education.

Since I am a doctor, I analyze these issues from the point of view of medicine. In the
future, we will focus on the structure and function of the male and female
reproductive systems, and therefore I consider it important to separate such
concepts as on Gender, Gender Identity, and Biological Sex

Biological Sex: A person’s combination of genitals, chromosomes and hormones,

usually (but not necessarily accurately) categorized as “male” or “female” based on
looking at an infant’s genitals during an ultrasound or at birth.

female genome and male genome

The child receives one chromosome from the mother and one from the father.
Accordingly, all female germ cells contain only the X chromosome, and the
spermatochoids carry X and Y. Therefore, only the father determines the biological
sex of the child.
Everyone has a biological sex, which can also include “intersex” or someone who has
chromosomes and body parts different from XY or XX chromosomes.

There is no direct relationship between the psychological type of personality and the
type of sex glands.
Gender: The set of meanings by a culture or society to someone’s perceived
biological sex.
a set of characteristics that are accepted in the community to describe male or
female gender. And the set of these characteristics can change from one people to
another very radically. As for example, one could often hear that pink is exclusively
for girls. So before, these colors were typical only for privileged and wealthy people,
kings, and regardless of their gender, since this pink pigment was very difficult and
expensive to produce before the progress of the industry.

similarly, the concept of gender has been known to science for a long time, but now,
with the development of modern ethics, it has become more popular. I can give an
example from my practice.
A patient with her husband came to our hospital with complaints that they could not
conceive a child. During the consultation, it turned out that at the age of 25 she had
not started menstruating. A blood test showed an elevated level of testosterone, a
male sex hormone, and an ultrasound of the abdomen revealed no obvious
abnormalities, except for a slight change in the size of the female genital organs.
They were slightly smaller than normal, but the patient herself was not very tall,
which could be normal. Thus, in search of an answer, we did a large number of other
studies until we got to the genetic analysis of cells. And then it turned out that the
genome of our patient XY! i.e. male.
how is this possible?
In utero, all fetuses are female, and already under the influence of male sex
hormones, the clitoris enlarges and becomes a penis, the undeveloped sex glands
(predecessors of the testicles or ovaries) descend into the labia majora and turn into
testicles in the scrotum. All this happens under the influence of testosterone. It
causes all effects on tissues and cells through receptors. That is, the testosterone
molecule attaches to the receptors, which triggers certain reactions inside the cells
and ultimately leads to external changes. So our patient had an unusually high level
of testosterone, but the receptors were mutated and were not sensitive to this
hormone. Accordingly, these changes did not occur in her body and, despite her
genome, she continued to develop according to the female type. Such people even
look more feminine than ordinary women, since they do not have the following
effects of testosetron - like body hair, underdeveloped body musculature, which
gives a thin look, and they are also lower, since testosterone in women is also
responsible for growth. the only thing is that they do not have menstruation, since
her sex glands remained in an undeveloped state. and in such cases, doctors and
scientists have always raised the question of whether this patient is a man only
because of the male set of chromosomes, or we still have a woman in front of us
because she identifies herself and feels that way. That is why Gender and biological
sex do not always coincide and this is absolutely normal.

And it is not only about such cases as in this example. I just gave this example
because it's more illustrative. Modern medicine considers trans people as one of the
variants of the norm and offers transition programs for those who need it.
 Gender Identity: A person’s deep-seated, internal sense of who they are as a
gendered being
All people have a gender identity.

An adjective used to describe a person whose gender identity is incongruent with (or
does not “match”) the biological sex they were assigned at birth is “transgender.”

An adjective used to describe a person whose gender identity is congruent (or

“matches”) the biological sex they were assigned at birth is “cisgender.”

Other gender identities may include non-binary

now we will also quickly repeat the structure and functions of the female reproductive
system.

The organs of the female reproductive system include internal:

The female gonads are the ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus and vagina.
External - pubis, small and large labia, clitoris.

ovarian function – maturation of oocytes (ovum) 1 matures in one cycleat rarely 2. as well as
the synthesis of female sex hormones - the main ones are estrogen and progesterone.

Fallopian tubes: functions

1. Capture of the ovum and its transfer to the uterus.
Here I want to note an important point that there is a distance between the ovaries and the
fallopian tube and the ovum is captured by these fibers of the fimbria tubae, and specifically
the longest of them, and transferred to the cavity of the tube. This is an important
difference, since in a woman the abdominal cavity communicates with the outside world
through the fallopian tubes and uterus. what is important to know, since high infections of
the reproductive system, for example, after childbirth in septic conditions, are not just an
infection of the uterus and tubes, the infection quickly spreads to the abdominal cavity and
provokes peritonitis, a very life-threatening condition. peritoneum is a thin membrane that
covers the surface of the entire intestine and is approximately equal in area to the area of all
skin. You can imagine what an extensive process it is, as if the entire skin of the body was
inflamed at once. In the male, the abdominal region has no communication and is airtight.

A short explanation of what is menstruation. Menstruation is the shedding of the surface

layer of the epithelium inside the uterus if fertilization has not occurred. And so what
happens. Each menstrual cycle, the woman's body prepares one egg for fertilization, which
in this case is implanted in the epithelium of the uterus and so that this implantation is
deeper, after ovulation, when the egg is released due to hormones, this epithelium becomes
thicker. But this condition is difficult to maintain, and therefore, if there was no fertilization,
this epithelium is rejected and excreted along with the blood. And then it proceeds in a new
way - it is restored, then it increases and gets ready for a new fertilization.
The male reproductive system includes the following components:
1. Male gonads - testicles in which male sex cells and male sex hormones are formed.
2. The system of extragonadal ducts with glands, prostate gland the secret of which serves
as a medium for transport and maturation of spermatozoa
3. The penis through which sperm are introduced into the female genital tract.

The male reproductive system has three main functions:

1. Spermatogenesis
2. Synthesis of male sex hormones
3. Erectile function for sexual intercourse

Spermatogenesis begins at puberty and continues throughout most of a man's life. There is a
significant difference here with the female reproductive system, whose fertility stops at
menopause.
maturation from spermatid to final spermatozoon lasts 74 days.
The structure of the final spermatozoon looks like this:

Head and tail.

At the top of the head, a large amount of proteolytic enzymes are formed that dissolve the
ovum membrane and facilitate the penetration of the spermatozoon inside. There are many
mitochondria at the base of the tail, which are responsible for the synthesis of energy
necessary for tail contraction and sperm propulsion. Like a blow of a whip. Movement in this
case is reciprocating. The normal speed of a spermatozoon in a liquid medium is 1-4mm per
minute.

At the same time, inside the reproductive system, in addition to nutrients for the maturation
of spermatozoa, there are also substances that inhibit sperm motility until the moment of
ejaculation.

Many of these substances are synthesized by the prostate. Also one of the important
functions of the prostate: alkalization of the environment. As we know, the pH of the female
genital organs is acidic - 3.5-4.0. And the spermatozoa do not achieve sufficient motor
activity until the pH rises to 6.0.

To understand the proportions, sperm consists of:

10% spermatozoa and fluid from the seminal ducts of the testis
60% prostate secretion
30% secret glands located throughout the excretory tract.
1 ml of sperm - 35-200 million spermatozoa
still as a small interesting addition, about erectile function. It is caused primarily by
hormones and psychological arousal comes second in importance. That is why in
adolescence, boys can experience an erection due to a sharp increase in testosterone and
without sexual arousal. What is absolutely normal and what is important to explain to
children and adolescents so that they understand and are not ashamed of their body. I can
say even more - the first stereotyped movements similar to masturbation were noticed even
in the prenatal period regardless of gender and can be repeated after birth in the first 1-2
years of life. As I said, they are stereotypical, do not carry a sexual context and are explained
by the fact that these movements are pleasant and it is absolutely normal for a human being
to strive for pleasure.

temperature also affects the viability of spermatozoa. therefore, the testicles are taken out
of the body into the baby, where the temperature is 1.5 degrees less than inside the
abdomen
Temperature also affects the viability of spermatozoa, so inside the genitals of a woman they
remain up to 24-48 hours and no more. In the body of a man, they are stored for several
weeks.