Full disclosure: I have not (yet) read Yumi Stynes’ and Dr Melissa Kang’s book, Welcome To Sex. Nor, I strongly suspect, have pretty much any of the offenderati currently calling for its cancellation. Unlike them, however, I’m all for books like this and while unfamiliar with this particular volume, I know what it’s like to be an author at the centre of a sex ed shitstorm.
My book, The Amazing True Story of How Babies Are Made, had been on Kmart and Big W shelves for three years when, in 2018, someone took umbrage at what they deemed an inappropriate illustration (an educational picture of a man and woman having sexual intercourse), took a photo of the offending illo then took to Facebook to express their outrage. A small debate involving about eight people (half for, half against) ensued. It would have gone nowhere were it not for an eagle-eyed Daily Mail employee who saw this as clickbait gold and over several days ran a bunch of increasingly fevered stories (with the photo from Facebook) about how this “GRAPHIC” and “CONTROVERSIAL” book “HAS PARENTS DIVIDED”.
