Condom Nation: The U.S. Government's Sex Education Campaign from World War I to the Internet by Alexandra M. Lord (review)

Tracing US government involvement in sex education from the early twentieth to the early twenty-first century, Condom Nation ends with a question. Writing while states were boldly rejecting federal funding for abstinence-only sex education in the schools, Lord asks, "What will the consequences be for the vast majority of Americans who have depended on the federal government to provide them with the sex education they need and want?" (189). For readers unaware of the service the government has provided in the past century, Lord's book will be both informative and disappointing. The author does an excellent job of illustrating the longevity and extent of federal government involvement in sex education, especially through the efforts of prominent public health officials. Less well supported is the assertion that the US government has "always played the dominant role in sex education" (23), a contention that detracts from the book's purpose. Condom Nation offers a nuanced and critical view of government efforts (not a single campaign, as the title implies). Ending with abstinence-only programs, Lord traces the life of initiatives seeking to curb the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, from the campaigns against syphilis and gonorrhea of the early twentieth century to the more recent responses to the AIDS epidemic.

The sex education Lord examines is both more broadly and more narrowly construed than other scholars' treatment of the topic. Instructional texts, broadcasts, and events with ties to government offices and funds are the focus: pamphlets, films, radio programs, posters, exhibits, public service advertisements, and mailings. Lord's consideration of a variety of initiatives, many aimed at adults, calls attention to the diversity of campaigns often forgotten in popular conversations about "sex ed." Her research demonstrates, too, the ephemeral and haphazard ways in which information about sex has circulated with the aid of the state. Government offices took the lead in some cases, especially by way of the military, the Public Health Service, and the surgeon general; they also collaborated with social hygienists, religious and secular organizations, and employers. (Public schools are a surprisingly small part of the book.)

This wide-ranging scope nevertheless points to a limited conception of sex education. Undoubtedly taking cues from her sources, the author presents sex education as dedicated almost exclusively to disease prevention, with contraception added in the second half of the twentieth century. For better or worse, we encounter few of the staples of twentieth-century sex education—birds and bees, eggs and sperm, or discussions of puberty, menstruation, dating, and petting—in Condom Nation. Topics such as pleasure, sexual identity, and intimate-partner violence, introduced in the past four decades thanks to feminist and queer social movements, have contributed to sexuality education that could rightfully be called comprehensive. By contrast, US government initiatives conceived as "preventive medicine" (135) seem utterly narrow.

In that they did not succeed in their goal to eradicate sexually transmitted infections, government-sponsored endeavors were failures. Lord attributes this and other shortcomings to multiple causes, including these programs' "lack of a unified and coherent message" (137). Yet lack of uniformity and coherence, the author claims, was both a weakness and an asset. Material produced at the federal level could be adopted and adapted by local communities, making it appear homegrown rather than imposed by outsiders. Keeping Fit, the earliest initiative, provides a vivid example. Aimed at young men and projected as slides or displayed in poster or pamphlet format, Keeping Fit was meant to be publicly exhibited, ideally in conjunction with a lecture and question-and-answer session. The option to omit images or insert information offered flexibility conducive to wider implementation.

Without evidence showing that educational programs influence sexual behavior, the value of sex education for public health is often a matter of faith. Acknowledging its unclear outcomes, Lord explores whether instruction was provided...