Beyond Birds and Bees

Bonnie Rough was a new mother grappling with many typical concerns of raising a daughter: how to inspire her to push past stereotypes, how to teach her to have a healthy attitude towards her body and her sexuality. Then her husband's job relocated the family to Amsterdam, where Rough quickly witnessed the free, uninhibited, and egalitarian sexual attitudes of the Dutch--where nudity isn't frowned upon and parents hope their children have favorable sexual experiences more than fearing their activity. In Better Than Birds and Bees, Rough describes how to implement the easygoing, surprisingly low-risk European attitude, reflecting on her experiences with her daughters. With careful research and anecdotal discoveries, Rough outlines ways for American parents to navigate a culture with dismally little formal sexual education, showing how creating healthy sexual attitudes reverberates with every aspect of society, shaping not only childhood experiences but gender misconceptions and inequality through adulthood.