RKB Interviews Heather Corinna

Rachel Kramer Bussel is an unavoidable presence in the New York City sex and literary scenes. The woman is an absolute whirlwind of activity; she always has something new in the works, and anyone who's scanned the erotica section of their local books has seen her name a lot, on the spines of books like She's On Top, Up All Night, and Caught Looking. I swear to god the woman is popping some kind of literary Viagra. In addition to all her writing and editing, she also runs a monthly reading series on Manhattan's Lower East Side called In the Flesh. And most of all, she's a reliable source of cupcakes for almost anyone who crosses her path. The Nation has just reprinted online one of her most recent pieces, an interview with sex educator Heather Corinna. It's well worth reading.

Heather Corinna is an example of someone who gives me a reason not to tell the whole universe to fuck off. In a time where the whole world seems to get darker and darker with every tick of the clock, she lives her life as a light against the darkness. I love the fact of her very existence. She's been partially or primarily responsible for several high-quality sites which speak about feminism and sexuality, including All Girl Army, Scarlet Letters, her blog Pure as the Driven Slush, and most importantly -- and perhaps most radically -- the reknowned teen sex-education site Scarleteen.

Scarleteen is the go-to site for sex-positive information for teens. The model of sex education that says that teens should be given honest information about their bodies and their sexuality, to the extent that it existed at all, is dead in the public schools. The only bed that teens are prepared to lie in is a procrustean one, with heterosexuality inscribed into the headboard and marital monogamy carved into the foot. But where governmentally-approved materials tell kids that premarital sex will kill you and abortions cause cancer, Scarleteen’s articles include detailed information on the joys of masturbation, the anatomy of female and male genitals, and the lowdown on oral sex. Its existence is almost more unthinkable now than when it was created.

In the interview, Corinna talks about her philosophies and her new book, S.E.X.: The All-You-Need-To-Know Progressive Sexuality Guide to Get You Through High School and College. The book sounds like a welcome break from the interminable reams of hateful bullshit we've seen sold to us as responsible parenting and teaching for the last decade or two, and not a moment too soon. Check out the interview and see what Heather has to say.