In studying the recent change in human behavior, the expression “sexual revolution” is frequently used.  It is similar to the use of the term “industrial revolution” in trying to understand the great social changes in the last 200 years

Experts in industrial sociology speak more specifically of three “industrial revolutions”: productive, technical and information technology.  The same would apply in talking about the sexual revolution, for the purpose of analyzing it in order to understand it more clearly.  The distinction and differentiation of three sexual revolutions would help to explain the social change which has occurred in the last 50 years.  In reality these are simultaneous and related processes.  The analytic description of the three “sexual revolutions” make use of key words and concrete data.

Studies on the industrial revolution divide the phenomenon and speak of a first, second and third industrial revolution, represented by the steam engine, the production line and the computer, respectively.  Similarly, the “sexual revolution” can be divided into three in order to better understand the changes which have taken place and appreciate the process in all its complexity. 

The first sexual revolution is a social consequence of the pharmacologic development of contraceptives.  It took a firm hold at the end of the 60’s and it has compartmentalized sex into two.  On one side is the procreative ability and on the other is the capacity to love and enjoy sexual pleasure.  The unitive and procreative meaning of sex was separated.  This marked a new turning point in the history of sex and behavioral culture.  Things have not been the same since.  The key word here is the “pill”.  The contraceptive pill is the technical invention which has most radically changed people’s lives since history began.

The second sexual revolution started in the 80’s, as the famous Janus Report of 1993 states, and marks the gradual acceptance and recognition of behavior classified as “aberrant” since time immemorial.  The second revolution is marked by the gradual social acceptance of homosexual relationships.  The key word here is “homosexuality”.  But in a general way, this attitude understands sex as something belonging exclusively to the person and, as a consequence, he/she can do with it as he/she pleases.  This is the reason why legal measures are less definite/precise in what constitutes legitimate sexual behavior and activity and deviant ones.

The third sexual revolution took place at the turn of the century.  This third wave opened perspectives which were considered unimaginable just a few years before and could mean the end of sex.  The key word here is “in vitro procreation”.  With the new technology in genetics applied to human reproduction, expertise is gained in two fields: cloning and sexual pleasure.  In-vitro fertilization was the prelude to cloning, and cloning is the end of maternity/paternity.  With this technology, market demand takes charge of social reproduction.  The laboratory takes the place of the marital bed.  The characteristics of the offspring are designed in a laboratory and life is created without need for sex.  Sexual pleasure, on the other hand, can also be had with no sex at all.  Sexual excitation can be produced with the use of gadgets or through virtual “Viagra’s” or through hypnotic or nerve conduction techniques. 

These three revolutions that mark the most important change in the history of humanity, in so far as people’s lifestyle is concerned, have been poorly studied.  Consequently, sexuality, which should be one of the pillars in the formation given by the educational system, has been marginalized, and oftentimes done in a frivolous and dangerous manner.

The understanding of shared sexuality as a genuine means of social communication is one of the principal characteristics of the Program B.A.S.E. FOR EDUCATORS.  The problem is that if sex is not understood as a means of communication, its normative character (that sex has rules attached to it) can only be understood and accepted with difficulty.

The norms of sex are justified only when sex is seen for what it is: a social act.  All social acts are legitimized on the basis of implicit social norms.  This is seen when we talk about the means of communication.  Language has its rules.  Fashion and even war have their rules.  Without rules, living together would be impossible.  Norms make communication possible, that is, our being able to relate to the others, enabling the integration of a person into society and the union of society into one nation. 

To understand sex as a communication among equals excludes individualism, that is, sex as a manifestation of the dominion of one person over another, or as a remedy to one’s social rejection.  It includes something that in our society is slowly being devaluated so much so that it is almost extinct: time.  The social character of sex is also shown in its diachronicity. 

Sex is a communication which is synchronic (in time) as well as diachronic (through time).  The best example of the synchronic dimension of communication of a sexual character is the family and the distinction that exists in the familiar relationship among relatives as compared to those who are not relatives.  The sex of my parents connects me with my siblings in a very special way.  On the other hand, the best example of the diachronic dimension of communication of a sexual character is the succession of generations.  Sex makes it possible for social testimony to be passed on from one generation to another.  This is of capital importance.

At the start of the academic year and in the welcome address to the students, some university professors feel that they have an obligation to express their gratitude.  Indeed, students make the professor view his retirement with certain optimism.  After all, they are the ones who will pay for his pension.  Immediately after and to the perplexity of the general public, these same professors express their condolences.  Their students in many countries will not have anyone to pay their pension if things remain the way they are.  Obviously, there is here a lack of diachronic communication between two successive social generations.

Diachronic communication has been irresponsibly separated from sex lately and this exacts a very high social price.  Our culture tends to look the other way when it comes to almost all actions with deferred effects, the most dramatic example of which is nuclear energy which solves the energy problem by providing a cheap source of energy today but produces radioactive waste products which could be dangerous during thousands of years. 

This also happens with sex.  The nine months of gestation or the complications of a disease or of sexual trauma are considered to have nothing to do with an act which is been increasingly difficult to contextualize in time, as if it never had consequences or after effects.

In this program, the incorporation of sex to life, involving relationships in society in its synchronic and diachronic aspects, means acceptance of norms.  Sex is normative, just like language, traffic, war, fashion, timetables, celebration of feasts, the stock market, sports etc.  One cannot do with sex as he/she pleases, if he/she wishes to have relationships with and through sex.  Engaging in sexually irresponsible behavior is like constructing inverted sentences or beating a red light. 

Change should not be done hurriedly based on gut feel.  Whatever educational innovations are proposed should be based on a study of present cultural milieu.  Likewise, scientific methodology should include the observation of experience.  It is about time that the proposals for education on sexuality for adolescents improve. 

In this cultural context, the program B.A.S.E. FOR EDUCATORS of the I.V.A.F. becomes, at the same time, an important alternative and a renewal in sex education.  It is an original program which comes from a Hispanic culture and which, at the same time, has a universal application, in terms of the values which it proposes and the concrete ideas which it offers.

The basic idea, which can be seen in the development of the program, can be summarized in the following premises:

This program argues that “responsible sex” is the more adequate slogan to foster an education in sexuality in accordance with the demands and hopes of health and fulfillment which is expected from any adolescent.  This is in contrast to the hedonist slogan “safe sex” which has fostered the early initiation into sex of young people.

As far as the characteristics of human sexuality are concerned, this program recognizes that society demands and presupposes the following: responsibility, rationality and maturity for all those who, using their own freedom, decide to use their procreative powers. From this it follows that children have the right to be born, and then, to be born within a family from married parents.

The factors which have to be considered in the elaboration of a program in sex education for adolescents are the following: a) science; b) prudence; and c) continence. 

These three considerations are at the foundation of this program and summarize its application and the objectives which it proposes for the task of the educator and teacher of adolescents.