Chanel Preston is an award winningporn performerand chairperson of the Adult Performer Advocacy Committee.
I felt like I had pretty good comprehensive sex education, she tells SELF.
Give them the basics, but still scare them.
Gabe Ginsberg / Getty Images
In porn, she says, people are really comfortable talking about sex in all different ways.
Its not a taboo thing, its not a secret.
you’re able to just ask questions.
I think my first sex education class might have been in fourth grade.
I remember having it pretty young, and I had it every year from that point on.
I remember there being scare tactics involvedI specifically remember photos.
One in particular wasanal warts, and it looked like a massive piece of cauliflower on this persons asshole.
And I was like, Oh my god, thats so horrible, who would want that?"
The photo of the genital warts was in fourth grade, so we obviously were talking aboutSTDs.
I actually cant remember specifics, but that stands out in my mind so much.
Thats all I can really remember.
That picture sticks with me to this day.
School was definitely my main exposure.
I was like, Mom.
Its a little late.
I dont really know where I learned most about sex.
I guess it was just sort of cumulative over time.
Whether that was through education or pop culture or friends or peers.
Which feels very different than learning just about sex itself.
I became a stripper before I was in porn.
What got me into stripping was that I was really curious.
It wasn’t just curious about sex itself, but more like, Whats this seedy underground world?
It wasnt like I just went in there to make money.
I was really curious about the environment.
How aboutcommunication about how to say yes at the right times?
How to navigate your personal sexual feelings?
Because they dont really talk about that.
They say youre going to feel desire, but just say no.
What does that mean?
Many schools are pushing this narrative that teens shouldnt be having sex.
It really bothers me when people learn about sex from porn.
Its generally not reality.
Most porn is meant to be a fantasy,an unrealistic fantasy at that.
So to learn from an unrealistic fantasy sets people up for failure.
Were really keeping people from information, and that to me is really sad.
Lux Alptraum is a writer, sex educator, comedian, and consultant.
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