One’s own body
“Awareness of and information about the functions and capabilities of one’s own body belongs to the most elementary of knowledge for each person”, said former minister of women’s affairs Johanna Dohnal at a congress in 1988. She claimed that whoever hinders or neglects the communication of this knowledge is guilty of a “sin of omission”.
More than 25 years have passed since then, but her words are still topical.
Becoming aware of one’s own body means learning about egg and sperm cells, fertilisation and pregnancy, sterilisation and vasectomy.
Here’s a brief anecdote from one of our tours. A question was put to young men full of testosterone:
How much sperm is in your ejaculate?
Respondent #1 (unsure): 50 per cent?
Respondent #2 (with conviction): 70!
Respondent #3 (triumphantly): 90 per cent in mine!
(Sorry, but it’s only 3 to 5 per cent.)
But that doesn’t matter, because your body’s capable of many wonders that are much more exciting.