Glossary

Body Image - The personal opinion someone has of their own physical appearance. This could be positive, negative, or more neutral.

Body Shame - Having a very negative perspective of one’s own body. This can include feelings of worthlessness, unattractiveness, inferiority, repulsion, embarrassment, and self-consciousness.

Body shame can also include when someone shames another person for the way that they look.

Cancer - There are reproductive cancers, like ovarian, testicular, etc. Additionally, some STIs increase the risk of certain cancers, like HPV, HIV, Hepatits types B and C.

Comprehensive Sex Education - Sexual education that is presented through a wider perspective with a more realistic approach. This includes teaching about options for having safer sex and speaks of the physical, emotional, and social parts of how sexuality effects peoples' lives. Many schools in the United States are not using comprehensive sex education!

Femininity - The qualities or characteristics of females. However, this is not so easily defined. It can be hard to tell what is inherent and what is learned. As well, many people have their own descriptions of what it is to be feminine. Femininity and how people view it is likely a combination of biology and the culture one grows up in.

Gender - A complex term that is a mixture of a person’s sex (assigned female or male at birth) and societal expectations of how a person should think and behave.

HPV - Human Papilloma Virus is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States of America. There are many strains, some of which cause (usually) harmless warts, and others which can cause cancer.

Intersex - An umbrella term that describes bodies that fall outside of the average female/male binary. One place to learn more: Planned Parenthood - What is Intersex?

Masculinity - The qualities or characteristics of males. However, this is not so easily defined. It can be hard to tell what is inherent and what is learned. As well, many people have their own descriptions of what it is to be masculine. Masculinity and how people view it is likely a combination of biology and the culture one grows up in.

Menstrual Cycle - What made us all possible! The process of certain hormonal changes in women/females which lasts a month and then repeats. Broken down, there are four phases of this cycle, called: Menstruation (bleeding), Follicular, Ovulation, and Luteal.

MSM - Men who have sex with men. A broader term since not all MSM identify as bisexual or gay. The same can be applied to WSW (Women who have sex with women), MSW (Men who have sex with women), and WSM (Women who have sex with men).

STD/STI - These are often written and said together. Sexually Transmitted Disease and Sexually Transmitted Infection. The difference between the two is an STD means there are symptoms while an STI does not show symptoms. The more popular term used now is STI because people often have no symptoms when infected. Example: Chlamydia and HPV often have no symptoms.