Dymocks joins Big W in coming under fire for placing controversial ‘Welcome to Sex’ book in children’s section
- Book refers to ‘penis-owners’ and ‘vagina-owners’
- Shops slammed for stocking it in kids’ section
- WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
Major Australian book shop chain Dymocks has followed Big W in coming under fire for selling a controversial sex book in its children’s section both online and in stores.
The book, by ABC presenter Yumi Stynes and teen magazine advice columnist Dr Melissa Kang, covers sexual topics with illustrations of masturbation, gender curiosity, LGBTQI issues, anal sex, ‘scissoring’ and more.
‘Welcome to Sex: Your no-silly-questions guide to sexuality, pleasure and figuring it out’, is aimed at children aged eight and above, but there has been a furious backlash from parents who say it’s too graphic.
Law lecturer Rachael Wong tweeted that ‘For those (unsuccessfully) trying to defend “Welcome to Sex” aka a GRAPHIC SEX GUIDE FOR KIDS, by saying it’s kept in the adult/parenting section of book stores/departments.
‘This isn’t the case at @Dymocksbooks. They also sell it in the children’s section of their website,’ she said.
The backlash against how the book – which refers to males as ‘penis-owners’ and females as ‘vagina-owners’ – is sold started with how discount retailer Big W sells it.
Major Australian book shop chain Dymocks has come under fire for selling a controversial sex book co-written by ABC presenter Yumi Stynes (pictured) in its children’s section
‘How can anyone think they are not coming after the children after seeing books like this for sale openly in Big W,’ conservative podcaster Chris Primod said in an Instagram video.
Another angry social media user wrote: ‘Really? We need to teach 11-year-olds different sex positions? This book is a big no from me.’
A third added: ‘I have sent a protest letter to Big W about the porn book Welcome to Sex. It is extremely graphic. We should all make the effort to protest this stuff to children.’
But others leapt to the defence of the authors calling the reaction a ‘moral panic’.
‘Right wing cookers/religious nuts are trying to censor these books. Usual anti-queer, anti-feminist reasons,’ one person wrote.
Law lecturer Rachael Wong tweeted (pictured) about how the book is being sold in Dymocks
The book is being sold in the children’s section of Dymocks’ website (pictured) as well as in stores
Another parent said: ‘Can’t wait to purchase this. Your period book took away the fear for my 10-year-old daughter (and me!) so much. Forever grateful.’
On the eve of the book’s release Stynes told website Mamamia that she hoped the work would help parents talk candidly about sex with their children.
‘I think a lot of parents have inherited shame from their own parents and from our culture and society at large,’ she said.
‘I think it’s partly shame about icky body fluids, but parents also worry about saying the wrong thing.
‘Worry about planting an idea in their mind that wasn’t there before and then just making things worse!’
Stynes added that ‘A lot of the difficulty parents have with these types of chats is just not knowing what to say and how to say it.
‘It’s a very unflexed muscle that most of us have.’
She hopes the book will be a ‘trusted resource’ that will stop parents stumbling into saying the ‘wrong thing or saying something that’s informed by sexism or bad science’.
Oral sex including the ’69’ position is also referenced in the book
The book contains frank descriptions of sexual acts like ‘scissoring’ that are illustrated with accompanying cartoons
Stynes said some 12-year-olds were mature and ‘quite sophisticated’ while others are ‘very childlike’ and parents had to adjust their conversations depending on the child.
She advised parents to use news stories or television shows as a hook to make talk about sex part of normal family chats.
‘Once they (children) know that you’re safe to talk to about sex with, and you’re not going to flip out, then they can return to the conversations again and they will absolutely love having a space to ask you those questions,’ she said.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted both Dymocks and Big W with a series of questions about how they are stocking and displaying the book.
