| Aspect | 1991 | Today | |--------|------|-------| | | 12-14, too late | 10-11, age-appropriate | | Gender grouping | Separated | Mostly mixed, with single-gender options for sensitive topics | | Masturbation | Ignored for girls, taboo for boys | Normalized as healthy and private | | Consent | Not mentioned | Taught as “FRIES” (Freely given, Reversible, Informed, Enthusiastic, Specific) | | LGBTQ+ | Invisible | Inclusive from age 12: sexual orientation, gender identity | | Pleasure | Never mentioned | Discussed in context of self-knowledge and healthy relationships | | Porn literacy | Not relevant | Taught from age 14: critical analysis of porn versus real sex | | STDs/HIV | Fear-based | Fact-based, including PrEP and testing access |
Produced by Studio Landstar Films and directed by Ronald Deronge, this documentary serves as a snapshot of how European societies approached adolescent development during the early 1990s. The Context of 1991: A Shifting Belgian Landscape Puberty and Sexual Education for Boys and Girls
Looking back, 1991 Belgian sex education was . It still carried the shyness of the 1980s but had been shocked into honesty by AIDS. Girls learned slightly more about their bodies than boys did about theirs, but both left school with a basic map—not a manual—of growing up. It still carried the shyness of the 1980s