The home encyclopedia was the "incognito browser" of 1991. A boy looking up "V" would nervously flip to "Vagina," while a girl looking for answers about "breasts" would find a medical diagram that was terrifyingly complex. The entry for "Intercourse" was two paragraphs long and devoid of context.
The puberty and sexual education for boys and girls in 1991 was not a complete failure. It successfully communicated the basic biological facts of reproduction to millions of students. It normalized (grudgingly) the use of deodorant and sanitary pads. It put the fear of HIV into a generation, which coincided with a decline in teen pregnancy rates throughout the mid-90s.
This dynamic pairs characters with contrasting worldviews or personalities. It satisfies our inherent desire for balance, showing how two different people can fill the gaps in each other’s lives.