LET'S TALK ABOUT SEX
An investigation of communication, consent, and identity.
THE CHALLENGE
To address the sexual assault epidemic in the U.S. through an educational and preventative lens.
THE
PROJECT
I independently conducted a year-long ethnographic study investigating how 18-year-old high school students, of different identities, learn about sex and communication.
SKILLS DEVELOPED
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​​Subject Recruitment
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Ethnographic Interviewing
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Transcription
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Thematic Analysis
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Full-IRB Process
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Academic Writing
“Nothing. Literally nothing.”
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That’s Fern*. She’s an 18-year-old high school senior from Tacoma, Washington. We’re sitting in a coffee shop, and I just asked her about what she had learned about sex in high school. Her response seems harsh, but, as I was surprised to discover, it exemplifies the sex education experience of many high school students I interviewed.
According to the Guttmacher Institute, only 24 states and the District of Columbia mandate sex education, and only 34 states and the District of Columbia mandate HIV education (“Sex and HIV Education”, 2018). This broaches a larger question: what exactly does it mean to require sex education and/or HIV education? Even beyond these initial inconsistencies, the requirements for differ greatly in terms of characteristics and content. Just because a state requires sex education, it does not mean it is comprehensive, nor does the lack of requirement mean that there aren’t strong sex education programs within the state.
When we take this sort of sobering information about the reality of our failing sex education programming, and pair it with the increasing awareness of the sexual assault epidemic the United States is facing, it begins to indicate that there may be a significant flaw in the way we are approaching these issues. Over the course of the past few years, sexual assault has become increasingly more prominent in our national news. This growing awareness has led to new conversations about assault, communication, and consent – highlighting many of the discrepancies in the ways that people have been taught to think about these concepts, as well as a lack of understanding of experiences of folks of different identities. This national conversation raises the question: how are we preparing students to make healthy and informed decisions about their body, and how to interact with others in a healthy way?
*All names throughout this study were replaced with pseudonyms.
States that don't require sex education.
This study investigated how the process of learning about sex and communication prior to college affects individual’s conceptions of consent.
In particular, I explored how this sex education process may be attached to or influenced by different aspects of identity for individuals within the United States. This research investigated the formal and informal methods in which individuals learn to engage and communicate in sexual interactions, as well as the roles of power and privilege in this process. I explored how this learning process differs across identities – with particular attention to gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, religion, and class – as well as how this affects high school students’ understanding of consent and how to communicate with a partner.
In order to better understand the experiences of individuals prior to attending college, I conducted 17 semi-structured interviews with 18-year-old high school students.
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1.
LITERATURE REVIEWS
I conducted preliminary research on gender, sex, identity, and school systems to provide context for my research.
OUR NEW PLACE
THESE WERE SOME MAJOR THEMES MY RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTED
NAVIGATING APPROPRIATE SEXUAL TIMELINES
Individuals interpreted their experience of learning about sex through a lens of understanding what an “appropriate” sexual timeline was, as well as how this compared to their peers.
COMMUNICATION BEYOND CONSENT
There is a gap in knowledge between consent as a term and consent being enacted in realistic ways. It is necessary for education to go beyond consent conversations, and include communication strategies with partners.
IDENTITY IN SEX EDUCATION
Throughout the interviews I conducted, individuals highlighted aspects of sex education that were impacted by their own identity, or places where they could see how it would potentially negatively impact others, focusing on gender, sexuality, and race.
Todd
Caucasian, straight, male,
Tacoma, WA
GENDERED EXPECTATIONS
“I guess, I think being a man, definitely, it’s expected that you know those things [sex]. And it’s kind of not something that anyone ever really teaches you.”
Christina
Hispanic, straight, female,
Hopkinton, MA
FLUID AND DIVERSE CONCEPTION OF SEXUAL TIMELINES
"I think our teacher was very open in terms of how different types of people view sex as different things and they value it at different levels. How somebody might choose to have sex at the age of 13 and then stop having sex until they’re 30. So, I think that she definitely gave us the ability to think about it like that.”
Lola
Caucasian, straight, female, Sammamish, WA
INITIATING CONSENT CONVERSATIONS
“I can’t really think of like an example of like a situation in which I would know or had someone model exactly what they would do in that situation, even in like media or TV, or anything. I don’t really think I’ve ever seen that. Yeah, I feel like that would be something that would depend on the person – the other person that you were with. But I don’t really know if I would have an example to go off of. Yeah, so that’s a thing that would be kind of intimidating or daunting.”
TITLE OF THE CALLOUT BLOCK
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS
People can follow many different paths to get the information they need about sex, communication, and consent, but in order to ensure that the most people have access to reliable and inclusive information, we need to drastically improve our sex education programs with these points in mind:
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It is essential that we create curriculums that encourage young people to conceptualize sexual timelines as fluid and diverse, and connected to personal choice, including the choice to not engage in sexual activities. The students who were able to conceptualize sexual timelines in this way felt they had the most control over their ability to make healthy and informed decisions about their body.
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Conversations about consent need to go beyond simple definitions. Students of all identities need to be taught how to realistically enact consent, the barriers they may face in doing that, and the importance of communication with your partner beyond simple yes or no conversations.
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Sex education needs to be intersectional. Dialogues about sex education are still very gendered and heteronormative, which creates unhealthy expectations for people of all genders. Additionally, there needs to be more attention to how gender and sexuality are racialized, therefore affecting the way students experience learning about sex.
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In order for sex education programming to be effective, students need to feel they have a sense of agency in making healthy decisions about their bodies.