Sex på rätt sätt: Unga, sexualitet och svensk samtida sexualsyn

Abstract in English

Swedish sexuality education, mandatory since 1955, is part of general social politics, aiming among others to prevent socio-sexual problems through educating and disciplining young, future citizens. The overall aim is to examine contemporary societal view on sexuality through studies of representatives of schools, authorities and NGO’s negotiating young people’s sexuality regulations related to current ideas of socio-sexual problems, and to outline constructions of young people’s sexuality through the organisation of sex education. Two studies with ten years in between highlight the contemporary view on youth and sexuality through an analysis of 1) professional views on sexuality education and 2) analysis of documents regarding the new Swedish curriculum, in force since autumn semester 2022. The first study contains of focus group interviews with staff working with young people with intellectual disabilities, previously published 2014, using Theory of Social Representations. The second, newer study, using Critical Discourse Analysis as method and Rubin´s radical theories on sexuality politics as theory, analyses views on sexuality in open access published preparatory works regarding the new curriculum. Young people’s sexuality is related to risks, while the idea of pleasure is absent. Young women, young LGBTQ people, and young with intellectual disabilities are made vulnerable and norm breaking, while young men´s sexuality, heterosexuality and able-bodiedness are a not scrutinised norm. Sex education is defined by professionals and experts on elite level, not necessarily linked to scientific knowledge. Equality, pornography, and consent appear as questions that engage. Equality is related to a binary understanding of gender, or a freer view on gender as a prerequisite for equality work to succeed. Pornography is understood as a problem in young men, affecting young women and promoting violence and negative attitudes. Consent is welcomed, but with lacking analyses of how to communicate it.