Diversity in sex and relationship education – limitations and possibilities in Swedish biology textbooks

ABSTRACT

Shortcomings in sex and relationship education (SRE) related to norms and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexuality (LGBTQIA) perspectives have been reported internationally and in Sweden. This paper reports on findings from a critical study of SRE content in Swedish biology textbooks for 13- to 16-year-old pupils, with the aim of revealing which sexual orientations and bodies are made visible or invisible in the texts. About 200 quotations were selected and analysed, quantitatively and qualitatively, with a focus on limitations and possibilities. The results show that LGBT content is visible in all SRE chapters. However, sexual orientation is often constructed as fixed. Furthermore, stereotypical gender binaries are reinforced via heteronormative assumptions regarding hormones, genitals and reproduction, focusing on differences instead of similarities, and thus limiting the‌ potential to widen non-binary perceptions of bodies and sexualities. Our quantitative analyses reveal that there are few, if any, queer, intersex, asexual or crip/disability representations. If gaps in young people’s knowledge regarding norms, intersex, asexuality, queer and crip sexualities are to be filled in order to promote equality and diversity, it is important to rethink the SRE content of Swedish biology textbooks.

KEYWORDS:

• Sexualities
• textbooks
• heteronormativity
• crip
• queer

Acknowledgments

We thank Ann Phoenix for valuable and useful comments on earlier versions of the manuscript. We also thank the anonymous reviewers and the editor for their helpful feedback.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1 450 randomly selected Swedish schools participated in the survey (Skolinspektionen 2018).

2 Excluded were Fabricius, S., F. Holm, and A. Nystrand. (2013). Biologi Light. 2nd ed. Stockholm: Liber (which is similar to Spektrum), and Henriksson, A. 2015. Titano biologi. 2nd ed. Malmö: Gleerups Utbildning (similar to Makro).

3 We have kept the name Brian used in the textbook (Capensis 96), even though his original name was Bruce, then Brenda, and finally David. However, his twin brother was named Brian.