Beyond the Birds and the Bees: Learning Inequality through Sexuality Education

Abstract

This article reviews the literature on the roles that schools, peers, and parents play in young people's sexuality education. We argue that the sexuality education children receive is far from just the facts; rather, it is an education in the maintenance of inequality. Sexuality education, as it is currently conceived, includes implicit and explicit messages that reinforce a hegemonic sexuality that is rooted in and bolsters inequalities of race, class, gender, and sexuality. After reviewing the contemporary sociological research on the sexuality education of children, we offer curricular directions for fostering more equal and empowering models of sexuality education.

KEYWORDS:

• Youth socialization
• queer theory
• inequality
• race
• class
• gender
• sexuality