From ‘puritanical goosebumps’ to the nostalgic longing for heterosexual harmony: the emotional organisation of sexuality in relationship education in the 1970s and 1980s

ABSTRACT

Comprehensive approaches to sex education emphasise an integration of the mind and the body via emotions. Drawing on the historiographical shift towards the study of emotions, this paper explores cognitive, bodily and emotional dimensions of sexuality education and social relations. By analysing the institutionalisation of sex education in Luxembourg, the paper examines often neglected sex education material as well as political reform debates in a Catholic-conservative context. The analysis demonstrates that in the mid-1980s, and despite public disputes, reform opponents shared a common horizon in sex education: they promoted emotional education to channel sexual practices in the direction of family formation. As a consequence, emotional education marginalised bodies, sexualities and forms of relationship that were not conforming to the ideal of a happy heterosexual dyad in which ‘love and sexuality belong together’. It is argued that the prohibition was part of a twofold emotionalisation of sex education in the 1980s.

KEYWORDS:

• Emotion
• body
• sex education
• relationship education

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank Jos Massard, Catherina Schreiber and Ragnhild Barbu for some of the archival sources.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

¹ See Jonathan Zimmerman, Too Hot to Handle: A Global History of Sex Education (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2015); and Tiffany Jones, ‘A Sexuality Education Discourses Framework: Conservative, Liberal, Critical, and Postmodern’, American Journal of Sexuality Education 6 (2011): 133–75.

² International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), Everyone’s Right to Know: Delivering Comprehensive Sexuality Education for All Young People (London, March 2016), https://www.ippf.org/sites/default/files/2016-05/ippf_cse_report_eng_web.pdf (accessed March 27, 2019).

³ Ibid., 9.

⁴ Jones, Sexuality Education Discourses Framework.

⁵ Ibid.

⁶ Zimmerman, Too Hot to Handle.

⁷ Uwe Sielert, ‘Sexualpädagogik und Sexualerziehung in Theorie und Praxis’ [The theory and practice of sex education], in Handbuch Sexualpädagogik und sexuelle Bildung, ed. Renate-Berenike Schmidt and Uwe Sielert (Weinheim: Beltz Juventa, 2013), 42–3.

⁸ Peter-Paul Bänziger and Julia Stegmann, Politisierungen und Normalisierung: Sexualitätsgeschichte des 20. Jahrhunderts im deutschsprachigen Raum [Politicisation and normalisation: the history of sexuality in 20th century German-speaking countries] (H-Soz-Kult 5 November 2010), http://hsozkult.geschichte.hu-berlin.de/forum/2010-11-001 (accessed March 23, 2019).

⁹ Nancy Lesko, ‘Feeling Abstinent? Feeling Comprehensive? Touching the Affects of Sexuality Curricula’, Sex Education 10, no. 3 (2010): 281–97.

¹⁰ Paul Rabinow and Nikolas Rose, ‘Introduction: Foucault Today’, in The Essential Foucault: Selections from the Essential Works of Foucault, 1954–1984, ed. Paul Rabinow and Nikolas Rose (New York: New Press, 2003), 7.

¹¹ Michel Foucault, Der Wille zum Wissen (Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 1992) (= The History of Sexuality).

¹² See Noah Sobe, ‘Researching Emotion and Affect in the History of Education’, History of Education 41, no. 5 (2012): 689–95; and Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Touching Feeling: Affect, Pedagogy, Performativity (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2003).

¹³ Julie McLeod, ‘Memory, Affective Practice and Teacher Narratives: Researching Emotion in Oral Histories of Educational and Personal Change’, in Methodological Advances in Research on Emotion and Education, ed. Michalinos Zembylas and Paul A. Schutz (Cham: Springer, 2016); Lisa Blackman and Couze Venn, ‘Affect’, Body & Society 16, no.1 (2010): 7–28.

¹⁴ Sara Blumenthal, Scham in der schulischen Sexualaufklärung: Eine pädagogische Ethnographie des Gymnasialunterrichts [Shame in sex education: a pedagogical ethnography] (Wiesbaden: Springer, 2014); Mark Halstead and Sue Waite, ‘“Love and Trust”: Making Space for Feelings in Sex Education’, Education and Health 21, no. 2 (2003): 23–8; Hera Cook, ‘Getting “Foolishly Hot and Bothered”? Parents and Teachers and Sex Education in the 1940s’, Sex Education 12, no. 5 (2012): 555–67.

¹⁵ See e.g. Ronald de Sousa, ‘Emotion’, in The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2014 Edition) (http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2014/entries/emotion)(accessed March 23, 2019); and Sabine Roeser and Cain Todd, C., eds., Emotion and Value (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014).

¹⁶ Lisa Blackman and Couze Venn, ‘Affect’, Body & Society 16, no. 1 (2010): 7–28; Patricia Ticineto Clough, ‘Afterword: The Future of Affect Studies’, Body & Society 16, no. 1 (2010): 222–30.

¹⁷ Lesko, ‘Feeling Abstinent?’, 284.

¹⁸ Sara Ahmed, The Cultural Politics of Emotion (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2004).

¹⁹ Lutz Sauerteig, ‘Representations of Pregnancy and Child Birth in (West) German Sex Education Books, 1900s–1970s’, in Shaping Sexual Knowledge: A Cultural History of Sex Education in Twentieth Century Europe, ed. Lutz Sauerteig and Roger Davidson (London: Routledge, 2009), 129.

²⁰ Carrie Paechter, ‘“Mens Sana in Corpore Sano”: Cartesian Dualism and the Marginalisation of Sex Education’, Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education 25, no. 3 (2004): 309–20.

²¹ Sauerteig and Davidson, Shaping Sexual Knowledge.

²² Zimmerman, Too Hot to Handle; Jones, Sexuality Education Discourse Framework.

²³ See Christin Sager, Das aufgeklärte Kind: Zur Geschichte der bundesrepublikanischen Sexualaufklärung (1950–2010) [The enlightened child: a history of sex education in the Federal Republic of Germany] (Bielefeld: transcript, 2015), 193.

²⁴ Heike Mauer, ‘“Sie möchten mir doch bitte die Erlaubnis geben nur einen kleinen Besuch zu machen nach Luxemburg” – Prostitution und Migration in Luxemburg (1900–1939)’ [‘Please allow me to briefly visit Luxembourg’ – prostitution and migration in Luxembourg (1900–1939)], in Migration und Minderheiten in der Demokratie. Politische Formen und soziale Grundlagen von Partizipation, ed. Philipp Eigenmann, Thomas Geisen and Tobias Studer (Wiesbaden: Springer, 2016), 329–48.

²⁵ ‘Die sexuelle Frage in der Schule’ [The sexual question in education], Ons Jongen, December 1, 1949, 2.

²⁶ ‘Sexualerziehung in der Schule’ [Sex education in the school], Tageblatt, December 20, 1961, 7.

²⁷ ‘Plaidoyer für eine emanzipierte Sexualpädagogik’ [A case for emancipatory sex education], Tageblatt, October 18, 1969, 7.

²⁸ Nadine Geisler, ‘MLF – Werden und Wirken der Neuen Frauenbewegung in Luxemburg (1972–1992) [MLF – Becoming and influence of the new women’s movement in Luxembourg (1972–1992)],’ in Das Gespenst des Feminismus. Frauenbewegung in Luxemburg gestern – heute – morgen, ed. Sonja Kmec, Cid-femmes (Marburg: Jonas, 2012), 17–68.

²⁹ Jos Massard, Biologie und Sexualerziehung im Sekundarunterricht unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Orientierungsklasse [Biology and sex education in secondary education and orientation classes] (Mémoire pédagogique, 1970); Fernand Leesch, Sexualerziehung und Biologieunterricht (Mémoire pédagogique, 1972).

³⁰ ‘Sexualerziehung im Laienmoralkurs’ [Sex education in lay morals], Tageblatt November 11, 1970, 5.

³¹ For example, Guy Rewenig, ‘Sexualerziehung in der Schule: Eine pädagogische Herausforderung (II) [Sex education in schools: a pedagogical challenge]’, d’Letzeburger Land, July 18, 1975, 9; ‘La politique du Ministère de l’Education Nationale’, Bulletin F.G.I.L., 1977/1, 5; ‘Notizen am Rande der Abtreibungsdebatte’, Abtreiben, Forum 103, 1978; and ‘Am Rande’, d’Letzeburger Land, April 4, 1980, 3.

³² See also Julie McLeod, ‘Incitement or Education? Contesting Sex, Curriculum and Identity in Schools’, Melbourne Studies in Education 40, no. 2 (1999): 7–39; Lesko, ‘Feeling Abstinent?’; and Jones, Sexuality Education Discourse Framework.

³³ In 2016 and 2017, I conducted qualitative interviews with former sex education reformers in Luxembourg, aiming to gather additional information on the historical trajectory of sex education for a triangulation of sociological data on reform practices with archival sources.

³⁴ See Jos Massard, ‘Biologie und Sexualunterricht in Luxemburg [Biology and sex education in Luxembourg]’, Letzebuerger Almanach (1989): 124–31.

³⁵ All quotations of sources are translated from German and French to English by the author.

³⁶ Rene Worré, Éducation sexuelle. Arbeitsmappe für Kinder vom 3.-6. Schuljahr [Sex education. Worksheets for children in 3rd to 6th grade] (FGIL-Broschüre, 1985), 11.

³⁷ Ibid., 12.

³⁸ Ibid., 13.

³⁹ Ibid., 14.

⁴⁰ Ibid., 16.

⁴¹ Ibid., 17.

⁴² Ibid., 32.

⁴³ Sager, Das aufgeklärte Kind.

⁴⁴ Partnerschaft und Liebe. Informationsschrift herausgegeben vom Familienministerium gemäß Gesetz vom 15. November 1978 betreffend Sexualerziehung, die Vorbeugung der Abtreibung und die Regelung des Schwangerschaftsabbruchs [Partnership and love. Booklet edited by the family ministry according to the law from 15 November 1978 concerning sex education, prevention and regulation of abortion] (Luxembourg: editpress, n.d. [1983–85]), 3.

⁴⁵ Ibid., 10.

⁴⁶ Ibid., 5.

⁴⁷ Ibid., 18.

⁴⁸ Ibid., 21–3.

⁴⁹ Ibid., 5, 8.

⁵⁰ Ibid., 50. At this point, one starts wondering if the content was genuinely intended to cover sex education of pupils. Indeed, in the introduction, the family minister mentioned that the material should help parents to fulfil their responsibility for educating their children. One might suspect that some of the content was written primarily with the parents in mind.

⁵¹ See ibid., 18–21.

⁵² Ibid., 21; in Luxembourgish original: ‘Looss de Kapp net hänken!’.

⁵³ See Lesko, ‘Feeling Abstinent?’

⁵⁴ Partnerschaft und Liebe, 11.

⁵⁵ See Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison (Vintage, 1995).

⁵⁶ See Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, Classroom Wars: Language, Sex, and the Making of Modern Political Culture (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015).

⁵⁷ Lutz Sauerteig, ‘Representations of Pregnancy and Child Birth in (West) German Sex Education Books, 1900s–1970s’, in Shaping Sexual Knowledge: A Cultural History of Sex Education in Twentieth Century Europe, ed. Lutz Sauerteig and Roger Davidson (London: Routledge, 2009), 141–2.

⁵⁸ Sager, Das aufgeklärte Kind, 134–35; See also Friedrich Koch, ‘Zur Geschichte der Sexualpädagogik’, in Handbuch Sexualpädagogik und sexuelle Bildung, ed. Renate-Berenike Schmidt and Uwe Sielert (Weinheim: Beltz Juventa, 2013), 34; Sauerteig, ‘Representations of Pregnancy and Child Birth’.

⁵⁹ Richtlinien für den Sexualunterricht in den Vorschul-, Primär-, Spezial- und Komplementarklassen Luxemburgs. Gutachten des Allgemeinen Luxemburger Lehrerverbandes [Guidelines for sex education in preschool, special and complementary classes in Luxembourg. Expertise of the General Luxembourgian Teacher Union] (Gutachten FGIL, 1976).

⁶⁰ Serge Wilmes, Die katholische Kirche Luxemburgs und die Abtreibungsdebatte in den 1970er Jahren [The Catholic church in Luxembourg and the debate over abortion in the 1970s] (Memoire scientifique, Université du Luxembourg, 2006).

⁶¹ Nadine Geisler, ‘MLF – Werden und Wirken’, 17–68.

⁶² ‘Gesetz beerdigt: Brautpaare müssen nicht mehr zum Arzt [Buried law: bridal couples do not have to consult a doctor anymore]’, L’essentiel, June 24, 2014, http://www.lessentiel.lu/de/news/story/24893613; ‘No more medical exam before marriage’, Luxembourg Times, December 18, 2014, https://luxtimes.lu/archives/13985-no-more-medical-exam-before-marriage.

⁶³ See Loi du 15 novembre 1978 relative à l’information sexuelle, à la prévention de l´avortement clandestin et à la réglementation de l’interruption de la grossesse, 6 December 1978.

⁶⁴ ‘Frust statt Lust. Unterrichtsminister Boden zensiert Aufklärungsmaterial [Frustration instead of pleasure. Minister of Education Boden censors sex education material]’, Tageblatt, June 27, 1986.

⁶⁵ Fernand Boden, in Protocol of the 82nd Parliamenary Session, Question 316 de Mme Anne Brasseur (DP) concernant l’édition par la Fédération générale des instituteurs d’un manuel traitant de l’éducation sexuelle, July 15, 1986, 4856. Adopting the report of the Commission of Instruction and the statement of the Ministry of Education, other critics of the worksheets also emphasised that ‘the school is not supposed to teach anatomical and physiological knowledge only. Instead, sex education has to include education in emotional respect, on responsibility and human values.’ Indeed, it was already part of the law of 1978 that sex education should address these dimensions, in addition to biological knowledge. See Massard, Biologie und Sexualunterricht, 130.

⁶⁶ Arreté ministériel du 13 février 1979 portant modification du plan d’études pour les écoles primaires du Grand-Duché. Richtlinien für den Sexualunterricht in den Vorschul-, Primär-, Spezial- und Komplementarklassen Luxemburgs, 1447.

⁶⁷ ‘Satire: Jetzt ist es genug! [Satire: That is enough!]’, Tageblatt, July 12, 1980, 4.

⁶⁸ Massard, Biologie und Sexualunterricht, 130.

⁶⁹ ‘Sexualerziehung in der Schule: Eine pädagogische Herausforderung (1)’, d’Letzeburger Land, July 11, 1975, 6.

⁷⁰ Protocol of the 82nd Parliamenary Session, July 15, 1986, 4856.

⁷¹ Massard, Biologie und Sexualunterricht, 130.

⁷² Lesko, ‘Feeling Abstinent?’ 290.

⁷³ See Zimmerman, Too Hot to Handle.

⁷⁴ Jones, Sexuality Education Discourse Framework, 148–9.

⁷⁵ Mark Fenemore, ‘The Recent Historiography of Sexuality in Twentieth-Century Germany’, Historical Journal 52, no. 3 (2009): 763–78.

⁷⁶ Foucault, Der Wille zum Wissen, 134, translation B.R.

⁷⁷ IPPF, Everyone’s Right to Know, 9.

⁷⁸ Jessica Fields, Jen Gilbert and Michelle Miller, ‘Sexuality and Education: Toward the Promise of Ambiguity’, in Handbook of the Sociology of Sexualities, ed. John DeLamater and Rebecca F. Plante (Cham: Springer, 2015), 374.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Fonds National de la Recherche Luxembourg (FNR).

Notes on contributors

Barbara Rothmüller

Barbara Rothmüller is working as an Independent Researcher and Lecturer in Sociology, Educational Science, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Vienna, University of Innsbruck, Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, and Webster University Vienna, Austria. From 2013 to 2017, she was a Doctoral Researcher at the Institute of Education and Society, University of Luxembourg. Her doctoral research on educational reforms won the Arlene Kaplan Daniels Award for the Best Paper on Women and Social Justice, awarded by the Society for the Study of Social Problems, in 2017. Since September 2017, she has been a Research Associate on the project Imagining Desires, Institute for Education in the Arts, Academy of Fine Arts Vienna.