Gender in the Adoption and Implementation of Sex Education Policy
ABSTRACT
We contribute to the study of gender in the US federal policymaking process by charting the relationship between the gendered meanings mobilized in the congressional debate over abstinence-only sex education policy and the gendered meanings produced within the implemented curricula. We find that abstinence-only sex education programs were rationalized in gender neutral terms in Congress while celebrating gender difference and producing explicitly gendered meanings in implementation. This contradiction between the gender neutrality of the congressional debates and the highly gendered lessons of the curricula raises important questions for how gender functions across the policy process. The argument of “what works”, abstinence or comprehension, is not enough; we need to pay attention to how it works, especially with regard to the teaching of gender inequality.
We contribute to the study of gender in the US federal policymaking process by charting the relationship between the gendered meanings mobilized in the congressional debate over abstinence-only sex education policy and the gendered meanings produced within the implemented curricula. We find that abstinence-only sex education programs were rationalized in gender neutral terms in Congress while celebrating gender difference and producing explicitly gendered meanings in implementation. This contradiction between the gender neutrality of the congressional debates and the highly gendered lessons of the curricula raises important questions for how gender functions across the policy process. The argument of “what works”, abstinence or comprehension, is not enough; we need to pay attention to how it works, especially with regard to the teaching of gender inequality.
Cite this paper
Beechey, S. and Moon, L. (2015) Gender in the Adoption and Implementation of Sex Education Policy. Open Journal of Social Sciences, 3, 224-233. doi: 10.4236/jss.2015.37035.
Beechey, S. and Moon, L. (2015) Gender in the Adoption and Implementation of Sex Education Policy. Open Journal of Social Sciences, 3, 224-233. doi: 10.4236/jss.2015.37035.
References
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http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/storage/advfy/documents/fshistoryabonly.pdf [10] Family and Youth Services Bureau (2015) State Abstinence Education Grant Program Fact Sheet. Administration for Children and Families, Washington DC.
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/fysb/resource/aegp-fact-sheet [11] Kirby, D. (2008) The Impact of Abstinence and Comprehensive Sex and STD/HIV Education Programs on Adolescent Sexual Behavior. Sexuality Research & Social Policy, 5, 18-27.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/srsp.2008.5.3.18 [12] Rector, R. (2002) The Effectiveness of Abstinence Education Programs in Reducing Sexual Activity Among Youth. Heritage Foundation, Washington DC.
http://www.heritage.org/Research/Abstinence/BG1533.cfm [13] Schalet, A., et al. (2014) Broadening the Evidence for Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health and Education in the United States. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 43, 1595-1610.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10964-014-0178-8 [14] Fine, M. (1988) Sexuality, Schooling, and Adolescent Females: The Missing Discourse of Desire. Harvard Educational Review, 58, 29-53. http://dx.doi.org/10.17763/haer.58.1.u0468k1v2n2n8242 [15] Boryczka, J. (2009) Who Cares? Privileged Irresponsibility & Sex Education Policy. Politics & Gender, 5, 1-26. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1743923X09000154 [16] Charmaz, K. (2006) Constructing Grounded Theory: A Practical Guide through Qualitative Analysis. Sage, London. [17] WAIT Training (2003) WAIT Training. 2nd Edition, Greenwood Village, Colorado. [18] Choosing the Best (2004) Choosing the Best Soul Mate. Choosing the Best Publishing, Atlanta. [19] Teen-AID (1993) Me, My World, My Future. 2nd Edition, Teen-Aid, Inc., Spokane. [20] US Congress (2001) Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act 2002. Congressional Record, 147, H6667-H6672.
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CREC-2001-10-11/pdf/CREC-2001-10-11-pt1-PgH6569-2.pdf [21] US Congress (2002) Personal Responsibility, Work, and Family Promotion Act of 2002. Congressional Record, 148, H2549-H2552.
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CREC-2002-05-16/pdf/CREC-2002-05-16-pt1-PgH2517-5.pdf
[1] Bacchi, C. (1999) Women, Policy and Politics: the Construction of Policy Problems. Sage, London. [2] Yanow, D. and Schwartz-Shea, P., Eds. (2006) Interpretation and Method: Empirical Research Methods and the Interpretive Turn. M.E. Sharpe, Armonk. [3] Schneider, A. and Ingram, H. (2008) Social Constructions in the Study of Public Policy. In: Holstein, J. and Gubrium, J., Eds., Handbook of Constructionist Research, Guilford Publications, New York, 189-212. [4] Yanow, D. (1996) How Does a Policy Mean? Interpreting Policy and Organizational Actions. Georgetown University Press, Washington DC. [5] Moran, J.P. (2000) Teaching Sex: The Shaping of Adolescence in the 20th Century. Harvard University Press, Cambridge. [6] Irvine, J. (2002) Talk about Sex: The Battles over Sex Education in the United States. University of California Press, Berkeley. [7] Luker, K. (2006) When Sex Goes to School: Warring Views on Sex—and Sex Education—Since the Sixties. W. W. Norton & Company, New York. [8] Doan, A. and Williams, J. (2008) The Politics of Virginity: Abstinence in Sex Education. Praeger Publishers, Westport. [9] Advocates for Youth (2007) The History of Federal Abstinence-Only Funding.
http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/storage/advfy/documents/fshistoryabonly.pdf [10] Family and Youth Services Bureau (2015) State Abstinence Education Grant Program Fact Sheet. Administration for Children and Families, Washington DC.
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/fysb/resource/aegp-fact-sheet [11] Kirby, D. (2008) The Impact of Abstinence and Comprehensive Sex and STD/HIV Education Programs on Adolescent Sexual Behavior. Sexuality Research & Social Policy, 5, 18-27.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/srsp.2008.5.3.18 [12] Rector, R. (2002) The Effectiveness of Abstinence Education Programs in Reducing Sexual Activity Among Youth. Heritage Foundation, Washington DC.
http://www.heritage.org/Research/Abstinence/BG1533.cfm [13] Schalet, A., et al. (2014) Broadening the Evidence for Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health and Education in the United States. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 43, 1595-1610.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10964-014-0178-8 [14] Fine, M. (1988) Sexuality, Schooling, and Adolescent Females: The Missing Discourse of Desire. Harvard Educational Review, 58, 29-53. http://dx.doi.org/10.17763/haer.58.1.u0468k1v2n2n8242 [15] Boryczka, J. (2009) Who Cares? Privileged Irresponsibility & Sex Education Policy. Politics & Gender, 5, 1-26. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1743923X09000154 [16] Charmaz, K. (2006) Constructing Grounded Theory: A Practical Guide through Qualitative Analysis. Sage, London. [17] WAIT Training (2003) WAIT Training. 2nd Edition, Greenwood Village, Colorado. [18] Choosing the Best (2004) Choosing the Best Soul Mate. Choosing the Best Publishing, Atlanta. [19] Teen-AID (1993) Me, My World, My Future. 2nd Edition, Teen-Aid, Inc., Spokane. [20] US Congress (2001) Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act 2002. Congressional Record, 147, H6667-H6672.
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CREC-2001-10-11/pdf/CREC-2001-10-11-pt1-PgH6569-2.pdf [21] US Congress (2002) Personal Responsibility, Work, and Family Promotion Act of 2002. Congressional Record, 148, H2549-H2552.
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CREC-2002-05-16/pdf/CREC-2002-05-16-pt1-PgH2517-5.pdf