ATS2715

What i wanted to write as my introduction for my research essay for Sexuality and Society. however, sadly, i fear i cannot, so instead i will subject my readers (if any) to what i think is some decent writing from me (which these days, is few and far between)
enjoy.


“Don’t have sex. Or you will get pregnant, and die.” These famous wise words were uttered by the character of Coach Carr as he teaches health class in the ever-popular teen movie “Mean Girls” (directed by Mark Waters, screenplay by Tina Fey, based on the book “Queen Bees and Wannabes” by Rosalind Wiseman, starring actress and role model Lindsay Lohan). Apart from serving as testament to Tina Fey’s comedic genius, the well-known and many-times quoted line is a shining example (albeit somewhat exaggerated) of one of the all-too-common discourses of school-based sex education (SBSE) that is found in many classrooms the world over. Evidence of such a discourse is found in Michelle Fine’s works which focus on the “missing discourse of desire” (Fine, 1988) in SBSE, however she terms it the discourse of “sexuality as violence, defined as focusing on the potential risks adolescents – in particular, adolescent females – face should they become involved in sexual activity. Supporting Fine’s argument and validating the research topic to present-day is Laina Bay-Cheng, in her article “The Trouble of Teen Sex: the construction of adolescent sexuality through school-based sexuality education” (2010). In Bay-Cheng’s article, she argues that current SBSE programs in the U.S are negatively focused, narrow-minded in terms of definitions of sexuality (reinforcing heteronormative concepts of sexuality), and proliferating racist, sexist and classist notions of sexuality. All this from my favourite Mean Girls quote... oi vey.