Tools
Tools
WOOD, Rachel, HIRST, Julia, WILSON, Liz and BURNS-O'CONNELL, Georgina (2019). The pleasure imperative? Reflecting on sexual pleasure’s inclusion in sex education and sexual health. Sex Education, 19 (1), 1-14.
|
PDF
Hirst Pleasure imperative.pdf - Accepted Version All rights reserved. Download (420kB) | Preview |
Abstract
This article offers an empirically grounded contribution to scholarship exploring the ways in which pleasure is ‘put to work’ in sex and sexuality education. Such research has cautioned against framing pleasure as a normative requirement of sexual activity and hence reproducing a ‘pleasure imperative’. This paper draws on interviews with sexual health and education practitioners who engaged with Pleasure Project resources and training between 2007 and 2016. Findings suggest that practitioners tend to understand pleasure within critical frameworks that allow them to avoid normalising and (re)enforcing a pleasure imperative. Accounts also show negotiations with, and strategic deployments of, values surrounding sexual pleasure in society and culture. While some accounts suggest that a pleasure imperative does run the risk of being reproduced by practitioners, notably this is when discussing more ‘contentious’ sexual practices. Interviews also demonstrate that practitioners attempting to implement a pleasure agenda are faced with a range of challenges. While some positive, holistic, and inclusive practice has been afforded by a pleasure approach, we argue that the importance of a critical framework needs to be (re)emphasised. The paper concludes by highlighting areas for further empirical research.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Additional Information: | ** From Crossref via Jisc Publications Router. |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Social Sciences (miscellaneous), Education |
| Departments - Does NOT include content added after October 2018: | Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities > Department of Psychology, Sociology and Politics |
| Identification Number: | https://doi.org/10.1080/14681811.2018.1468318 |
| Page Range: | 1-14 |
| SWORD Depositor: | Margaret Boot |
| Depositing User: | Margaret Boot |
| Date Deposited: | 11 May 2018 11:37 |
| Last Modified: | 18 Mar 2021 03:22 |
| URI: | https://shura.shu.ac.uk/id/eprint/21059 |
Actions (login required)
 |
View Item |
Downloads
Downloads per month over past year