Popular discourses on the problem of sexualisation are beset by emotively charged rhetoric that all-too-often promotes a visceral and affective response as opposed to reasoned and nuanced examination. Drawing on materials from the Social Purity Movement (1860–1910) as well as contemporary anti-sexualisation literature, this article argues that a historical-situated perspective may help authors, activists and advocates offer a more reflexive perspective on ‘the problem of sexualisation’. We forward a historically informed discourse analysis to render visible the longstanding, and deeply problematic, assumptions of childhood, gender and class at work in current concerns on sexualisation.

Sexuality, youth and the perils of endangered innocence: how history can help us get past the panic

The media are widely acknowledged as important in sex and relationship education, but they are usually associated with ‘bad’ effects on young people in contrast to the ‘good’ knowledge represented by more informational and educational formats. In this paper we look at sex advice giving in newspapers, magazines and television in the UK, in sex advice books and in online spaces for sexual learning. We examine some of the limitations of the information provided, consider the challenges for sex advice in the contemporary context, and outline some of the opportunities for academics, researchers, therapists, sex educators and activists to contribute productively to sex advice giving and sexual learning more generally.

/pdf/sense-about-sex-media-sex-advice-education-and-learning-sslbi5kwe0.pdf

Sense about sex: media, sex advice, education and learning

This article explores some of the dilemmas and difficulties encountered by academic researchers (and specifically those who work on media audiences) in presenting their work in the public domain. It considers some examples of media coverage of debates about media audiences, raising questions about academic authority, research evidence and public knowledge. It points to the limitations of a view of such debates as “moral panics” and proposes a different approach based on social constructionist analyses of “social problems.” It concludes by considering some of the ambivalence and uncertainty that surrounds the increasingly common requirement for academics to become engaged with the public at large.

Representing Audiences: Audience Research, Public Knowledge, and Policy

This doctoral thesis examines the ways young women experience media education in sixth form, with particular emphasis on their experience of gender representation lessons. Secondary research objectives include an examination of how young women regard the development of their own critical media literacy and how they conceive of the effects of media education on their self-esteem. Through classroom observations and interviews with A-level Media Studies teachers and female students, this research explores three key areas of focus in understanding young women’s experiences: media representations of feminine aesthetics and the sexualisation of feminine appearance, the negotiation between course material and students’ personal engagement with media, and lastly reflections on how critical media literacy is defined and developed within the Media Studies course.

The thesis discusses ways in which content both constrains and enables students’ development of critical media literacy. The role of chosen exam boards, teaching styles, and forms (i.e. upper sixth form versus lower sixth form) are examined as influencing factors. Specific lessons from observations, which students reflected upon during interviews, are also discussed in order to understand the process of teaching and learning about gender representation. A feminist discourse is at times present though mostly in covert ways. A greater consideration for contemporary feminist work would resolve some of the current difficulties faced by educators in their efforts to develop students’ critical awareness, specifically when teaching about the representation of women. Female students often reflect what Gill has termed a ‘postfeminist sensibility’ (2007: 254); however, this exists in varying degrees. In certain contexts students tend to articulate more ‘traditional’ feminist values. In relation to one of the secondary research objectives, students find that A-level Media Studies improves the self-esteem of their physical appearance; however, other findings reveal that the extensive focus on textual analysis of sexualised and idealised representations of women can sometimes counter-act the aspects which students referenced as beneficial to their self-esteem. Despite many recommendations for improving the teaching of gender representation that are offered here, it is evident that some solutions are dependent on broader shifts occurring at the level of the education system.

Feminine experience: media education and gender representation

Naked on the Internet: hookups, downloads, and cashing in on Internet sexploration. By A. Ray, New York, NY: Seal Press, 2007

This article reproduces and discusses a series of blog posts posted by academics in anticipation of the report on commercialisation, sexualisation and childhood, ‘Letting Children Be Children’ by Reg Bailey for the UK Department of Education in June 2011. The article discusses the difficulty of ‘translating’ scholarly work for the public in a context where ‘impact’ is increasingly important and the challenges that academics face in finding new ways of speaking about sex in public.

/pdf/engaging-with-the-bailey-review-blogging-academia-and-2dhw5w91qr.pdf

Engaging with the Bailey Review: blogging, academia and authenticity

This article reproduces and discusses a series of blog posts posted by academics in anticipation of the report on commercialisation, sexualisation and childhood, 'Letting Children Be Children' by Reg Bailey for the UK Department of Education in June 2011. The article discusses the difficulty of 'translating' scholarly work for the public in a context where 'impact' is increasingly important and the challenges that academics face in finding new ways of speaking about sex in public.

Engaging with the Bailey Review : blogging, academia and authenticity

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Engaging with the Bailey Review: blogging, academia and authenticity

Engaging with the Bailey Review : blogging, academia and authenticity