Transgender young people’s narratives of intimacy and sexual health: implications for sexuality education

Abstract

Sexuality education as pedagogy is often fraught by the perceived need to balance the informational needs of young people with an investment in notions of childhood innocence. Nowhere is this perhaps more evident than in sexuality education that seeks to be inclusive of transgender young people, often resulting in the failure of such education to address the needs of such students. In an attempt at addressing the relative dearth of information about what transgender young people would like to see covered in sexuality education, in this article we explore transgender young people's accounts of intimacy and sexual health and consider what this means for school-based sexuality education. To do this we analyse discussions of intimacy from the perspectives of transgender young people as narrated in a sample of YouTube videos. We conclude by advocating for an approach to sexuality education that largely eschews the gendering of body parts and gametes, and which instead focuses on function, so as to not only address the needs of transgender young people (who may find normative discussions of genitals distressing), but to also provide cisgender young people with a more inclusive understanding of their own and other people's bodies and desires.

A literature review of the secondary school experiences of trans youth

“…School curricula that are not inclusive fail to include information about trans embodiment or positive representations of diverse gender expressions (Ma'ayan, 2003;Peter et al, 2016;Sausa, 2005;Ullman, 2014). Trans youth have been found to experience exclusion and erasure acutely in overtly gendered subject areas, such as physical education (Devís-Devís et al, 2018;Ma'ayan, 2003;Hargie, Mitchell, & Somerville, 2017), and sex education (Austin, 2016;Gowen & Yanez, 2014;Riggs & Bartholomaeus, 2018). These findings indicate that cisnormative macroaggressions are embedded in the administrative practices, architectural formations and pedagogical curricula of secondary schools.…”

Sexual health information on social media: a systematic scoping review

“…(2017; [ 88 ]) YouTube Quantitativ manuell + Profis Laien Sonstige – 1 Gering 63 Perez-Torres et al. (2018; [ 89 ]) YouTube Qualitativ – Laien + 1 – 64 Raun (2015; [ 90 ]) YouTube Qualitativ – Laien – 1 – 65 Riggs und Bartholomaeus (2018; [ 91 ]) YouTube Qualitativ – Laien + 1 – 66 Schwartz und Grimm (2017; [ 92 ]) Twitter Quantitativ manuell – Profis Laien Sonstige – 1 – 67 Stephen und Cumming (2012; [ 93 ]) YouTube Quantitativ manuell – – + 3 – 68 Syred et al. (2014; [ 94 ]) Facebook Qualitativ – Laien + 1 – 69 Tortajada et al.…”

“…3). Beispielsweise ist untersucht worden, wie die Impfung gegen humane Papillomviren (HPV) auf YouTube [48] und Twitter [79] dargestellt wird (Themengebiet HIV/STI), wie Trans*Personen auf YouTube ihre sexuelle Gesundheit beschreiben [91] und welche alternativen Männlichkeitsbilder auf YouTube [84] vermittelt werden (Themengebiet geschlechtliche und sexuelle Identitäten), wie Mädchen und Frauen sexuelle Gewalt auf YouTube [59] behandeln und welche Möglichkeiten der sexuellen Gewaltprävention auf Twitter [64] diskutiert werden (Themengebiet sexuelle Gewalt), welche Verhütungsinformationen auf YouTube [85] verfügbar sind (Themengebiet Fruchtbarkeit und Verhütung), welche Informationen zu erektiler Dysfunktion auf YouTube [57] oder zu Unfruchtbarkeit auf Instagram und Twitter [44] verbreitet werden (Themengebiet sexuelle und reproduktive Störungen) und welche Informationen über lesbische Lebensweisen [80] oder sexuelle Techniken [33] auf YouTube zu finden sind (Themengebiet sexuelle Funktionen, Lebensstile und Vergnügen).…”

Gender Dysphoria and Sexual Well-Being Among Trans Masculine and Nonbinary Individuals

“…While there remains debate about whether the source of the distress of gender dysphoria stems from gender incongruence between the individual and their body or from stigma associated with a cisnormative society (Riggs et al, 2015), recent literature has recognized that gender dysphoria can be conceptualized as relating to both body and social experiences (see Jones et al, 2019b;Galupo et al, 2020;Hill-Meyer & Scarborough, 2014;Riggs & Bartholomaeus, 2018;Winters & Ehrbar, 2010). Body gender dysphoria encompasses the distress an individual experiences because of the difference between their felt gender and their body and is the intrapersonal aspect of gender dysphoria (Pulice-Farrow et al, 2020).…”

“…For instance, trans masculine and nonbinary individuals have described the ways in which supportive partners can assist them in overcoming their gender dysphoria during sexual acts, which contributed to sexual satisfaction (Pulice-Farrow et al, 2019). Specifically, partners can utilize gender affirming language (e.g., "testodick," front hole) and sexual roles (e.g., "topping") thereby increasing gender affirmation and reducing experiences of both body and social gender dysphoria (Riggs & Bartholomaeus, 2018). However, not all TNB individuals experience gender affirmation during sex which may increase experiences of social gender dysphoria and subsequently result in less sexual satisfaction (Galupo et al, 2020).…”