| Title: |
Body and Risk: Health Promotion in Swedish School Sex Education 1900-2020s |
| Language: |
English |
| Authors: |
Anne-Li Lindgren (ORCID 0000-0002-0499-1345); Sara Backman Prytz |
| Source: |
Global Studies of Childhood. 2026 16(1):63-75. |
| Availability: |
SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://sagepub.com |
| Peer Reviewed: |
Y |
| Page Count: |
13 |
| Publication Date: |
2026 |
| Document Type: |
Journal Articles; Information Analyses |
| Education Level: |
Elementary Education; Secondary Education |
| Descriptors: |
Foreign Countries; Sex Education; Health Promotion; Educational History; Human Body; Anatomy; Sexuality; Barriers; Gender Differences; Hygiene; Elementary Education; Secondary Education |
| Geographic Terms: |
Sweden |
| DOI: |
10.1177/20436106251398505 |
| ISSN: |
2043-6106 |
| Abstract: |
In this article, we focus on sex education in schools and not sex education in general, which has different audiences, purposes, aims and scope. Swedish sex education has had a reputation as being very liberal and sex-friendly, providing the most advanced information for primary- and secondary-school pupils and students from the mid-20th century onwards. When following the trajectory of sex education into the schooling system, from the start of the 20th century, it becomes clear that the teaching targeted gendered bodies associated with varying risks. Different actors involved in the process make different associations between health promotion, bodies and risk, and a key finding is that the state uses risk as a productive force when promoting sex education in school, while at the same time excluding knowledge about the visual anatomy of the clitoris and the glans, i.e., organs vital to the experiencing of sexual desire. Contemporary Swedish sex education remains a discourse that revolves around health promotion and risk, and the state guidelines (still) lack visual presentations of bodies with organs for desire. In this article, we trace how versions of health promotion have regulated and constrained children's and young people's sexuality. |
| Abstractor: |
As Provided |
| Entry Date: |
2026 |
| Accession Number: |
EJ1499443 |
| Database: |
ERIC |