ERIC Number: EJ1179953
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2018
Pages: 7
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-1183-1189
EISSN: N/A
Sexuality
Matthews, Corinne
Brock Education: A Journal of Educational Research and Practice, v27 n2 p68-74 2018
Sexuality is both everywhere and nowhere in children's literature since it collides with an ideology of childhood innocence that works to erase childhood sexuality altogether. Debates about identity, self-expression, the boundary between childhood and adulthood--and attempts to police that boundary--often center on sexuality. Anxiety around children and sexuality often results in censorship, particularly when it comes to sex education. While young adult literature can fill some gaps left by inadequate sex education, expecting it to serve as an adequate substitute can give adolescents unrealistic expectations about sex that can harm them at least as much as lack of information. Depictions of sexuality in adolescent literature work to some degree to regulate and even prevent the healthy development of young adult sexuality. Similarly, while there has been a recent much needed increase in LGBTQ representation in children's and young adult literature, many still leave any sex that falls outside the strict bounds of heterosexuality implicit rather than explicit, subtly othering queer desire via its relative invisibility.
Descriptors: Sexuality, Childrens Literature, Adolescent Literature, Homosexuality, Sexual Orientation, Censorship
Brock University Faculty of Educatino. 500 Glenridge Avenue, Saint Catharines, ON, L2S 3A1 Canada. Tel: 905-688-5550 ext. 3733; e-mail: brocked@brocku.ca; Web site: http://brocked.ed.brocku.ca
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A