The Politics of Pleasure in Sexuality Education

Pleasure and desire have been important components of the vision for sexuality education for over 20 years. This book argues that there has been a lack of scrutiny over the political motivations that underpin research supportive of pleasure and desire within comprehensive sexuality education. In this volume, key researchers in the field consider how discourses related to pleasure and desire have been taken up internationally. They argue that sexuality education is clearly shaped by specific cultural and political contexts, and examine how these contexts have shaped the development of pleasure's inclusion in such programs. Via such discussions, this volume incites a re-configuration of thought regarding sexuality education's approach to pleasure and desire.

Louisa Allen is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education, University of Auckland. She researches and writes in the areas of young people, sexualities and schooling. She has published extensively in these areas and her latest sole authored book is 'Young People and Sexuality Education: Rethinking Key Debates'. Mary Lou Rasmussen is an Associate Professor in Education, Monash University. Her principal research is in the area of sexualities, gender and education. She is the author of Becoming Subjects (2006) and co-editor of Youth and Sexualities (2004). A monograph, Progressive Sexuality Education: The Conceits of Secularism is forthcoming (2014). Kathleen Quinlivan is a Senior Lecturer in Education at the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand. She researches and writes extensively in the areas of critical sexuality education and schooling. She is the co-editor of Educational Enactments in a Globalised World: Intercultural Conversations (2009).

1. Introduction: Putting Pleasure Under Pressure Louisa Allen, Mary Lou Rasmussen, and Kathleen Quinlivan 2.Over-sexed and Under Surveillance: Adolescent Sexualities, Cultural Anxieties, and Thick Desire Sara I. McClelland and Michelle Fine 3. 'Get Some Rhythm Round the Clitoris': Addressing Sexual Pleasure in Sexuality Education in Schools and other Youth Settings Julia Hirst 4. A Well-kept Secret: Sex Education, Masturbation and Public Health Roger Ingham 5. "What's Wrong with Porn?" Engaging with Contemporary Painting to Explore the Commodification of Pleasure in Sexuality Education Kathleen Quinlivan 6. Sacred Pleasure: Exploring Dimensions of Sexual Pleasure and Desire from an Islamic Perspective Fida Sanjakdar 7. Introducing a Critical Pedagogy of Sexual and Reproductive Citizenship: Extending the 'Framework of Thick Desire' Catriona Macleod and Louise Vincent 8. The Hard Work of Pleasure Sharon Lamb 9. Pleasure/Desire, Sexularism and Sexuality Education Mary Lou Rasmussen 10. Pleasure's Perils? Critically Reflecting on Pleasure's Inclusion in Sexuality Education Louisa Allen 11. After-word(s) - Engaging with the Politics of Pleasure in Sexuality Education: Affordances and Provocations Kathleen Quinlivan, Louisa Allen, and Mary Lou Rasmussen