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Body and risk: Health promotion in Swedish school sex education 1900–2020s
Stockholm University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Child and Youth Studies.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-0499-1345
Number of Authors: 22026 (English)In: Global Studies of Childhood, E-ISSN 2043-6106, Vol. 16, no 1, p. 63-75Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

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.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Sage Publications, 2026. Vol. 16, no 1, p. 63-75
Keywords [en]
school sex education, body, risk, health promotion
National Category
Other Educational Sciences
Research subject
Child and Youth Studies with Focus on Educational Science; Educational Science
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:su:diva-250748DOI: 10.1177/20436106251398505ISI: 001699382100007Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-105026061326OAI: oai:DiVA.org:su-250748DiVA, id: diva2:2024701
Projects
Historiska perspektiv på skolans sexualundervisning
Funder
Swedish Research Council, 2018-05311Available from: 2025-12-30 Created: 2025-12-30 Last updated: 2026-03-20Bibliographically approved

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Lindgren, Anne-Li

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  • apa
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