Colloquial terms used in young adults’ talk about sexual practices, sexual subjectivities and sexual desires’
- Authors: Robertson, Cassandra Ann
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Youth -- Sexual behavior , Sex in popular culture , Communication and sex , Language and sex
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/96551 , vital:31293
- Description: Much of the growth in sexualities‘ research has taken the form of large scale surveys, but there is also increased interest in qualitative approaches that provide useful insights into the experiential and subjective aspects of sexuality, and illuminate the social and cultural contexts shaping these experiences. The reason for this research is to provide a richer understanding of the language that young people employ when speaking about sexuality. This study examines young adults‘ talk about sexualities with a special focus on the way in which colloquial terms are deployed in this talk and through the presence of gendered and/or heteronormative assumptions. Data consisted of posts off a student-led social media site and the study design employed was a validity check group interview. The social media site allowed its followers to post anonymously about a range of sexualities related issues. Data were analysed thematically, using a deductive, critical, and post-structuralist approach with key insights drawn on from Michael Foucault, Adrienne Rich, Gayle Rubin, Judith Butler and Rosalind Gill. Three overarching themes emerged: young adults spoke to sexual practices, sexual subjectivities and sexual desires. A major focus of this talk is casual sex. This talk showed that there are attempts to undermine gendered and heteronormative power relations, for example, non-normative sexual experiences were not seen as deviant, although those who were engaging in monogamy and casual sex were constructed as deviant sexual subjects. Yet underpinning of these power relations still took place, for example, in the female missing discourse of desire, the internalisation of male sexual desires over female sexual desires and the sexual double standard. There was a clear divide between the sexual practices and sexual subjectivities that were considered to be good and bad. This research therefore has the potential to benefit sexuality interventions by bringing into sharp focus the actual experiences of young adults.
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- Date Issued: 2019
The perception of the effectiveness of sexual education as a means of reducing pregnancies in the Blue Crane Route municipality
- Authors: Hendricks, Eleanor Alvira
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Sexual abstinence , Youth -- Sexual behavior
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , M SW
- Identifier: vital:11771 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1015435 , Sexual abstinence , Youth -- Sexual behavior
- Description: Adolescent pregnancy among students across South Africa is a growing concern. The high incidence of dropping out of school results in greatly diminished chances of success and independence for many. Sex education forms part of the life orientation curriculum, and it has been put in place by the Department of Education as a measure to reduce the prevalence of adolescent pregnancy. Parents of adolescents play a vital role in educating their children on sexual matters, secondary to that is community educations on sexual matters in aid of uplifting communities. The aim of the study was to explore the perception of how effective sex education could be a means of reducing pregnancies in the Blue Crane Route Municipality. To achieve this aim, three objectives and three research questions were articulated. The objectives were to explore the course content of life orientation provided to adolescents, to investigate by questioning adolescents concerning the importance of life orientation in their lives and to examine the factors responsible for the escalation of adolescent pregnancies in the municipality. The research questions were: How adequate was the course content of life orientation in helping adolescents in their sexual lives? How useful was life orientation to adolescent girls? What are the factors that increase the incidence of adolescent pregnancies in the municipality? Qualitative data was obtained through semi-structured interviews; focus group discussions were conducted with students, social workers and life orientation educators and observations made by them were recorded. Data was analysed thematically and was supported by relevant literature. The findings revealed that sex education is not effective in reducing pregnancies in the Blue Crane Route Municipality. The figures for adolescent pregnancy in schools have increased since 2007, when sex education was introduced as part of the life orientation curriculum. Accordingly, it is recommended that the Department of Education should re-evaluate the curriculum and appoint educators who are sufficiently trained in life orientation to make learners properly aware of the consequences of unwanted pregnancies.
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- Date Issued: 2013