Danger and disease in sex education : the saturation of ‘adolescence’ with colonialist assumptions
- Authors: Macleod, Catriona I
- Date: 2009
- Language: English
- Type: Article , text
- Identifier: vital:6252 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007870
- Description: The United Nations Development Programme’s Millennium project argues for the importance of sexual and reproductive health in the achievement of all Millennium Development Goals. Sex education programmes, aimed principally at the youth, are thus emphasised and are in line with the specific Millennium Development Goals of reducing the incidence of HIV and improving maternal health. In this paper I analyse recent South African sex education and Life Orientation (a learning area containing sex education) manuals. Danger and disease feature as guiding metaphors for these manuals, with early reproduction and abortion being depicted as wholly deleterious and non-normative relationships leading to disease. I argue, firstly, that these renditions ignore well-designed comparative research that calls into questions the easy assumption of negative consequences accompanying ‘teenage pregnancy’ and abortion, and, secondly, that the persistence of danger and disease in sex education programmes is premised on a discourse of ‘adolescence’. ‘Adolescence’ as a concept is always already saturated with the colonialist foundation of phylogeny re-capitulating ontogeny. Individual development is interweaved with collective development with the threat of degeneration implied in both. This interweaving allows for the instrumentalist goal of sex education in which social changes are sought through changing individuals’ sexual attitudes and behaviour.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Macleod, Catriona I
- Date: 2009
- Language: English
- Type: Article , text
- Identifier: vital:6252 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007870
- Description: The United Nations Development Programme’s Millennium project argues for the importance of sexual and reproductive health in the achievement of all Millennium Development Goals. Sex education programmes, aimed principally at the youth, are thus emphasised and are in line with the specific Millennium Development Goals of reducing the incidence of HIV and improving maternal health. In this paper I analyse recent South African sex education and Life Orientation (a learning area containing sex education) manuals. Danger and disease feature as guiding metaphors for these manuals, with early reproduction and abortion being depicted as wholly deleterious and non-normative relationships leading to disease. I argue, firstly, that these renditions ignore well-designed comparative research that calls into questions the easy assumption of negative consequences accompanying ‘teenage pregnancy’ and abortion, and, secondly, that the persistence of danger and disease in sex education programmes is premised on a discourse of ‘adolescence’. ‘Adolescence’ as a concept is always already saturated with the colonialist foundation of phylogeny re-capitulating ontogeny. Individual development is interweaved with collective development with the threat of degeneration implied in both. This interweaving allows for the instrumentalist goal of sex education in which social changes are sought through changing individuals’ sexual attitudes and behaviour.
- Full Text:
Review of South African research and interventions in the development of a policy strategy on teen-aged pregnancy
- Macleod, Catriona I, Tracey, Tiffany
- Authors: Macleod, Catriona I , Tracey, Tiffany
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , review
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/434425 , vital:73058 , ISBN review , https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Catriona-Macleod-3/publication/43108043_Review_of_South_African_Research_and_Interventions_in_the_Development_of_a_Policy_Strategy_on_Teen-Aged_Pregnancy/links/0c960539ff3f3595e6000000/Review-of-South-African-Research-and-Interventions-in-the-Development-of-a-Policy-Strategy-on-Teen-Aged-Pregnancy.pdf
- Description: In line with international trends, current South African policy and plans identify sexual and reproductive health as a key priority area for health intervention. Both the prevention of unwanted pregnancies amongst teenagers and the provision of support to those who do conceive contribute to the overall aim of enhancing reproductive health. This report represents a first step in the review of youth and adolescent health policy with regards to pregnancy amongst teenagers. It consists of a review of the scientific literature published in the last 10 years supplemented by information gathered in interviews with key informants from a range of key directorates and organisations. Two broad principles frame this report. The first is the adoption of a nuanced and criti cal approach to understanding ‘adolescent pregnancy’ in context. The second is the adoption of a human rights based perspective that underlies much of South Africa’s legislation and policy with respect to youth sexuality and reproduction.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Macleod, Catriona I , Tracey, Tiffany
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , review
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/434425 , vital:73058 , ISBN review , https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Catriona-Macleod-3/publication/43108043_Review_of_South_African_Research_and_Interventions_in_the_Development_of_a_Policy_Strategy_on_Teen-Aged_Pregnancy/links/0c960539ff3f3595e6000000/Review-of-South-African-Research-and-Interventions-in-the-Development-of-a-Policy-Strategy-on-Teen-Aged-Pregnancy.pdf
- Description: In line with international trends, current South African policy and plans identify sexual and reproductive health as a key priority area for health intervention. Both the prevention of unwanted pregnancies amongst teenagers and the provision of support to those who do conceive contribute to the overall aim of enhancing reproductive health. This report represents a first step in the review of youth and adolescent health policy with regards to pregnancy amongst teenagers. It consists of a review of the scientific literature published in the last 10 years supplemented by information gathered in interviews with key informants from a range of key directorates and organisations. Two broad principles frame this report. The first is the adoption of a nuanced and criti cal approach to understanding ‘adolescent pregnancy’ in context. The second is the adoption of a human rights based perspective that underlies much of South Africa’s legislation and policy with respect to youth sexuality and reproduction.
- Full Text:
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