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Abstract

In the United States, more states teach abstinence-only sex education than provide accurate information about birth control. This project acknowledges popular media’s pedagogical possibilities and designs an alternative route to comprehensive sex education. It takes seriously the relationship between youth and popular culture, resisting hierarchies that situate media literacy as subordinate. I consider the pedagogical aspects of Sex Education, a Netflix series that gives voice to the messy, complex experiences of teenagers and adults, illustrating sex education as a life-long journey, continually shaping our lives. This project also asserts that attention to feminist theories of embodied knowledge arguably helps sex educators affirm and humanize youth. In turn, this project establishes three culturally, socially, and emotionally informed lesson plans – focusing on healthy communication, pleasure, and STIs. Each lesson relies on 2-3 guidelines from the National Sexuality Education Standards and aims to give students the skills to understand these standards through an array of engaging activities – including watching scenes from Sex Education – that allow for different types of knowledge production. In an effort to extend empathy and care as students vulnerably learn about sex and sexuality, my project asks, what if a sex education course provided students with both media and conversations with health professionals?

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