The state of sex education in the United States is a policy maelstrom: hotly debated, constantly churning, never resolved. And yet of all curriculum taught in schools, there is arguably no other topic more relevant or more universally applicable. It is one of the few times at school when the hidden curriculum reveals itself: Students are explicitly taught how to relate with others, how to care for themselves, how to move through society with respect and agency.<\/p>\n
A comprehensive sex education program should\u2014at the very least\u2014teach children about\u00a0asking for consent, recognizing predatory behavior, and identifying\u00a0their own bodily autonomy. A further\u00a0goal should be to help students think critically about power structures,\u00a0gender norms, and sexual identity. Failing to meet these standards doesn’t shield students from adverse outcomes; rather, it leaves them vulnerable to suffering from or even repeating\u00a0patterns of sexual violence.<\/p>\n
Formal education is a\u00a0primary tool of cultural reproduction, in which\u00a0a society’s norms, values, and behaviors are transmitted\u00a0across generations. In this way, sex education and sexual violence are inexorably linked\u2014the failures\u00a0of one\u00a0lead to\u00a0the proliferation of the other. I created this portfolio to explore this relationship, examining the ways in which theory, research, policy, and community interact and impact this cultural development.<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
My portfolio didn’t start as an examination of sex education and sexual violence. The paid research work I completed while at Vanderbilt didn’t relate to that; I didn’t even take a gender studies class. Why would I choose to reflect my master’s experience through a topic I had never formally studied?<\/p>\n
But as I began planning my portfolio, my initial plans didn’t feel right. They didn’t inspire me. And eventually I reflected back to why I first decided to go back to school. It wasn’t to “find my passion,” but to learn new skills to do the work about which\u00a0I was already passionate.<\/p>\n
I’ve never held a full-time job related to women’s health and reproductive rights, but it’s also never been far from my path. An early home video shows me marching around my parents’ basement, holding a pro-choice sign as I\u00a0chant the slogan. I’ve volunteered as a crisis response advocate and hotline responder for victims of sexual and family trauma, as a clinic greeter for Planned Parenthood, as an instructional coordinator teaching young people about healthy relationships, as a constituent lobbying for state legislation to\u00a0help mothers in the corrections\u00a0system care for their children. My social media and Internet history are replete with media and research articles on\u00a0bystander intervention, black women’s maternal health, access to abortion clinics, protective networks for sex workers.<\/p>\n
My completed portfolio, then, reflects these commitments in new ways, using the skills I learned at Vanderbilt. Living in Nashville put me in touch with new networks of people who inspired and motivated me\u2014I interview one such person in\u00a0my podcast<\/a> on Title IX changes and campus\u00a0sexual assault. Incorporating my professors’ exhaustive feedback on my in-class policy writing, my\u00a0policy memo<\/a>\u00a0reflects\u00a0research I conducted as an intern with Advocates for Women’s and Kids’ Equality. As part of a Vanderbilt anthropology class, I submitted a proposal and subsequently conducted an IRB-approved online survey on the extent to which young adults responded to their sex education curriculum;\u00a0my research brief<\/a> presents a condensed version of these results and analyses. Lastly, I explore the social construction of target populations in my opinion\u00a0editorial<\/a>, relating this prominent policy theory to current events in the #MeToo movement.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n In addition to the sources listed in each individual element of my portfolios, the following were key sources guiding my overall journey of discovery and creation.<\/p>\n Books<\/span> Articles<\/span> Research & Data<\/span> The state of sex education in the United States is a policy maelstrom: hotly debated, constantly churning, never resolved. And yet of all curriculum taught in schools, there is arguably no other topic more relevant or more universally applicable. It is one of the few times at school when the hidden curriculum reveals itself: Students…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7205,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/margauxcameron\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/margauxcameron\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/margauxcameron\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/margauxcameron\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7205"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/margauxcameron\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/margauxcameron\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":74,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/margauxcameron\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3\/revisions\/74"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/margauxcameron\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/margauxcameron\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nCarlson, D., & Roseboro, D. L. (Eds.). (2011). The Sexuality Curriculum and Youth Culture. New York, NY: Peter Lang.<\/p>\n
\nCashin, A., & Weissbourd, R. (2017, October 16). Sexual harassment among teens is pervasive: Here are 6 ways parents can help change that.
\nThe Washington Post. Retrieved from http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/
\nGarsd, J. (2015, June 1). Beyond the birds and the bees: Surviving sex ed today. National Public Radio. Retrieved from http:\/\/www.npr.org\/
\nSvrluga, S., & Anderson, N. (2017, September 7). DeVos decries ‘failed system’ on campus sexual assault, vows to replace it. The Washington
\nPost. Retrieved from http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/
\nYoffe, E. (2017, September 6). The uncomfortable truth about campus rape policy. The Atlantic. Retrieved from http:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/<\/p>\n
\nGuttmacher Institute. (2017, September). American Adolescents’ Sources of Sexual Health Information. Retrieved from http:\/\/www.guttmacher.org\/
\nGuttmacher Institute. (2017, October 1). Sex and HIV Education: State Laws and Policies. Retrieved from http:\/\/www.guttmacher.org\/
\nSantelli, J. S. et al. (2017). Abstinence-only-until-marriage: An updated review of U.S. policies and programs and their impact. Journal of\u00a0Adolescent Health, 61(3), 273-280.
\nWeissbourd, R., Anderson, T. R., Cashin, A., and McIntyre, J. (2017). The talk: How adults can promote young people’s healthy relationships\u00a0and prevent misogyny and sexual harassment. Retrieved from Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Making Caring Common Project: https:\/\/mcc.gse.harvard.edu\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"