The compromises and contradictions of ‘feminist’ sex and relationships education in the home: empowerment vs. protection in digital risk societies

Abstract

This paper discusses findings from interviews conducted in England with 15 self-identified feminist mothers about sex and relationships education in the home. Participants’ understandings and enactments of being sexuality educators for their children involved what they described as open and honest ‘sex positive’ communication with their children, based on their subjective views about gender and sexual rights, safety and wellbeing. Participants were concerned about protecting their children from oftentimes gendered risks of judgement shame and abuse. Feminist sex and relationships education in the home for these mothers was shaped, and sometimes constrained, by the gendered sociocultural conditions of their children’s lives. Implications are discussed regarding the need for self-reflexivity amongst feminist mothers, supported by collaborative local and community educational initiatives to identify and collectively tackle the social contexts in which risks and harms arise for children.