Lessons from the Past?

Sex Education for Girls from 1943-2020

Abstract

The thesis introduces two distinct modes of applied historical analysis as outlined by John Tosh in his essay: In defence of applied history. Tosh outlined two oppositional historical arguments which he describes as processual and analogical. This thesis weaves these two seemingly distinct forms of applied history into a broader patchwork of historical analysis to reveal the patterns which emerge between moments of intense media scrutiny and government intervention to formal sex education from 1943-2020. Patchwork theor(ies) have been employed to describe the stitching together of parts of a fragmentary history into a cohesive pattern which enables a view of what is new, what is transient and what is enduring about the past as a means of enriching stakeholder knowledge and attending to the gaps in the historiography of formal sex education. This methodological approach responds to the complex relationship between formal sex education in the past and in the present. This has made an insight into contemporary practices a necessary starting point for the historical analysis which follows. A thematic analysis of current teacher interviews, RSE (2020), Mass Observer responses and newspaper reporting revealed a complex relationship between the teachers and the gendered construction of a sexual body. Teacher authority, pleasure and risk emerged as key themes which shaped how these teachers described their roles. These themes provide the threads from which a complex pattern of historical analysis concerned with the formal sex education of girls from 1943-2020. Part One of the thesis utilises an argument by analogy to argue that teacher authority declined from the period between 1943 to 1988. An analysis of policy documents, sex education literature, newspaper reporting, and teacher accounts revealed a tension between teacher autonomy and government accountability which is shown to complicate the relationship between the figure of the teacher and formal sex education. Part Two of the thesis builds from the first to argue by process to analyse the position of the sexual body within sex education teaching from 1943-2020. Adriene Rich’s feminist theoretical distinction between ‘the’ body and ‘my’ body provides a means of articulating how ‘the’ sexual body emerges as a repertoire of changing bodily concepts over the period of study; while ‘my’ body provides a theoretical framework to examine the relationship between the presence of teacher, their body, and ‘the’ sexual body over the period of study.

Date of Award	26 Jan 2023
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Winchester
Supervisor	Stephanie Spencer (Supervisor), Sian Edwards (Supervisor) & Victoria Randall (Supervisor)