“Talk about Bodies”: Recommendations for Using Transgender-Inclusive Language in Sex Education Curricula

AbstractWe investigated the impact that trans-exclusionary language in existing sex education resources has on the well-being of transgender and non-binary (TNB) young adults. We conducted qualitative interviews with 11  U.S. TNB young adults receiving healthcare in Seattle, five parents, and five healthcare affiliates. Participants described the negative emotional impact of encountering trans-exclusionary language in prior sex education experiences. Participants recommended four practical strategies for adapting language to be inclusive of TNB bodies, experiences, and identities. These included not gendering anatomy and biological processes, using anatomy-based language, facilitating linguistic self-determination (i.e. autonomy in choosing words used to describe their own bodies), and using narratives that emphasize self-determined TNB identities. Participants suggested that modeling trans-inclusive language has the potential to mitigate the negative impact of trans-exclusionary language TNB young adults are likely to encounter elsewhere and to act as a mechanism for increasing their agency in making decisions about their bodies and sexual health. Our findings suggest that although extant curricula do not meet the needs of TNB young adults, future sex education curricula may have the potential to provide a contextually appropriate setting in which to challenge cisnormative and binary assumptions about gender, particularly regarding language that is used to discuss anatomy a...
Source: Sex Roles - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research