We have a new publication out as part of the The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Sexuality Education exploring how cisgender, heterosexual men may use or engage digital sources of information for relationships and sexuality education (RSE).
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In this encyclopedia entry, we look at how cisgender heterosexual men have been socially conditioned regarding their masculinity and heterosexuality, and how that plays out in their access of sources of information pertaining to sex, sexual health, and intimacy.
About the encyclopedia
Edited by Louisa Allen and Mary Lou Rasmussen, this encyclopedia:
Provides a nuanced international overview of sexuality education
Highlights the range of definitions and contexts for sexuality education
Consolidates the subject of sexuality education to a distinct field of interdisciplinary connections
There are several fantastic entries exploring varying nuanced aspects of RSE. Importantly, this encyclopedia moves beyond formal school-based RSE to understand how RSE manifests in a whole variety of ways, with entries on raunch culture, consent, asexuality, and trans identities among others.
Men and Digital RSE
Men and Digital RSE looks at how digital sources inform cisgender heterosexual men's sexual health and sexual practices. It looks at:
Men's socialisation practices of heterosexuality and masculinity
Gaps and absences that men experience regarding their RSE and broad sexual health promotion
Ways in which digital technologies can reproduce problematic ideas about sex, sexuality and gender, such as men's use of reddit forums like incels and the pick-up artist community for information about sex and relationships
Ways in which digital technologies can be important avenues for RSE and provide helpful and needed information (such as TikToks that provide information about female pleasure)
Importantly the entry highlights that RSE comes in a multitude of forms, and these should be considered more readily as either helpful or problematic venues of RSE that need support or intervention.
Citation
Waling, A. (2022). Men & Digital RSE. In: The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Sexuality Education. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-95352-2_80-1
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