Talking About Sex: Using Youth Language in Sexuality Education

This 3-page article explains that language shapes the way people think about life and, therefore, influences actions. It proposes that analysing the metaphors young people use while talking about sex can provide valuable insights into the ways in which youth understand sex, sexual behaviour, and sexual relationships. These insights may have untapped potential for enhancing the effectiveness of sexuality education interventions. This article reviews a study conducted by the African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) in 2006 that sought to gain insights into the ways young people in Malawi think about sex and sexual relationships by analysing the language – specifically, the metaphors – they use.

The article discusses how interventions to raise knowledge and awareness and to influence attitudes and behaviour need to be well-designed and accessible for young people. The authors suggest that an important way of tailoring interventions to the sociocultural context is through incorporating young people's own language into curricula and teaching approaches.

The research conducted by APHRC found that young people conceptualise sex in three main ways. Young people’s expressions focused largely on the mechanics of sexual actions and the utility of sexual organs, the gratifying nature of sex, and the passionate aspects of sexual activity. Recurrent metaphors could serve as a starting point for tailoring educational messages. For instance, in the study, utilitarian metaphors were the most commonly used language for sex-related phenomena among adolescents. Therefore, a useful exercise might be for educators to identify prevalent metaphors and assess whether these lead to positive or negative constructions of sex. These constructions could have health or rights implications. For example, in the "sex is utilitarian" category of metaphors, the expressions young people used to refer to having sex included phrases such as, “putting Colgate [toothpaste] on a toothbrush” or “opening a girl” (an expression employed by male respondents). Girls referred to female genitalia (specifically, the labia) by saying, “They are like doors”. Young people’s views about multiple sexual partnerships were expressed via opinions such as, “It is good to have a spare tire; if one gets flat, [you] just fix the other”, or “Girls say, you don’t need to have one cloth [outfit] only”. The authors state that on the one hand, these examples illustrate that the adolescents’ metaphorical language emphasised the utility of female genitalia as an object, which – much like a suitcase or a set of doors – may be opened, entered through, or exited from. On the other hand, in likening sex to the ordinariness and familiarity of opening a door, or brushing one’s teeth, young people unconsciously construct sexual activity as a normal, routine activity. Some of the metaphorical expressions above also suggest that sex and sex partners are as commonplace, mundane, and changeable as clothing or spare tires, thus serving to normalise multiple sexual partnerships. The likening of female genitalia to a door raises questions about adolescents’ possible perceptions of the role of women as passive participants in the sexual process. Such conceptualisations have potentially negative implications for young women’s sexual agency. The researchers suggest that young people are most willing to discuss sexuality issues in small groups, and the above could be used as a starting point for discussions about how young people view sex.

The authors also suggest that young people’s emphasis on pleasure observed in this study supports arguments that an effective approach to sexual health education should incorporate concepts of sexual pleasure. Addressing the concept of pleasure in sexuality education is likely to be controversial, but may be essential in many contexts to ensure that sexuality education interventions are relevant to young people’s culture and worldviews.

The report concludes that given the importance of sexuality education, there is value in continued development of innovative ways of addressing these challenges. A reflective discussion of metaphors not only provides an opportunity for instructors to understand the concepts and constructs in the sexual worlds of young people in their own right, but it could also help teachers to identify and address their own biases and assumptions.