CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2016
| Author | Enriquez Vargas, Ana Isabel |
|---|---|
| Title | For and Against Sex Education in Mexico in the 1930s. Discourses about Gender and Sexuality |
| Summary | This thesis analyzes the debates surrounding the first initiative to introduce school-based sex education in Mexico in the 1930s. I focus especially on the constructions of gender and sexuality that were expressed within these discussions. During the presidency of Abelardo Rodríguez (1932-1934), the Ministry of Education (SEP), headed by Narciso Bassols, supported the idea that sex education should be a compulsory subject in public schools and began the procedures for its implementation. The SEP viewed sex education as a social problem requiring the intervention of the state. I argue that this initiative of sex education can be seen as part of a biopolitical project intending to regulate the lives of individuals in society for both individuals’ and society’s wellbeing. Second, I posit that it carried specific and varied content for men and women while promoting “ideal” forms of sexuality. A strong opposition to the implementation of sex education in schools was organized, and considered especially important to parents’ associations with Catholic orientation. They opposed the ongoing process of the secularization of schools and denounced sex education. In 1934, Bassols had to resign from office in part due to the protests against sex education. After this initiative, it took Mexico nearly 40 years to have a program of sexual education in primary schools. In fact, sex education continues to be an issue of public debate. From my perspective, this initiative offers an opportunity to scrutinize how actors such as the state, physicians and religiously oriented organizations intended to redefine what it was to be a man or a woman, and the ideal of female and male sexuality. Thus, this study looks at how different actors in the national realm worked to construct both gender and sexuality. By thoroughly examining these debates, I analyze how the role of women in society, and their behavior in private and public life, was being shaped by various factors. Likewise, it will highlight the backlash that the changing role of women in society was causing at the time, and how various actors attempted to influence their position. In addition, my research will allow me to explore how medical discourses contributed to creating normative ideals of gender difference and heterosexuality while simultaneously medicalizing all alternatives as devious. |
| Supervisor | de Haan, Francisca |
| Department | Gender Studies MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2016/enriquez-vargas_ana-isabel.pdf |
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