The Textbook Masturbator: A Renegotiated Discourse in Official Swedish Sex-Education Guidelines and Textbooks, circa 1945–2000

Abstract

The educational mission of most western schools today includes the nurturing of children’s sexual upbringing, which many scholars see as a way of controlling their sexuality and forming them into “sexual citizens.” This article examines how official Swedish school guidelines and textbooks have mediated sexuality norms through education on masturbation. The professional discourse on masturbation started to change during the first half of the twentieth century, when masturbation shifted from being perceived as something harmful to something accepted as natural and harmless. This article focuses on a period following that shift in opinion: circa 1945-2000. The analysis shows that boys’ sexuality during this time received more attention than girls’, and a strong new norm about sex contributed to masturbation taking on less importance than heterosexual intercourse within a relationship. This article shows how state-controlled curricula have created norms about gender and sexuality, thus contributing to the development of a sexual citizenship.