Epstein, D., O'Flynn, S., and Telford, D. (2003). Silenced Sexualities in Schools and Universities. Stoke on Trent, United Kingdom: Trentham Books.

Joy Lesnick

In Silenced Sexualities in Schools and Universities, Debbie Epstein, Sarah O'Flynn, and David Telford identify and analyze the presence (and absence) of sexuality in educational institutions and the ways in which normative heterosexuality is promoted, sustained, and made to appear totally natural in a variety of formal and informal contexts. Basing their claims on a review of the international literature as well as their own research done in the UK, the authors define sexuality as a range of practices - including techniques, habits, dispositions, and formal and informal training - that vary according to gender, race, class, ethnicity, and disability. Their main argument is that there is an "official silence" about all kinds of sexuality in the vast majority of anglophone schools, including the United States.

The most obvious location for discussion about sexuality is in sex education class, but it is most likely that in this formal setting discussions about sexuality are limited to facts about biological sex and its resulting undesirable outcomes such as teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. In actuality, a much more pervasive education about sexuality and the expected sexuality/gender roles exists in more informal contexts such as the language of students and teachers, in friendship groups, and in the social structure of the school or university. Although sexuality takes many different forms and permeates all aspects of life for people of all ages, for the most part, it is notoriously absent in formal educational settings. When sexuality is permitted in schools, it is often the "straightest of straight versions" of sexuality.

In this book, the authors follow the argument of "compulsory heterosexuality" of poet and writer Adrienne Rich (1983) who argues that heterosexuality is a political institution of violence and that there is nothing innate or free in its compulsory practice. They extend this view of "compulsory heterosexuality" to educational institutions and identify places where sexuality is silenced but heterosexuality is permitted and even encouraged. For example, in elementary school, imaginative play in the "home corner" has children idealizing and acting out heterosexual family life. In high school, an exaggerated heterosexual rite of passage is prom night, and in universities, those students who fit the "normal" gender and (hetero)sexual roles transition easily into sororities and fraternities.

For some students, however, the normative heterosexual model does not fit. In this book, the authors examine the experiences of students and teachers whose individual or family lives do not follow the model of normative heterosexuality. The book is organized into eight chapters, with the collaboratively written introduction and conclusion comprising the first and last chapters. The remaining six chapters were written individually by each of the authors (two chapters each), focusing specifically on silenced sexualities in primary school, secondary school, and post-secondary school.

Chapters 2 and 3 were written by Debbie Epstein, a professor of education at Goldsmiths College in England who has been researching issues relating to sexuality and education since 1990, primarily focusing on sexuality in primary schools. In Chapter 2, "Children Should be….: Normalizing Heterosexuality in the Primary School," she argues that primary schools are sites for the production and enforcement of heterosexuality and stable marriages for the purpose of procreation, love, and security. Chapter 3, "I've no Idea how to do it: Sex Education and Teachers' Fears," looks specifically at teachers' anxieties and fears in teaching students the subject of sex education - and specifically what can and cannot be taught and/or discussed. In this chapter, Epstein argues for a broader version of sexuality education that incorporates the informal cultures and pre-existing understandings of sex and sexuality among the students in place of the existing sex education curriculum that is ripe with moral judgment and devoid of emotion and context.

Chapters 4 and 5 were written by Sarah O'Flynn, one of Epstein's doctoral students, whose research focuses on girls whose needs are not met by schools. In Chapter 4, "From the Outside, Looking in: Doing Sexuality in Secondary Schools," O'Flynn continues Epstein's argument that sex education does not meet the needs of students in secondary schools, regardless of their sexual identities, and that sex education could be changed to include writing by theorists and researchers on sexuality so that students could place their lived experiences in larger contexts. In Chapter 5, "Bodies That Learn: Negotiating Educational Success Through the Management of Sexuality," O'Flynn presents ethnographic research on the non-normative heterosexualities of a group of young Somali women attending school in the UK. Interview and observation data show that the polygamous family lives of the Somali girls mediate the way in which they respond to their school's position of freely permitting only "happy, heterosexual, monogamous families" (p. 76). O'Flynn uses this data to build an argument for the need to change the way in which sexuality is formally discussed in secondary school.

Chapters 6 and 7 were written by David Telford, another one of Epstein's doctoral students, whose research focuses on the experiences of gay men as university students and faculty members. In Chapter 6, "Post-compulsory Heterosexuality: Silences and Tensions in Curricula and Pedagogy at University," he argues that safe spaces are created at universities that allow lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, and queer students and faculty to congregate, but at the same time, these spaces leave the inevitability and normality of heterosexuality largely unchallenged. Chapter 7, "The University Challenge: Transition to University," explores the experiences of young gay men as they transition from high school to college and the tension that results between the students' expectations of sexual freedom and the continuing regulatory heterosexual framework that governs their university life.

In the conclusion, the authors argue that all young people, regardless of their own sexual identifications, must do an tremendous amount of work in "dealing with, resisting, coming to terms with, negotiating, or adopting normative versions of heterosexuality" (p. 144). They suggest that students could be better supported in this process by changing the nature of sex education that currently aims to get young people to adopt an approved code of sexual behavior. It could be replaced with sexuality education that supports and nurtures students' efforts to think more critically about gender and sexuality as they develop their own, more contextually-based understandings of sexuality.

Silenced Sexualities in Schools and Universities offers an important look at some of the ways in which heterosexuality is normalized in all phases of formal education, from primary schools to universities. In it, we learn that the process of normative heterosexuality is a critical shaper of identities. Along with gender, race, class, nationality, and disability, compulsory heterosexuality greatly impacts the lives of students both in and out of school and must be considered when thinking critically about the education of diverse groups of students.

In this book, the authors argue that sexuality pervades all aspects of life. Furthermore, the actualization of sexuality is context-dependent. A strong example of the effect of context on sexuality is the impact of gender on sexuality. Even at a young age, boys and girls understand the concept of sexuality, even if they can't put words to it. They understand that using their sexuality in certain ways will produce desirable or undesirable outcomes. For example, little girls know that flirting and being cute will get them what they want - or at least will gain them favorable attention - while boys who are not "manly" enough - or who are "alternatively masculine" - know that their behavior can elicit negative attention that can range from name calling by peers to teachers who police their behavior by telling them to "toughen up and act like a boy." While it is true that expectations of normalized gender and sexuality roles can be isolating and exclusionary for some students, what is more dangerous is that way in which these expectations and assumptions can reinforce the normalization of heterosexuality for all students. It is time for urban and suburban schools alike to look beyond the majority and beyond the assumptions of what is "normal" in order to start meeting the social, personal, and emotional needs of all students. The authors of Silenced Sexualities in Schools and Universities reject the status quo of compulsory heterosexuality in schools and urge the reader to do the same. They argue for a new kind of education - one in which sexuality is not merely tolerated, but explored, analyzed, and accepted.

Joy Lesnick is a PhD candidate in Educational Policy at the Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania. Formerly a fourth grade teacher, her dissertation research is a mixed-method, multi-level, randomized evaluation of a reading program for struggling readers. More generally, Joy is interested in how policy can be used to affect change in schools. She can be reached at jlesnick@dolphin.upenn.edu.

References

Rich, A. (1983). "Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence" In E. Abel and E. K. Abel, (Eds.) The Signs Reader: Women, Gender, and Scholarship. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.