The ongoing pleasure paradox: How practitioners are compelled to silence, sanitise and securitise pleasure in English RSE

This paper contributes to ongoing conversations about the place of pleasure in Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) in England. It argues that political rhetoric is pushing RSE practitioners to produce three ‘idealised repertoires’ of pleasure. All are compelled by the figurative ‘innocent child’ who should be protected from ‘sexualised’ content. However, pleasure is critical to people’s agency and wellbeing. Thus, pleasure becomes a paradox in RSE. This paper analyses data from 13 semi-structured interviews and one collaborative analysis workshop with sex educators and RSE teachers in England, highlighting how they can(not) talk about pleasure in the classroom. Participants’ accounts suggest that firstly and most commonly, pleasure is silenced. This results from political hysteria, societal discomfort, heteropatriarchy and lack of practitioner confidence. Secondly, pleasure is ‘sanitised’, with sexual formations replaced with discussions about food preferences or platonic friendships. Finally, it is ‘securitised’. Here, teaching about (sexual/bodily) pleasure is justified as a means to help young people recognise and avoid abuse, and so is framed specifically as a safeguarding strategy. Whilst participants advocated for including pleasure in RSE, more comprehensive support, education and training is needed for this to become an universal reality.