ABSTRACT

The dominant ‘heterosexual script’ positions men as sexually desiring subjects who initiate sex and use active displays of power to attract women, and women as passive sexual objects who use indirect means to attract men (e.g. physical appearance). While much research has highlighted how this script is deployed in high school settings, less work has attended to primary schools. We demonstrate how the script operates in the talk of primary school students in low resource South African schools. Data were generated in group discussions conducted for a mid-term review of a school-based sexual violence prevention programme. We show how the heterosexual script is embedded in students’ accounts through the regulatory mechanisms of interpersonal and social risks: threats of being ‘dumped’, sexual coercion, violence, and humiliation. These risks are learnt from an early age and may outweigh sexuality education messaging provided later on, which has implications for such interventions. To address this we advocate for early engagement with young people using a dialogical approach that creates a relational context for resistance to inequitable sexual scripts.

摘要

占主导地位的“异性恋脚本”将男性定位为性欲主体，他们发起性行为并使用主动展示权力来吸引女性，而女性则定位为被动性对象，使用间接手段（例如外表）来吸引男性。虽然很多研究都强调了这个脚本是如何在高中环境中部署的，但小学的工作却很少。我们展示了脚本如何在资源匮乏的南非学校的小学生谈话中发挥作用。数据是在为对学校性暴力预防计划进行中期审查而进行的小组讨论中产生的。我们展示了异性恋脚本是如何通过人际关系和社会风险的监管机制嵌入到学生的账户中的：被“抛弃”的威胁、性胁迫、暴力和羞辱。这些风险是从很小的时候就开始学习的，并且可能超过后来提供的性教育信息，这对此类干预有影响。为了解决这个问题，我们提倡使用对话方法与年轻人早期接触，这种方法为抵制不公平的性脚本创造了一个关系背景。