The (Re)production of ‘Normal’ Sexuality: A Study on Sexuality Education for Students with Disabilities

Dutch school-based sexuality education is often described as a progressive program with a positive impact on adolescent sexual health. However, previous studies have examined how this education also represents a limited, although dominant discourse on ‘normal’ sexuality including neoliberal values, able-bodiedness, the white body, heterosexuality, and secularism. The representation of this discourse within sexuality education induces processes of in- and exclusion. One of the social groups that is placed outside the norm as a result of this discourse is people with disabilities. Crip theory therefore criticises the dominant representation of ‘normal’ sexuality and the way this affects school-based sexuality education. Research on this topic has so far not focussed on the (re)production of ‘normal’ sexuality within sexuality education for students with disabilities. This study therefore examined to what extent ‘normal’ sexuality is part of the development and implementation of this tailored form of sexuality education. By conducting a special case study, semi-structured interviews, participant observations, and a critical discourse analysis, this thesis demonstrates how, despite the applied flexibility in this tailored form of sexuality education, it still represents characteristics of ‘normal’ sexuality. To reduce this limited discourse, I recommend focussing on the practical application of sexuality education in addition to the theoretical point of view from crip theory. In this manner, we can include the disabled voices and real-life experiences of people with disabilities in order to meet their special needs.