How Do We Learn and Think about Sex? An exploration into the effects of popular media and media literacy on sex education

This project is an exploration of the ways popular media interacts with sex education and sex-positivity. This paper is a mixture of scholarly research and auto-ethnographic work. While data and critical analysis often feels reductive to lived experiences, I approach my research with an open mind, and contribute my own narratives. In Part One, I will give context to popular mediums and talk about the importance of authentic representations in the media. This part of my paper is highly influenced by notions of stigma, stereotype, and accuracy. During this research, I came to view media literacy as a tactic to properly enjoy media representations, without letting them override comprehensive ways of understanding social life. Part Two of this paper is focused on media literacy and its importance in sexual health education.

Alongside this paper, I created a podcast with three episodes. Each episode is a recorded conversation among Vassar College students sharing personal experiences of sexual education and media messaging. To create a space for students to speak their mind, I carefully selected students with sex-positive perspectives who were comfortable speaking candidly about sex. I joined in these discussions and shared my own exposure to sexual health topics, but also used this time to share my research with my peers.