Exploiting Desire? Analyzing New Jersey Sexuality Education Policy

• In Event: 41.083 - Roundtable Session 15
  In Roundtable Session: 41.083-22 - LGBTQ+ Lives: Beyond Safety and Inclusion

Abstract

Political and legislative milestones have shifted the sexuality landscape in New Jersey (NJ). Furthermore, research on sexualities in education has provided innovative insights on how students are constructed within schools. Given the shifts in cultural and research practices, analyzing NJ sexuality education policies is of great importance. This paper uses critical discourse analysis to analyze the role neoliberalism plays in these policies. Using DeleuzoGuattarian theories, the author argues that the framing of student desire is not ‘missing’ or ‘repressed’, but is exploited in order to reproduce neoliberal concepts that marginalize particular bodies (e.g. women, queer, non-white, etc.).

Author

• Dillon Landi, Towson University