Sexualisation's four faces: sexualisation and gender stereotyping in the Bailey Review

This paper explores the considerations of sexualisation and gender stereotyping in the recent UK government report Letting Children be Children. This report, the Bailey Review, claimed to represent the views of parents. However, closer reading reveals that, while the parents who were consulted were concerned about both the sexualisation and the gender stereotyping of products aimed at children, the Bailey Review focuses only on the former and dismisses the latter. ‘Sexualisation’ has four faces in the Bailey Review: it is treated as a process that increases (1) the visibility of sexual content in the public domain, (2) misogyny, (3) the sexuality of children, and (4) the mainstream position of ‘deviant’ sexual behaviours and lifestyles. Through this construction of ‘sexualisation’, gendered relations of power are not only hidden from view but also buttress a narrative in which young women are situated as children, and their sexuality and desire rendered pathological and morally unacceptable as judged by a conservative standard of decency. Comparison of the treatment of sexualisation and gender stereotyping in the review is revealing of the political motivations behind it, and of wider discourse in these areas

Queer Youth and the Culture Wars: From Classroom to Courtroom in Australia, Canada and the United States

This article builds on Lugg\u27s (2006) discussion of surveillance in public schools and how queer youth are resisting schools\u27 current efforts to regulate sexual orientation and gender expression in the U.S. and internationally. Legal complaints initiated by queer youth against their schools for harassment and access to extra-curricular activities are discussed. The number of cases in the past five years has increased significantly and the courts are siding with the youth and their allies, demonstrating that queer youth are significantly impacting the dismantling of heteronormative regulatory regimes and improving the school experiences for themselves and queer adults

The evaluation of homophobia in an Italian sample

Homophobia has not been systematically studied by Italian social scientists. This study was an initial investigation of the nature of homophobia among Italians, using an Italian version of a scale measuring the construct, and investigated personality and other factors related to homophobia. We examined (1) whether a male military personnel group had more homophobic attitudes than a group of comparably aged male university students; (2) whether personal characteristics and personality factors were correlated with homophobia; and (3) whether there were gender differences in homophobia between male and female university students. Male officers of the Italian Marine Corps were compared to male university students of the same age with respect to homophobia and personality characteristics. In addition, a sample of male university students was compared to female students. The instruments used were the Italian versions of the Modern Homophobia Scale (MHS) and the 16 Personality Factor Inventory (16 PF). Results showed significantly higher homophobia among the military personnel than among male students. Consistent with previous research, male university students demonstrated more negative attitudes towards gay and lesbian people than female students