This dissertation explores the influence of theological, political, medical, and market discourses upon contemporary American Protestant adolescent sexuality education curricula. The project offers a genealogy of Christian sexual rhetoric that highlights the role of sexual control and discipline in the interest of social stability. I contend that Protestant sexuality education curricula tend to use theological language as an ideological cipher, often serving as an endorsement for the vocation of married, middle-class American life advanced through political and market discourse. Adolescent sexual desire is often presented as risky mainly for its potential to destabilize this idealized future. Such paradigms fail to provide young people, and especially LGBTQ youth, with resources to make productive meaning of their sexualities in light of religious commitments and practices. In search of theological foundations more attentive to the diverse lived experiences of young people, I offer a constructive response grounded in feminist retrievals of eros and Christian pneumatology. Chiefly, I propose that faith-based sexuality education is best grounded within broader reflections on desire, justice, and care for the vulnerable.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VANDERBILT/oai:VANDERBILTETD:etd-03222014-191454 |
| Date | 09 April 2014 |
| Creators | Davis, Carolyn Jane |
| Contributors | Ellen T. Armour, Bonnie Miller-McLemore, M. Douglas Meeks, Bruce T. Morrill, Mark D. Jordan |
| Publisher | VANDERBILT |
| Source Sets | Vanderbilt University Theses |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.vanderbilt.edu/available/etd-03222014-191454/ |
| Rights | restricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to Vanderbilt University or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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