Abstract
Friedrichs's Good Sexual Citizenship is an approachable call to action for those who are interested in breaking down unexamined assumptions and beliefs about gender and sexuality. A blend of personal stories, empirical research, policy, and theory are used to broaden the reader's understanding of commonly misunderstood and controversial sexual health topics such as the impact of #MeToo and how to approach adolescent sex education. This review will summarize, analyze, and critique Friedrichs's Good Sexual Citizenship through a social work lens, primarily using systems theory and a lifespan approach to human development.
A Brief Summary
Good Sexual Citizenship is notably shaped by Friedrichs's identity as a mother and as a health educator for middle and high school students in New York. Although themes around sexual autonomy, responsibility, and respect are important for people of all ages, the text's focus tends to speak about relationships between young people and educators, particularly parents as important educators within the home. Each chapter guides the reader to develop analytical and communication skills towards dismantling culturally instilled biases and fears commonly found among teens and adults alike who are worried about how to navigate modern social climates as good sexual citizens. In this context, good sexual citizenship is broadly defined as the interrogation of the personal and political to create safer and more pleasurable communities for everyone. Both conceptually and stylistically, the duality of “the personal as political” is reflected in Friedrichs's writing which shifts between impartially academic to intimately confessional. As much as Good Sexual Citizenship is an educational project, it is, first and foremost, a product of personal devotion to the health, happiness, and well-being of young people.
Systems Theory Approach
Despite the complex nature of systemic issues, such as sexual assault and abortion access, Good Sexual Citizenship remains hopeful about individual people's ability to work towards their own goals of becoming better sexual citizens. This optimism can be seen in the self-guided reflection prompts, self-evaluations, and vignettes that are occasionally used to provide space for readers to actively participate in their personal development. However, there is a disparity between the research, policy, and conceptual theory presented throughout the text in comparison to some of Friedrichs's outlined reflection sections. For example, the author cites Kimberlé Crenshaw's theory of intersectionality and bell hook's description of the imperialist white supremacist capitalist patriarchy, both of which stress a radical approach to systems. In contrast, the questions and reflections posed to the reader tend to address inequality through individualism and self-regulation.
In chapter five, the author discusses how LGBTQ+ youth are disproportionately negatively affected by school dress codes and how the reader can help by taking “steps to fight against unfair dress codes’’ (p. 218). The first step states: “Look over your local school's dress code policy. It could very well be that some aspects need to be modernized. That can be a good angle to take that won't make it seem like you’re attacking the school” (p. 218). In this example, the reader is provided an opportunity to move beyond the conscious awareness of heterosexism but only through the narrow restraints of a self-fulfillment project that prioritizes the protection of the oppressor's feelings. Although Friedrichs's audience needs to engage in consciousness-raising, it needs to be emphasized that education and personal reflection about oppression does not insulate oneself from complicity, does not reallocate structural power, and certainly does not promise actualized change—systemically or otherwise. To omit commentary on the limitations of individualistic-centered activism risks compounding the social issues we wish to collectively alleviate.
Lifespan Development Approach
An important theme and strength of Good Sexual Citizenship is its emphasis on learning and development around sexual health issues across the lifespan. Friedrichs models herself as an empathetic and lifelong learner of human sexuality through brief personal stories about her own experiences throughout childhood, adolescence, and as an adult with children of her own. These personal stories range from positive breakthroughs, accidental mishaps, to experiences of discrimination.
In one story, Friedrichs recounts how she secretly hid that she shaved her legs from her children because she did not want to reinforce gendered expectations around body hair. However, she realizes that despite this well-intentioned effort to resist gender norms she may have instead given her children the idea that women naturally do not grow leg hair. Instead of continuing to hide this grooming ritual, the author decides to directly talk with her children about her own body hair choices, the importance of bodily autonomy, and the prevalence of gendered norms. This story illustrates how, from childhood to adulthood, we may struggle with our understanding and explanation of something as deceivingly simple as body hair.
Imperfect stories about our experiences of gender and sexuality are important for both young people and adults to hear and share to establish mutual empathy intergenerationally and across the life course. In the right context, these communal moments of honesty and sincerity may even help to create a space for restorative and generational healing. Of course, it's important to keep in mind that due to power disparities, adults and children have different responsibilities and obligations to one another. Adults, educators, and parents are not expected to be perfect, but as people with institutional power over children, we do have a heightened ethical responsibility to acknowledge our mistakes, actively address harm caused, and help to build space for collective growth. Together, our sexual citizenship is ultimately the cumulation of decisions we engage in throughout our lifetime in perpetuity and in community.
Good Sexual Citizenship is an accessible introductory crash course to common gender and sexuality questions and pitfalls that typically center around adolescence and young adulthood. Many young people, parents, and educators alike will find both the concrete information and personal touches in the text to be informative and relatable. Although the concept of individual sexual citizenship is enmeshed within the context of broader sexual climates, the conceptualization of the enlightened self as a uniquely powerful and inherently positive independent agent of social change is a limited and flawed theme throughout the text. However, a recurrent conceptual strength is the use of a life course approach to sexual development that requires lifelong learning, reexamination, and reimagination of gender and sexuality issues intergenerationally and socially across the lifespan. Overall, Good Sexual Citizenship aims to challenge its readers to begin to think about what kind of sexual citizen they want to be and how they hope to help change our current sexual landscape for the better.
