Relations of Gender, Body and Sexuality: Students’ Conceptions on Self-care Related to Teaching Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Abstract

Adolescence, a fundamental stage of youth development experienced by all young students, is marked by a moment of transition, when several changes take place, from attitudes, questioning and opinions to the passage towards sexuality, with a partner. During this stage, the body becomes loaded with connotations in relation to self representation and care, being interpreted in very specific ways by different societies and social groups. The study aims to present reflections on differences related to gender and body care found in the conception of young students between ages 17 to 20 from a class of secondary school in a State School located in the metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro -Brazil encompassing sexuality. The results indicate distinct conceptions of gender related to decision making linked to sexual initiation, as well as body care in connection with the acknowledging of body signals and attitudes for STD prevention. Teaching STD and the Learning of SexualityThis work talks about the way conceptionsof sexuality and body, related to the sexually transmitted diseases (STD) topic,are perceived by young students, concerning science teaching in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Supported by sociological and anthropological perspectives, this study intends to understand sexuality as a social construct, in other words, as constructed in different ways throughout cultures and times [1,2] and means to draw attention to the fact that this theme presents a relevant connection between biology and subjective aspects, chiefly the sociocultural aspects [3,4] that pervade teaching and learning of contents related to the STD topic.Teenage sexuality, according to the biomedical concept, would be a discreet happening, with regularity of certain behaviors due to hormonal bursts and impulsivities common to that age, far away from cultural representativity [5,6]. However, according to the approach that supports the research, teenage sexuality corresponds to personal experimentations, relationships, fantasies, desires, beliefs, attitudes, representations, values, practices, gender roles and sexual culture, demystifying conceptions of purely genital aspects and/or of sexual initiation [7,8].Sexuality, approached in this research as a topic to be considered in thescience teaching, is understood as a byproduct of different cultural scenarios constructed during a lifetime that stimulates autonomy for youngsters in relation to expressions and manifestations related to sexual practices, and not only as a body function born from biological reactions [2,9,10]. In other words, it does not relate only to the human being's reproductive abilities, but also to pleasure and the commitment of body, of our history, behaviors, affective relations and our culture [7,8,9] expressing the singularities from subjects involved and ranging from biological and psychological to sociocultural aspects, in an articulated manner [11]. In such way, the construction of a sexual identity during adolescence is related to the constitution of sexuala...