A3 Refereed book chapter or chapter in a compilation book

Heteronormativity in a Chinese sexuality education textbook series : The case of Cherish Lives




AuthorsZhou Wenjia, Liu Chong

EditorsBhana Deevia, Xu Yuwei, Adriany Vina

Edition1st Edition

Publishing placeNew York, NY

Publication year2023

Book title Gendered and Sexual Norms in Global South Early Childhood Education : Understanding Normative Discourses in Post-Colonial Contexts

Series titleRoutledge Critical Studies in Gender and Sexuality in Education

Number in series12

First page 182

Last page204

Number of pages220

ISBN978-1-032-07564-8

eISBN978-1-003-21160-0

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.4324/9781003211600-11

Web address https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003211600-11/heteronormativity-chinese-sexuality-education-textbook-series-wenjia-zhou-chong-liu


Abstract

This chapter explores a sexuality education textbook series, Cherish Lives (珍爱生命), that was used for Chinese primary education (students 6–12 years old). First published in 2010, the textbook series caused widespread public panic and was withdrawn in 2019. Using Foucauldian notions of power and feminist critical discourse analysis, the chapter discusses whether and how this book series challenged dominant gender and sexual discourses in Chinese society. Three particular aspects of the textbook are analysed within the Chinese social context. First, the chapter focuses on the manifestation of heteronormativity through marriage compulsion. Second, the ways in which sexual minorities are presented are considered. Finally, the chapter illustrates how social and institutional exclusion in this sexuality education textbook series produces exclusion for sexual minorities while reifying heteronormativity. This chapter provides significant insight into the challenges of attempting comprehensive sexuality education in China, particularly regarding ideological and institutional surveillance and regulation through textbooks.



Last updated on 2025-23-01 at 12:36