Young people, sexual education, and digital media: weaving sexual subjectivities

Abstract

This study explores the intersection of young people's sexual subjectivities, sex education, and digital media through an innovative methodology that integrates theoretical reflection, personal experience, and artistic practice. It combines Multi-sited Ethnography and Arts-Based Research to broaden the possibilities for presenting data in educational and social inquiry. The methodology includes data collection techniques rooted in artistic expression, challenging traditional methods of data presentation. The study also emphasizes the importance of creating spaces for dialogue about gender identities and sexual orientations within educational environments. Within this framework, it examines school experiences in which sexual subjectivities are produced, silenced, or made visible, analyzing how sexed and gendered bodies are shaped through interactions with pedagogical and media discourses. The research highlights the importance of conducting inquiry from within the school and alongside educational actors, as an ethical and methodological commitment that allows for a deeper understanding of how young people experience and re-signify their sexuality within contexts of normativity and institutional surveillance. This version also includes a detailed description of the artistic installation “Specular Layers”, co-created with students as a strategy for pedagogical feedback and as a reflective device on the body, image, and subjectivity in school settings. In addition, it presents selected textual voices that emerged during the methodological process, which reflect embodied experiences of negotiation and resistance in response to body-image-interface technologies.