The Fear of Child Sexuality: Young People, Sex, and Agency

by Steven Angelides

Continued public outcries over such issues as young models in sexually suggestive ads and intimate relationships between teachers and students speak to one of the most controversial fears of our time: the entanglement of children and sexuality. In this book, Steven Angelides confronts that fear, exploring how emotional vocabularies of anxiety, shame, and even contempt not only dominate discussions of youth sexuality but also allow adults to avoid acknowledging the sexual agency of young people. Introducing case studies and trends from Australia, the United Kingdom, and North America, he challenges assumptions on a variety of topics, including sex education, age-of-consent laws, and sexting. Angelides contends that an unwillingness to recognize children’s sexual agency results not in the protection of young people but in their marginalization.

272 pages, Paperback

Published August 28, 2019

Reviews

[Ellis Billington · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was very thoroughly researched and well-thought out, bringing an interesting perspective to an important conversation. One quibble: since most of the research focused on Australian culture, it did feel a little distracting when certain sections would deviate and focus on cases and incidents from the US; I found myself wishing the author had just stuck with Australia for the whole book.

Regarding the writing style, it’s dense and certainly not as engaging as other similar books I’ve read on the topic (Judith Levine, I’m looking at you), but it’s well worth the read if you’re ready for highly academic writing—which as a master’s student I was, but I still preferred Levine.