Past Meetings

Tuesday, December 11, 2007, 7:15-9:00 p.m., Faculty House, Morningside Campus, Deevia Bhana, PhD, Faculty of Education, University of KwaZulu-Natal

“Emma and Dave sitting on a tree, KISSING”:The scandal of childhood sexuality in the context of South African HIV/AIDS. This talk explores the sexual cultures of young children (under ten years old) in diverse South African social settings. Despite the adult wish for sexual innocence and the construction of childhood sexuality as scandalous, young children have sophisticated understandings of their sexual and social circumstances, shaping meanings of sex, gender and HIV/AIDS. The discussion draws upon empirical research with children to examine heterosexuality, the construction of young masculinities and femininities, and the ways in which children make meaning of HIV/AIDS. Social processes shape the extent to which young children experience sexuality within discourses of fear and pleasure, as well as adult discourses of innocence and the regulation of childhood sexuality. Lastly some theoretical and practical/political questions about the implications of childhood sexuality are raised, in the context of HIV/AIDS education and prevention in South Africa.RSVP:awp33@columbia.edu or 917 498 2335