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Imperiled and Perilous: Exploring the History of Childhood Sexuality
Author(s) -
EGAN R. DANIELLE,
HAWKES GAIL L.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of historical sociology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.186
H-Index - 26
eISSN - 1467-6443
pISSN - 0952-1909
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-6443.2008.00341.x
Subject(s) - human sexuality , agency (philosophy) , sociology , gender studies , politics , history of childhood , political science , social science , law , poison control , human factors and ergonomics , sexual abuse , medicine , environmental health
This article explores the dominant cultural constructions of the child and its sexuality that emerged over the course of the nineteenth and twentieth century in the Anglophone west. Examining how the child and its sexuality were constructed within reform and institutional discourse, we illuminate the social and political implications of frameworks of protection. We argue that discourses of protection foreclose the possibility of the sexual agency of children. The regulation, management and protection of childhood sexuality in various cultural contexts are key themes in the articles featured in this special issue on the history of sexuality of childhood and youth.