Restricted to the “Traditional Female Role”: Australian high-school graduates’ perceptions of the messaging about women in relationship and sex education

Abstract Australia is faced with gendered issues like intimate partner violence and sexual assault which are perpetuated by widespread negative public attitudes that position women as an inferior gender. High-school Relationship and Sex Education (RSE) offers one intervention into these gendered issues. Research shows students dissatisfaction with RSE and gendered inequalities within it. Based on reflections of recent Australian high-school graduates, this study explored the question, “what messages about women are communicated through RSE?” 12 semi-structured interviews were conducted with Australians (10 women, 2 men) aged 19 to 22 ( M = 19.58) in 2023 who graduated from high-school in the previous three years. Using critical realist epistemology, an abductive Reflexive Thematic Analysis was conducted, through a postmodern feminist lens. Four themes were constructed: Oversimplified Misrepresentations of Women, The Liable Sex, The Deprioritised Other, and The Virtuous Woman. These themes were supported by a reductive-expansive continuum describing variation in portrayals of women, ranging from rigid traditional conceptualisations to more inclusive, expansive representations. Participants described restrictive, rigid, and outdated gendered messaging. Much messaging about women in RSE reflected problematic attitudes toward women. Shame surfaced as a significant, gendered concept in RSE, particularly affecting women participants; this was explained through Shame Resilience Theory. The reductive-expansive continuum offers a practical framework for evaluating and improving how women are represented in RSE programs. Findings echo calls for comprehensive RSE teacher training and necessitate policy makers and educators to review curricula and reform RSE.