Legislative consequences: The state-sanctioned accumulation of genital baggage

Objective: Across the USA, state-level Bills have been introduced that curtail discussion about gender, sexuality, and biology in public schools. Specifically, two Bills have recently been passed in the states of Florida and Texas that we engage with here as we think through the following questions: what ideologies related to bodies and sexuality are these Bills perpetuating; what implications does the codification of these ideologies have for health education, teachers and students; what are some possible long-term considerations and/or effects of these ideologies for the lives and bodies of the children being (un)educated under them; and how do these Bills contribute to students’ exposure to unwanted genital experience[s]? Design: This conceptual article uses past narrative inquiry data to explore the potential ramifications of these Bills. Setting: Eight women from the Midsouthern USA participated in the study. Methods: Data were collected through semi-structured, in-person interviews. Findings: Two understandings are explored in this article are (a) children must be protected from ‘inappropriate’ topics; and (b) sex before heterosexual marriage is wrong and dangerous. In doing so, we draw on literature that connects cultural and religious framings of sexuality and gender roles to the embodied and sexual experiences of women similarly to the ways these connections are inscribed in the laws. Against this as backdrop, we examine how adult women in the present have been affected by living under and/or with the norms and behaviours demanded by these Bills, and their cultural prescriptions and enactments. Conclusion: To begin the process of helping women unpack and free themselves from their accumulated genital baggage, we offer support for sexual literacy that encourages genital intelligence coupled with an open curiosity about other people’s bodies, experiences, and desires.