Doing Sex Educationdiscusses the controversial issue of sex education by examining a sexuality curriculum taught to a ninth-grade health class and how it affects both teachers and students. Drawing on daily classroom and school observations and interviews with teachers, students, and other school personnel, the volume illustrates the dynamic, complex, and sometimes contradictory processes by which traditional versions of appropriate sexual behavior and gender relations are legitimized as well as contested. By exploring fundamental curricular questions which are seldom addressed, the book reveals the inadequacies of current approaches to sex eduction, and examines the process by which the matter of sexuality is reduced to details for meeting grade requirements.