ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses sexual educational material in Sweden that aspires to a ‘norm critical’ agenda, i.e. which explicitly seeks to challenge norms regarding gender, sexuality, able-bodyness, race and ethnicity. The analysis is interested in the ways the material attempts to move beyond racialised notions of immutable cultural differences. We argue that while the material avoids reproducing stereotypes, it fails to develop an alternative way of conceptualising culture and its importance for sexuality. It also falls prey to a liberal discourse in its attempt to bridge differences by aspiring to universal rights. A more fruitful alternative, we suggest, would be to turn to a transversal politics so as to develop a form of sex education that can accommodate conflicting values, while treating culture in a non-essentialist way.
