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<p>We examined how parents socialize their young children around sexuality, a fundamental and virtually unavoidable part of human development. While research has explored parental socialization strategies, few studies have focused on liberal, white parents or situated their practices in relation to dominant cultural notions of childhood innocence, intensive parenting, and developmental appropriateness. In our study, we conducted interviews with 25 U.S. parents of children ages 3–7 over Zoom and used narrative inquiry to generate themes. We found that parents approached conversations by (1) broadening notions of sexuality and family planning, (2) labeling and defining reproductive organs, (3) laying the groundwork for love, trust, and future conversations, and (4) promoting body safety and consent. In contrast, they avoided (1) the mechanics of sex and reproduction, (2) sexual violence and abuse, and (3) gender and sexual identity. We show how early sex talk functions as a gendering practice that allocates protection and responsibility unevenly to girls and boys. We situate these findings within cultural master narratives and societal notions of doing gender, shedding light on ways that political ideology and whiteness shape how parents preserve or disrupt childhood innocence. Our results offer directions for professionals, educators, policymakers, and caregivers seeking to promote developmentally attuned conversations about bodies, boundaries, and consent in early childhood.</p>

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How the F*** Am I Supposed to Explain That?: Gendered Sexual Socialization of Young Children Through Approaches to Sex Talk

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年7月6日

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  • Yana Kuchirko,
  • Anna Bennet,
  • Anastasia Voron,
  • Marimar Pérez De León,
  • Tania Camarillo Contreras,
  • Erika Niwa

摘要

We examined how parents socialize their young children around sexuality, a fundamental and virtually unavoidable part of human development. While research has explored parental socialization strategies, few studies have focused on liberal, white parents or situated their practices in relation to dominant cultural notions of childhood innocence, intensive parenting, and developmental appropriateness. In our study, we conducted interviews with 25 U.S. parents of children ages 3–7 over Zoom and used narrative inquiry to generate themes. We found that parents approached conversations by (1) broadening notions of sexuality and family planning, (2) labeling and defining reproductive organs, (3) laying the groundwork for love, trust, and future conversations, and (4) promoting body safety and consent. In contrast, they avoided (1) the mechanics of sex and reproduction, (2) sexual violence and abuse, and (3) gender and sexual identity. We show how early sex talk functions as a gendering practice that allocates protection and responsibility unevenly to girls and boys. We situate these findings within cultural master narratives and societal notions of doing gender, shedding light on ways that political ideology and whiteness shape how parents preserve or disrupt childhood innocence. Our results offer directions for professionals, educators, policymakers, and caregivers seeking to promote developmentally attuned conversations about bodies, boundaries, and consent in early childhood.