I’ve spent more time than I realised thinking over the things that came from the workshops, not least how noticeably different the men and women were. It’s frustrating. I’ve already mentioned the widening tech gap and demonisation of social media amongst the parents and this is also frustrating because there is a part of me that wonders why, as a parent, you would be so scared of something you feel will inevitably take hold of your kids but have no interest in trying to understand. Some people came with me on the idea that you can curate a feed to become more useful, a source for good info and positive content etc but they wanted all this handed to them on a plate – or in fact for someone else to do it for them entirely.
The workshops highlighted this lack of active engagement pretty well when it came to the RSE curriculum in schools now being taught to their kids. They wanted to know everything that was being taught to their kids, especially ahead of time, complained that they didn’t know or that nobody told them. When I fed this back to the school in question the head reiterated that not only had they emailed all this info directly to the parents but also it was all there on their website.
There is much ground also to cover when it comes to a basic introduction conversation around porn. The concepts of good porn and bad porn, porns’ relationships to sex trafficking and child abuse, the idea that porn can be holistically ethical – these are all conversations that need a lot more facilitation and explanation for people in general. Accessibility of all kinds needs to be investigated more within the project. Language and concepts need rolling back right to the start if I am to help people really understand and effectively take on new ideas. Much of the language has a “branding problem” which whilst I personally think is ridiculous can be a barrier to understanding. Accessibility of art work needs to be considered too. Learning what I did in terms of people’s responses to the performance pieces vs the paintings vs sculptures etc etc I think when dealing with high concepts within the sex ed world it would keep it most accessible to deal with a more traditional form of visual expression – a painting, or at least a flat surface of some kind or piece that is wall mounted. In order to have a maximum reach I still want to tread carefully not to alienate anyone who thinks they can’t “do” art or think “correctly” about art. This is why I haven’t as yet added any making to workshops or interventions as I didn’t want to put off the non-creative people but I think making will be more actively used in a future intervention going forward.