Sexuality education, Latinx zines, and Anzaldúan theories of conocimiento

Though an important intervention against rates of pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections among young people, sexuality education routinely suppresses Latinx youths’ claim to sexual subjectivity and deploys racialized, sexualized, and gendered discourses about youth sexuality as a social problem. Drawing on Gloria Anzaldua’s theory of conocimiento, a decolonial epistemology that recognizes the (re)generative capacity of creative processes, I analyze Latinx zines to rethink school-based sexuality education policies and practices. I apply Anzalduan theories of the Coyolxauhqui imperative and the bridge in my analysis and find that zines support the development of sexual subjectivity as Latinxs contend with social inequalities. Zine-making has practical potential within sexuality education in its capacity to foster critical thinking about personal and social experiences of sexuality. Zines can help adult sexuality educators support youth through instruction that is committed to challenging racism, sexism, homophobia, and other social inequalities.