Embarrassment, Shame, and Reassurance: Emotion and Young People’s Access to Online Sexual Health Information

INTRODUCTION: Research suggests that embarrassment and shame are significant barriers to young people’s access to sexual health information. In this article, we analyse the relationship between emotion and young people’s engagement with online sexual health information. METHODS: Drawing on the work of Ahmed on the performativity of emotion and Probyn’s theorisation of shame, we analyse interviews conducted in 2020 with 37 young people in Australia on sources of sexual health information. RESULTS: Based on themes emerging from the data, our analysis considers the role of embarrassment and shame in shaping young people’s access to sexual health information, the sources they seek, and the forms of information provision they prefer. Overall, we find that shame, embarrassment, and judgement shape our participants’ access to sexual health information in four key ways: (1) by enacting suitable sources of information; (2) by propelling curiosity in different directions; (3) by constituting ‘normal’ bodies, sexuality, and sexual health; and (4) by constituting desired forms of communication. CONCLUSIONS: As part of these dynamics, our participants use a range of strategies to avoid potential embarrassment or judgement when seeking sexual health information. The article concludes by exploring the implications of these practices and dynamics. POLICY IMPLICATIONS: Our analysis suggests the need for research, policy, and public health initiatives that are open to the multiple effects of emotion, including those traditionally thought of as negative, and their role in materialising encounters with sexual health information.