”Our sharpest weapon was factual information”. The mobilization of the National League for Sexual Education in Skåne, 1933–1945

Abstract

In Swedish history of sexuality, the period 1930–1950 is described as a paradigm shift during which advertising for contraceptives was legalized and sexual education became mandatory in public schools. This is often linked to parliamentary efforts made by the Social Democrats and extra-parliamentary actions taken by the Swedish Association for Sexuality Education (RFSU), which was founded in 1933. The latter has been the subject of several scholarly inquiries, which, however, have revolved around its mobilization and development on the national level, thus neglecting how sexual politics were carried out in the local community. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to analyze the mobilization of RFSU in southern Sweden and examine how it was received in the local press, thereby contributing to our current knowledge of sexual reform by adding a local perspective.

The study consists of archival material from the local RFSU clubs and the association’s national board as well as newspaper articles; a material that is read through Tilly, Tarrow and McAdam’s theory on contentious politics. The material presents three results that have yet to be highlighted in research on the national organization. First, even though RFSU Skåne was throughout the period contested by the Church, it managed to gain a prominent position compared to other sexual reformers by presenting itself as respectable. This eventually led to RFSU being accepted and municipal governments expressing an interest in offering financial support. Second, previous research has described a tendency where RFSU joined forces with the Social Democratic Party and the Syndicalist movement. However, this tendency does not apply to RFSU Skåne, since most of their allegiances were created between labor unions, Social Democratic women’s leagues and smaller political associations. Finally, the study also shows that its membership activities represented a specific challenge as the association competed with local unions and the Social Democratic movement.

While the study demonstrates that RFSU Skåne largely followed the mobilization pattern on the national level previously described by historianof ideas Lena Lennerhed, these minor differences still illustrate how RFSU operated on the local level. Hence, the insights gained from this study can be used to broaden our historical knowledge of the advocacy work aimed at changing sexual policy in a formative period of Swedish history.