Femininity as a barrier to positive sexual health for adolescent girls
Tolman, D.L.
Journal of the American Medical Women's Association 54(3): 133-138
1999
ISSN/ISBN: 0098-8421 PMID: 10441919 Document Number: 511660
To introduce a new model of female adolescent sexual health based on feminist principles and to investigate the extent to which adolescent girl's beliefs about femininity are associated with three specific elements of their sexual health. 148 eighth-grade adolescent girls completed a survey with questions about sexual self-concept, sexual agency, attitudes toward romance conventions, femininity ideology, and demographic background. Correlational and regression analyses were conducted. An illustrative case study is drawn from a subsample of 46 girls interviewed in depth about gender and relationships. A statistically significant association was found between early adolescent girls' espousal of more conventional beliefs about femininity and diminished positive sexual health. To illustrate the ways in which a girl's femininity ideology interplays with her sexual health, selections from an interview with a 13-year-old Latina girl are presented as a case illustration.