Does the Woman Have the Right to Say No to a Man? Filed under ( Adolescence News ) by edy-koerniawan

adolescence in girls ~ Does the Woman Have the Right to Say No to a Man? : Much of the literature on female adolescent sexuality focuses exclusively on the problems or negative consequences associated with individual girls' sexual behavior and narrowly defines sexual decision making as individual risk-taking behavior. Unfortunately, these studies often use samples of girls of color and poor girls, adolescents who are considered most at risk for being "bad" sexual decision makers; middle-class suburban girls or disabled girls, who are not considered at risk in part because their sexuality is less scrutinized or visible, are thus not often the focus of such studies. In addition, there exists a tendency to study girls primarily, even though sexual decisions, especially those that have negative consequences, are made by both partners.

In the United States, the timeworn adage that "boys want sex, girls want relationships" has permeated beliefs about adolescent sexuality. Only recently, as psychologists began to challenge these previous assumptions about male and female adolescent sexuality and intimacy, has girls' sexual desire been acknowledged as a factor in their sexual decision making.

Recent research attempts focus on understanding how adolescent girls experience their sexuality to determine effective means for empowering girls to develop responsible sexual subjectivities. Such research has generated new avenues for exploration, such as understanding if and how girls from different social and material locations negotiate the following:

• Make active and safe choices about sexual behaviors and about the relationships within which they engage in these expressions of their sexuality.
• Develop a sense of entitlement to their own pleasure and desire.
• Identify and learn to negotiate the often unequal power distribution typical of male-female relationships. 

The centrality of relationships in girl's psychological development suggests the importance of relationships in girls' sexuality development, including girls' decisions about sexual behavior. Taking girls' relational contexts seriously in both research and practice demands a focus on the meanings of sexuality and sexual decisions and the processes by which girls develop their sexuality beyond their choice to have sexual intercourse.

Research Agenda: Sexuality and Sexual Decision Making

• How do adolescent girls experience and voice sexual desire?
• How do girls negotiate and make decisions about the dangers, responsibilities, and pleasures of sexual activity?
• How do girls' relationships with their own bodies, with specific people in their lives, and with the larger cultural ideals regulating "normal" and "moral" female sexual identities shape their sexuality?
• How do a girl's different relationships with peers, close friends, intimate partners, and significant adults in her life inform her about the development of her sexuality and about the pleasures and risks of sexual exploration and sexual intercourse?
• How do positive relational possibilities associated with sexuality and desire, such as intensified intimacy with a loved partner, the sense of well-being that can come from connection with oneself through one's body, or the ability to experience pleasure in sexual relationships affect adolescent girls' decisions to engage in sexual behavior?
• What effects do negative relational risks, such as being hurt, disappointed, or regretful about the choice to have sexual intercourse or to explore a range of sexual behaviors have on adolescent girls?
• How do White, middle-class suburban girls experience and express their sexuality?
• How do conventional notions of femininity and idealized relationships (i.e., compulsory heterosexuality or the traditional romance story) affect girls' sexual identities, sexual experiences, and expressions of desire?