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Abstract:
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Young women’s sexual attitudes , experiences , and sense of self develop within multiple social contexts , including the schools in which they spend so much of their time , their romantic and sexual relationships , and a larger normative climate of expectations and beliefs about sexuality . Girls may struggle to develop a healthy view of their sexuality in the face of prevailing sexual beliefs that in many ways deny girls’ sexual desire and define female sexuality as passive and vulnerable . Despite these negative messages , however , many girls do develop positive attitudes about their sexuality , feeling entitled to sexual pleasure and safety . This study explores how young women develop this sense of sexual agency during adolescence and the transition to adulthood . Using longitudinal data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health , I place adolescent sexual development in a social context , by considering the role of schools and early sexual relationships in young women’s developing sexual agency . Additionally , I consider the consequences of girls’ sexual attitudes and first sexual experiences not only for their sexual health but for their later sexual relationships as well . Finally , I consider how young women’s experience of sexual agency may be connected to another manifestation of gender inequality in relationships - housework . Findings suggest that girls’ attitudes toward sex and contraception are related to their sexual relationships in adulthood : girls who see sex as having negative consequences - either for their social relationships , their sense of self , or their future - are less likely to experience sexual agency in their adult relationships . Results also suggest that schools may play contradictory roles in girls’ sexual empowerment , as girls who do well in school were more confident about their ability to use contraception but were also more likely to associate sex with guilt and shame . Additionally , schools provide a peer context for the development of sexual attitudes . Finally , results suggest that explanations for gender inequality in housework are less relevant for sexual behavior , though women and men who are committed to equality in their relationships are likely to be more egalitarian in both housework and sex . |