Coming of age in the era of AIDS: puberty, sexuality, and contraception

Abstract

The existing discrepancies between adolescent and societal constructions of teenage sexuality in America are further exacerbated by AIDS. Male and female teenagers receive different and often conflicting messages about sexuality from diverse sources; their parents' lack of frankness about sexual intercourse contrasts sharply with the media's emphasis on sex and with highly rationalistic discussions about sexuality in schools, complicating adolescents' decisions about entering and continuing sexual relationships. Survey research indicates that not all teenagers engaging in sexual intercourse reduce risks of HIV infection as much as they might. While AIDS has prompted many teenagers to change their sexual behavior, serious questions remain about adolescents' conceptions of the dangers of unprotected sex.

PIP: As young people enter their reproductive age, society will invariably try to control their sexual behavior. Contemporary attempts to control sexual behavior have been couched in terms of the negative effects of childbearing on teenagers. It is the contention of the authors that this ignores several very important facts such as: the teenager's own experience, perceptions, and social setting. The authors maintain that very little is known about how teenagers develop their sexuality; how they perceive and deal with the emergence of sexual desire, how they receive and process information about sexuality; how they negotiate sexual relationships; and how sexual development relates to other forms of development such as establishing satisfying relationships with members of the same and opposite sex. Another negative side effect to societal message that is only concerned with the individual costs of pregnancy is the ignorance of sexually transmitted diseases, all the more important with the emergence of the AIDS virus. No studies have been done that consider teenagers perception of AIDS or its effect on their sexual or psychological development. Discussions of all these issues are put forward in this work although the primary focus is on AIDS and its effects of teenage development. The study concludes that knowledge is simply not enough to alter the behavior of teenagers. This is attributed to 3 factors: the construction of teenage sexuality; the decision making and negotiation process involved in entering and continuing a sexual relationship, and the perceived costs of sex with out condoms.