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Our "Ideal Girl"

Prescriptions of Female Adolescent Sexuality in a Feminist Mentorship Program

University at Buffalo, State University of New York, lb35{at}buffalo.edu

Amanda E. Lewis

University of Illinois at Chicago, aelewis{at}uic.edu

Adolescent girls must contend with several sets of competing expectations at the discursive intersection of sexuality, age, gender, and race. This article examines how a feminist mentorship program for early adolescent girls engaged the issue of sexuality. Despite the program’s self-described feminist orientation, ethnographic analysis revealed its reliance on moralistic, age-based standards of appropriate sexual interest and behavior; the suppression of sexuality; and girl-as-victim discourse. These data bolster the call for reformed, sex-positive approaches to adolescent sexuality and reveal some of the complexities involved in cross-generational feminist interventions.

Key Words: adolescence • feminism • gender • sexuality

Affilia, Vol. 21, No. 1, 71-83 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/0886109905283137


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