Feminist Approaches to Youth Sexualities

1
LSFS14 21.4.1989
Jill
Q. I see from the questionnaire that you live at home with your parents and brother.
A. Yes.
Q. How old's your brother?
A. Eighteen, nineteen in MONTH.
Q. So he's a bit older than you. And what does your dad do?
A. He - like he's, at the moment he's fixing the house up...
Q. So did he have a job before that?
A. Yeah, he used to do SKILLED TRADE.
Q. But he stopped doing that?
A. That's when he started fixing up the house.
Q. Right, but your mum works on the computer...
A. Yeah, a REDACTED.
Q. And what do you normally do when you go out?
A. Go to the pictures, like I generally hang around with my friends.
Q. Is that girlfriends or a mixed lot?
A. Girls mainly, but some of them live with their boyfriends, so it just depends.
Q. And have you got a special boyfriend?
A. Not at the moment. I'm sick of them.
Q. Why are you sick of them?
A. Just - aggravating me all the time, asking me to go out and go out and go out.
Q. But did you have a steady boyfriend?
A. Yeah, a couple of years ago.
Q. How long did you go out with him for?
A. About five months.
Q. And was that alright?
A. Yeah.
Q. That wasn't what you got fed up with?
A. Well I got fed up after a time 'cos we always just sat indoors all the time, did nothing else, he
didn't wanna go out, we sat indoors.
Q. Sounds a bit boring.
A. Bored.
Q. And what other sorts of relationships have you had with boys?
A. Short relationships.
Q. How long - how long is short?
A. A month, a month, a couple of months.
Q. And have you felt serious about any of them? So has there been anyone who you felt really
keen on?
A. Not really, no.
Q. But do they keep pestering you, it sounds like A. Yeah, some boys do keep on asking me out, I tell them no, but they still keep on asking. Got a
boy who's been asking me for about three years now, he still won't give up.
Q. Are they from the school?
A. No, they - he lives just down the road from me, where I live.
Q. Right. 'Cos is there a NAME OF SCHOOL boys' school or is it just a girls' school?
A. There is a NAME OF SCHOOL boys' school, but it's pretty far away.
Q. Ah, right, I was thinking they might be close by... And when you actually go round with your
girlfriends, where do you go? Do you - do you hang about or do you go off to pubs and things?
A. No, we don't go to pubs, I don't really like pubs. We might go to pictures occasionally or go to
each other's houses... just talk.
Q. And what do you talk about?
A. Anything and everything. Like if you've got any problems, talk to each other about it.

1

2
Q. So if there was anything you were worried about you could talk to them about it. I was noticing
from the questionnaire too that quite a lot of things down on that sex education list, you know,
what you - where have you learnt about - that you'd obviously talked about with friends as well
as anywhere else.
A. Yeah, my mates sort of everything, anything I wanna know they'll just like - just ask each other.
Or look in books.
Q. Where did you first get any sort of sex education from?
A. Oh, God - it might have been like generally looking through magazines and like say little bits of
articles and that and then we'd talk about it all.
Q. How old were you then?
A. About - about eleven, twelve.
Q. Is that before you'd had any lessons at school?
A. Yeah, 'cos we had them when we was in the fourth year Q. Not till then?
A. But like we'd learnt about periods and that when we was in the lower school which is about the
first to third year.
Q. Yeah. But that seems a bit late, doesn't it?
A. Yeah, 'cos when they teach us we already knew about it.
Q. Did you tell them that? 'Cos fourth year must have been about, what, fifteen?
A. Yeah, about fourteen, fifteen.
Q. Some girls can be pregnant and have kids by fourteen or fifteen.
A. My mate was pregnant when she was fifteen.
Q. Did she have it?
A. Yeah, she had an (?) abortion.
Q. What did you think to that?
A. Well I thought she was a bit young, but it's what she wanted.
Q. And what would you feel if you got pregnant?
A. Shocked. I don't know what I'd do. The first person I'd discuss it with would be my friends
though 'cos I - I don't get on good with my parents, I can't talk personally...
Q. So you can't talk about sort of sex or boyfriends and stuff?
A. Well I can, if like I say I get a boyfriend I tell her, and she sort of, my mum says, well if you get a
boyfriend, finish, it's not worth going out with some people; and just like little bits that she - the
other day she come up to me and said like, your father does care for you, he's worried about you
just in case you get pregnant, and all this. I said, mum, how d'you know about everything.
Q. But did you want her to stop sort of talking about it or would you like her to talk about it?
A. No, 'cos I feel like I already know most of the things now.
Q. So did she tell you about periods though, things like that, or A. Well, a bit of it she did, yeah, she told me like a few things like having periods, come to me and
I'll get your stuff.
Q. And did you?
A. Yeah, at first... get my own. You can't rely on her, sort of thing.
Q. And has she talked to you about sex and contraception and things like that, apart from what
you just A. Well she said about contraception before, the pill and that, she said if you wanna talk about it,
talk about it, but I don't wanna go on the pill 'cos my mate put on too much weight when she was
on the pill before.
Q. Was that the mate who got pregnant?
A. No, that's another one.
Q. Are many of your friends on the pill?
A. Well one is but she only uses it 'cos like her bad periods, she gets bad stomach cramp and that.
Q. Yeah, they often give it for that.
A. So she got... but the girl that was on it, she's finished with it now, she's put too much weight on.
Q. So have you had a sexual relationship with anyone in the past?
A. Mm, that was with the second boy I went out with.
Q. The second one?

2

3
A. Yeah.
Q. And what was it about him that made you have a sexual relationship?
A. It was - when you're at a young age you wanna like go and experience things, you're curious
about it, I was dead curious.
Q. So what was it like?
A. Well I didn't expect it to be what it was, it was boring. I found it boring.
Q. And was it his first sexual experience?
A. No.
Q. But did you just feel you wanted to kind of see what it was like or was it somehow - I mean
some people have said that they - they wanted to lose their virginity because A. No.
Q. - loads of friends had and things like that.
A. - No, it was - I just wanted to know what it was like, what everyone was talking about, oh it's
really good Q. Is that what they were saying?
A. Yeah, quite a lot of people - I didn't enjoy it.
Q. So how did it happen?
A. Like we talked about it and that and like just like - said oh do it in the, like this, this time we both
were there we, like, done it.
Q. And did you talk about getting anything to use?
A. Yeah, got a condom.
Q. And did you get that or did he get that?
A. He got that, out of the toilets at Wood Green it was. He was too shy to go in the shop and buy
them.
Q. And was it easy to find somewhere to actually do it? People's houses aren't always that
accessible.
A. Yeah, it was like we had to arrange a time when no one would be in.
Q. So it must have been a bit like plotting.
A. Yeah, it was.
Q. And how long had you been going out with him?
A. I don't know, it was about two, three months I'd been going out with him.
Q. And did you think you'd go out with him for long?
A. I did at first but then I - I just like I kept on going out with him because he liked me and that's
how it finished.
Q. And did it go on much longer after you had sex together?
A. About a month or two, then we finished.
Q. And did you carry on having sex together, or was that the only time?
A. That was - it was once after that, that's the last one...
Q. So that's been your only times? (pause) So it doesn't sound you - as though you got a huge
view of it as being wonderful, what everyone else was saying.
A. No.
Q. But did you tell them that?
A. No.
Q. 'Cos do you think sometimes they might have said it was wonderful 'cos they didn't want to say
it wasn't?
A. I don't know, they could have done.
Q. You know, like sometimes boys go on about things to make it sound different to the way it is.
A. I think it's - it's dead boring.
Q. And with your other boyfriends, has it been sexual in any way? I don't mean actually having
intercourse A. No.
Q. - but A. Just kissing and that was all.
Q. So no boys have actually wanted you to kind of go any further, I don't mean intercourse, I mean
sort of other things.

3

4
A. Well they have but I've said no.
Q. What about the guy you were with for a - more of a long time?
A. Yes... had sex with...
Q. He's your longest boyfriend?
A. Yeah.
Q. So that was about three months altogether.
A. No, about five, six months that was.
Q. And do you - what do you see yourself doing like in the future in terms of boys? 'Cos it doesn't
sound to me like you're very keen at the moment.
A. No, I'm sick of guys. But I don't know, after a while I might want to get a serious boyfriend, it just
depends how it goes, if I find the right person.
Q. Mm, 'cos there's no particular hurry.
A. No. If the right one comes along, he comes along, but I'm not gonna, like, go out searching. Not
yet anyway.
Q. Does there ever feel any kind of pressure to have a kind of sexual relationship with someone,
either from boys themselves or from other girls, sort of saying, oh, are you having sex with
anybody?
A. No, - well, in a way, yeah it does, like when I first start a relationship I always think they're
gonna want sex after a while, which it usually does boil down to but it just depends how long,
'cos sometimes like it'll be a year, sometimes it'll be a couple of months, it just depends on the
boys. 'Cos you can get someone understanding who like will wait until you're ready or when they
want like, you really wanna please them as well as yourself.
Q. Have you had any boyfriends who've actually wanted to kind of force it, almost?
A. No, not yet. Not yet. Hopefully not.
Q. And when you were having sex education things, did they talk much about AIDS?
A. Well they did talk - like they, like we had a discussion on it and they used a video, and like we
said to the teacher could they bring in someone who's suffering from AIDS so we could question
them themselves on how they felt like having the disease.
Q. And did they?
A. No...
Q. So what did you feel about them - I mean about the whole AIDS thing?
A. Well at first I thought you could only catch it if you was a homosexual but it goes through all the
kind of things, like homosexuals, heterosexuals, bisexuals, all like - it can be anyone, 'cos you
can be a carrier and not suffer from it.
Q. And does that scare you at all?
A. Well it does in a way, yeah.
Q. 'Cos if you were actually thinking of having a relationship with a boy, I mean would that be
something you'd think about?
A. Well, yeah, I'd want - I'd want, like if I was gonna - if I was gonna have sex with them and that
I'd want them to like have a test just, like if they said to me they have had other partners before,
I'd like them to have a test.
Q. Do you think that would be easy to ask?
A. No, 'cos I just - I think of it the way if they were gonna ask me, how I'd feel, put yourself in their
shoes.
Q. So do you think you would be able to ask them, for instance to use a condom?
A. Yeah, I'd be able to say that easy enough 'cos if they want... I'd say... I don't wanna do it.
Q. And did you and your friends ever talk about things like AIDS?
A. Well we do - like we discussed it but not much, we discussed -discussed sex more in that kind
of - not AIDS, not that much anyway.
Q. What sort of things about sex would you talk about?
A. Different positions, different things really.
Q. So what - different positions and what?
A. I can't remember what I said. And like about contraception as well, about what methods.
Q. What, were people quite open about what they were doing or using or -

4

5
A. Well, me and my particular friend, we get on really well 'cos I've known her for about thirteen,
fourteen years and like we can talk about it openly, like we discuss things, if we have any
problems we just talk to each other, more than I do with other friends anyway.
Q. And do you find you've sort of learnt anything through talking to A. Yeah.
Q. - girlfriends. I mean do you think it's more useful talking to your girlfriends about things than say
reading books or having sex education lessons or A. Well, if you read a magazine then they don't tell you what you wanna ask them but if, like, if you
ask a friend then they can tell you, or if you have sex education class you can talk about it, you
can get answers rather than just reading it, and you wanna know more you'd have to send off for
more information.
Q. What was I saying - sex education. 'Cos what classes did they put the sex education into?
A. Health education.
Q. And could you ask questions, I mean was the atmosphere right, or A. Well it was like all - all you really wanted to know about it and like the teacher started talking
about it - oh must be a teacher like that - it was all secretive.
Q. I mean, did they tell you anything you didn't know?
A. Not really, no, not that I know of. I knew everything they said about Q. What about things like sexually transmitted diseases and things like that?
A. Well, that, I didn't really know about that.
Q. Did they cover that?
A. A little bit. Like syphilis, gonorrhea. But that's - like I just know the words, but I don't know what
really what they mean.
Q. And in terms of things like AIDS, do you know anyone who you think could be at risk from that
sort of thing?
A. I don't know anyone personally, no.
Q. Do any of your friends kind of sleep around, as it were?
A. No. Hopefully not, not that I know of.
Q. Is that because of things like AIDS or is it just because they don't do that anyway?
A. They don't - they're not promis - promiscuous.
Q. And do you feel that if you did have a relationship with somebody, do you think you could - you
would ever sort of take a risk in terms of - of just making love without anything at all, say you fell
madly, passionately in love with someone?
A. I suppose so, if I was going out with him for quite a while. And if I wanted to get pregnant or
anything like that and - maybe, yeah. But I would, like, prefer him to use a condom all the time.
Q. And do you think the condom would be what you'd use in general as opposed to any other sort
of methods of protection?
A. Well, I'd rather use a condom because they're supposed to be safest, aren't they? I'd rather use
one of them than anything else.
Q. And do you think most boys would agree to that?
A. Some boys don't like wearing them, like some boys, like some boys prefer get their girlfriends to
go on the pill but I would say that I wouldn't go on it and I'd prefer him to use... and if he didn't
use it then, no, whatever he Q. And do you think what - would sort of feel worse to you as your first reaction, would be kind of a
risk from getting pregnant through - or a risk that you could get AIDS?
A. Well, it's pregnant really is the first one, I think that like AIDS comes second really.
Q. And do you take risks in any other kind of area of your life in terms of, you know, smoking,
drinking?
A. No, I don't smoke, I don't drink. The only risk I take is when I'm crossing the road, ... between
cars.
Q. Would you say you were ever a person who takes risks?
A. Occasionally I take risks, yeah, but not much.
Q. What sort of risks are those?

5

6
A. Once I went out with my mate's boyfriend while she was going out with him, that was a big risk.
She found out in the end as well... and, like, we wasn't talking for quite a bit, and then we got
back together.
Q. Yeah. Why did you do it?
A. I don't know. I liked him but I don't know why... I wish I didn't do it.
Q. And if you wanted to go out and meet new people, what sort of places would you go to actually
meet kind of friends, I mean boys or girls?
A. Well you could go to a nightclub, or parties, pubs Q. But what do you usually do?
A. I - I usually, 'cos when I walk my dog, I usually see people as I'm walking around with their
animals, so I get talking to them. And they, like, recognise me and just start talking from them.
Q. And what do you - what do you think you're gonna do after you leave school?
A. Oh, hopefully get a job.
Q. What as?
A. I wanna work in a office but I don't know what doing. Got to think about it. A lot of jobs in office.
Q. But nothing specific appeals to you?
A. Well, something to do with computers.
Q. Is that what you're doing here?
A. Information technology we're doing, but just science technology at the moment.
Q. It's what technology?
A. Science technology.
Q. Science tech – what, and then you go onto information technology?
A. Information technology on Thursday afternoon for two hours. And like we - it's like word
processing we're doing at the present moment, it's interesting.
Q. And do you have any ideas about kind of when you - when or if you might like to get married
and have kids, things like that?
A. No, no. But if I do have kids I want them, like, when I'm pretty young.
Q. What's pretty young?
A. Twenties, like nineteen, twenty, twenty-one, roughly round that time. I don't wanna be like
twenty-six and like when I - my kid's my age I'll be about forty, fifty.
Q. And do you think you'll get married for that or doesn't that matter if A. Well I'd like to be married if I did have kids, yeah. So I wanna know if I'm gonna have kids that
he's gonna stay there and he's gonna be there with me, but if, like - if it happened and if I wasn't
married to anyone or anything I'd probably have an abortion. I'm not into it anyway at the
moment.
Q. What feels - is the most sort of important thing for you at the moment?
A. Getting a job at the moment, 'cos I wanna start work as soon as possible.
Q. And what's the most important relationship in your life at the moment?
A. The most important relationship? ... Not really, it's not most important now 'cos I've just gone off
him, he drove me up the bend.
Q. But is - I was thinking not just of relationships with boys but I mean, could be with girlfriends or
with your parents, brother, anyone else. Or maybe there aren't any?
A. I don't know.
Q. Does your brother have a girlfriend?
A. ... my mates 'cos they usually see him with a girl, I mean even if, like he's only brought one girl
home before, he hasn't brought any other home, but I've heard he has a lot of girlfriends.
Q. But he keeps quiet about it?
A. Yeah, 'cos my dad takes the mickey out of him when he brings them home.
Q. His dad does?
A. Yeah, and winds him up.
Q. Does your dad take the mickey out of you?
A. Yeah, he does actually.
Q. Could you take your boyfriends home to him?
A. Well I have – like, every boy I've been out with so far I have taken them home and my mum my mum and dad have liked most of them, apart from the first one.

6

7
Q. How old were you when you went out with your first one?
A. About twelve, thirteen years old.
Q. And how old was he?
A. About the same age.
Q. And how old were you - I might have asked you this, I can't remember, how old were you when
you went with the one who you had a sexual relationship?
A. About fifteen years old, I think, fifteen, sixteen.
Q. And was he older?
A. No, he was the same age.
Q. So he was still at school. But he'd had other relationships.
A. Yeah.
Q. So did you feel as if he knew what he was doing?
A. I think so, yeah.
Q. I mean could you talk about it afterwards, was it something you could talk about with him?
A. Well, if he'd wanna talk about it then I would talk about it with him but apart from that I wouldn't.
Q. Do you think there are kind of double standards for girls and boys?
A. What do you mean by that?
Q. Well if a girl sort of goes and has a relationship with a boy and maybe has sex or whatever,
sometimes she's criticised for it A. Yeah
Q. - in a way that A. She's called a slag.
Q. Yes. But a boy - often, you know, it's like a notch in his belt or something like that. I mean does
that happen amongst your friends?
A. Well not really, no, 'cos they're not, as I said before, like the randy sort.
Q. And do you think, because part of what we're interested in is whether people actually are aware
of - of AIDS as a risk in terms of contemplating having relationships with people, do you think it's
something that - that over the years has changed at all? Like an awareness, you and your
friends A. Well, a lot of people have woken up to the diseases now 'cos since AIDS has come out
everyone's been more worried about it, 'cos they never knew about it before 'cos it's a couple of
years since it's been out - 'cos that wasn't - like gonorrhea and that wasn't like a killer but AIDS
is, so it's really woke them up now.
Q. And do you think people actually do take it seriously?
A. Yeah.
Q. 'Cos sometimes people think oh, yeah, but it'll never happen to me sort of thing.
A. Some people do think like that, 'cos I watched a programme about a year ago and there was a
boy I knew saying oh, it's never happen to me, oh I wouldn't go with someone like that, but he
wouldn't know if he went with them 'cos Q. No.
A. - it doesn't - takes a couple of years to like form, doesn't it?
Q. Yeah, or even longer.
A. I think he's more likely to get it than anyone else 'cos he was like promiscuous, he seemed like
to me anyway.
Q. And you said you used to think - or that people used to think, that people most at risk were
gays, homosexuals?
A. Yeah, well that's what I thought at first but then I found out it was like - it can be anyone, 'cos it
could be - it could start with homosexuals, then it could go on to like, someone could be
bisexual, has sex with heterosex - no, another bisexual, they could have sex with a
heterosexual, but it just goes on.
Q. Mm. And how did you find that out, I mean was that through things you'd seen or read or A. Well it's - it's through, yeah, TV, magazines, generally talking about it with like the teachers,
said about before.
Q. 'Cos did that change the way you saw homosexuals at all at that time?

7

8
A. Not really, 'cos I've - I've always said like, if that's what they want then let them have - 'cos we
was having a discussion the other day and some of the girls in the class were saying no, that's
not right that another man should go with another man, but I say it's up to them 'cos it's them
who is actually doing it, not me, so it's them.
Q. Do you know anyone who's gay?
A. Not that I know of, no. 'Cos I don't think they'd want it -they'd say, 'cos they'd be shocked, like
they'd think that I'd go mad or something. A lot of my friends think I do go mad.
Q. Why?
A. 'Cos like my mate's been going out with a boy for about a month now, and she said she's - like
they decided, a couple of weeks of going out with each other, and they decided they wanna get
engaged and like I just - I just start moaning about it at first, but after all I said, well it's up to you,
if you feel happy together then that's fine. And now they're gonna live together so Q. 'Cos did you think they were too young or what?
A. Well no, she's sixteen and the boy she's going out with is twenty-three I think it is, twenty-one,
twenty-three. And I thought at first I thought, 'cos he doesn't look that age, he looks about
eighteen, nineteen, he acts that way as well - and I said it's up to them and I don't mind what
they do. But she said she wants to get married, like wants to have a baby soon...
Q. Can you imagine yourself having a baby?
A. I don't know really 'cos - in a way I can but in a way I can't 'cos I really wanna have a good
career but then a baby might drag me down or what - but in the end I do want a baby, but I
doubt I'll be able to have one.
Q. Why not?
A. I don't know. It's like -'cos I've been watching TV that there's people like not being able to have
babies 'cos of certain ... in the male or the woman.
Q. 'Cos of certain what?
A. 'Cos there's something wrong with them and like and so I think it could be me, I could have that,
even though no one else that I know in my family has got something wrong with them or couldn't
have babies, but there's always the first chance, the first time.
Q. Mm. But you think that might be you?
A. Mm, could be. Well it's a possibility it could be.
Q. And if you had to describe yourself, what sort of person would you say you were?
A. Mean.
Q. Mean?
A. Yeah.
Q. Why?
A. 'Cos like I - I seem to hold onto my money more than other people do and like I can be
generous when I wanna be, but I - I'm -I think I'm easy to talk to, some people do talk to me,
some people don't.
Q. So are you quite kind of open with yourself even if people might think you're not open with your
money? (?) We could stop now. Do you have any relationships with boys, not as boyfriends but
just as friends?
A. Yeah, I've got quite a few male friends.
Q. And what do you do with them, is that like social things or A. Well we go out, yeah, and like we talk, just like you was with a girl really, the same.
Q. And if you had like a boyfriend relationship, could you - were they people that you could discuss
anything about that with, are they that close a friend or not?
A. I am close with them but most of them fancy me.
Q. Do you find that a drag?
A. I do, yeah, because they always like - when I - I'd rather talk to them, 'cos there's one that I do
get on really well with but he fancies me, so I'd like to talk to him about relationships 'cos another
friend of mine, she talks to him, she can talk about her relationships 'cos he doesn't fancy her,
but I can't 'cos he fancies me and he might start getting jealous.
Q. God, it's really awkward, isn't it?
A. Yeah, so it's mainly like girls I talk - talk to really.

8

9
Q. And when you actually had relationships with boys, the ones that you've had, did you - was it a
kind of equal relationship or did they tend to take the lead in terms of what you did or where you
went or things like that?
A. It - it was mainly equal really, we both discussed it, like I didn't wanna do it or he didn't wanna
do a thing, we wouldn't do it.
Q. So could you sort of suggest dates that you met and things that you did and things like that?
A. I could, yeah, but if he wasn't free then we'd arrange another time or another day so like it'd be he - like we'd both talk through about it, like he couldn't make it and it'd be another day.
Q. And there's nobody you've got your eye on at all at the moment from the sound of it?
A. Not really.
Q. And does that feel alright or is there a pressure that you should be kind of having some kind of
boyfriend or relationship?
A. Well there is a pressure in a way but I just try and push it off, like it's up to me what I wanna do,
my - as I've let everyone else do what they want with their life then they should let me do what I
want.
Q. And do your parents kind of ever talk to you about having boyfriends and that, are they - do
they have views on it?
A. Well they don't mind really if I have a boyfriend or not. It's up to me - take your time, pick who
you want.
Q. And would they mind - well I mean obviously you have had a sexual relationship, even if it was
only a couple of times, but did you tell them about that?
A. No. But once, like, we was having sex and my brother come in the room Q. What, when you were doing it?
A. Yeah.
Q. Oh, how embarrassing.
A. But I had like a bit of sheet over the window so he couldn't really see, like on the door, so like I
opened up the door, he said oh I'm gonna tell mum. But I don't know if he did or not. But they
haven't said anything to me about it Q. - they haven't said anything about it A. But they might have - they might have like not bothered saying anything about it or he might not
have told them. But I haven't - I haven't said anything to them about it, it would only...
Q. Would they approve of you having a sexual relationship?
A. Well I was fifteen at the time so I don't know, I don't think they would have done. Sort of strict.
Q. What, strict, religious, or just strict?
A. No, strict. They would like me in at a certain time, so... "a decent girl should be in at a decent
time".
Q. What's a decent time?
A. About ten-ish, but sometimes I can stay out till about eleven-thirty, a bit of pushing.
Q. No, I should think if he had told them your mum would probably be asking you whether you
wanted to go on the pill or something like that A. Yeah
Q. - she might be more worried that you might get pregnant than anything else, mightn't she, or
not?
A. Well I should think she would 'cos she does - I can see that she doesn't want me pregnant at
my age, she'd rather I waited a couple of years or so. 'Cos I was a bit young at fifteen, I was a bit
young to realise what a serious relationship was.

9
1
LSFS14 [NAME OF SCHOOL] 21.4.89
Aged 17. Saw at school. Light brown hair. Jeans and sweatshirt. Fairly self assured, open
and relaxed, but rather casual about interview. I felt that she was saying rather the minimum
than the maximum response. Lives with father, mother and brother. Said she was fed up
with boys, had only had one sexual experience, which had been with a boyfriend that she'd
been with for about 5 or 6 months. She'd wanted to see what sex was like, but found it was
boring. Now she's asked out by boys but doesn't want to go. She just goes out with a few
mates and hangs around etc. When she'd had sex she'd used a condom, and was fairly
aware of AIDS.

Title	Interview with Jill, 16-17, White British, lower middle class, no religion. Women, Risk and AIDS Project, London, 1989. Anonymised version including field notes. (Ref: LSFS14)
Description	Anonymised transcript of interview with Jill, who is working towards a career in information technology. Most of her sex education came from magazines and chats with friends. Her school didn't teach them about periods until they were around age fifteen, which was much too late - they already knew about them, and one of her peers had already fallen pregnant. Jill describes her first sexual experience as boring, though she had been curious to see what all the fuss was about. She's a bit fed up with boys at the moment, but seems to garner a lot of male attention. She would prefer to use condoms as her main method of contraception in the future, as she believes they are the safest and some of her friends have gained a lot of weight using the pill. Jill is more worried about the risk of pregnancy than AIDS, but would like children in the future, once she has established a career for herself.
Identifier	LSFS14/O
Date	1989-04-21 00:00:00
Creator	Sue Sharpe
Publisher	Reanimating Data Project
Subject	Family life Hobbies Leisure time Single sex school Magazines Friendship Sex education Teenage pregnancy Pregnancy Abortion Parent attitudes Periods Contraceptive devices Contraception The pill First sex Virginity Expectation Condom use Peer pressure AIDS disease AIDS education AIDS testing Risk Sexually transmitted diseases Casual sex Aspirations Marriage Parenthood Double standards Sexual reputation Sexual pleasure Homophobia Sibling relationship No religion Lower middle class.
Type	Text
Temporal Coverage	1989.0
Spatial Coverage	London
Rights	CC BY-NC 4.0
extracted text	1 LSFS14 21.4.1989 Jill Q. I see from the questionnaire that you live at home with your parents and brother. A. Yes. Q. How old's your brother? A. Eighteen, nineteen in MONTH. Q. So he's a bit older than you. And what does your dad do? A. He - like he's, at the moment he's fixing the house up... Q. So did he have a job before that? A. Yeah, he used to do SKILLED TRADE. Q. But he stopped doing that? A. That's when he started fixing up the house. Q. Right, but your mum works on the computer... A. Yeah, a REDACTED. Q. And what do you normally do when you go out? A. Go to the pictures, like I generally hang around with my friends. Q. Is that girlfriends or a mixed lot? A. Girls mainly, but some of them live with their boyfriends, so it just depends. Q. And have you got a special boyfriend? A. Not at the moment. I'm sick of them. Q. Why are you sick of them? A. Just - aggravating me all the time, asking me to go out and go out and go out. Q. But did you have a steady boyfriend? A. Yeah, a couple of years ago. Q. How long did you go out with him for? A. About five months. Q. And was that alright? A. Yeah. Q. That wasn't what you got fed up with? A. Well I got fed up after a time 'cos we always just sat indoors all the time, did nothing else, he didn't wanna go out, we sat indoors. Q. Sounds a bit boring. A. Bored. Q. And what other sorts of relationships have you had with boys? A. Short relationships. Q. How long - how long is short? A. A month, a month, a couple of months. Q. And have you felt serious about any of them? So has there been anyone who you felt really keen on? A. Not really, no. Q. But do they keep pestering you, it sounds like A. Yeah, some boys do keep on asking me out, I tell them no, but they still keep on asking. Got a boy who's been asking me for about three years now, he still won't give up. Q. Are they from the school? A. No, they - he lives just down the road from me, where I live. Q. Right. 'Cos is there a NAME OF SCHOOL boys' school or is it just a girls' school? A. There is a NAME OF SCHOOL boys' school, but it's pretty far away. Q. Ah, right, I was thinking they might be close by... And when you actually go round with your girlfriends, where do you go? Do you - do you hang about or do you go off to pubs and things? A. No, we don't go to pubs, I don't really like pubs. We might go to pictures occasionally or go to each other's houses... just talk. Q. And what do you talk about? A. Anything and everything. Like if you've got any problems, talk to each other about it. 1 2 Q. So if there was anything you were worried about you could talk to them about it. I was noticing from the questionnaire too that quite a lot of things down on that sex education list, you know, what you - where have you learnt about - that you'd obviously talked about with friends as well as anywhere else. A. Yeah, my mates sort of everything, anything I wanna know they'll just like - just ask each other. Or look in books. Q. Where did you first get any sort of sex education from? A. Oh, God - it might have been like generally looking through magazines and like say little bits of articles and that and then we'd talk about it all. Q. How old were you then? A. About - about eleven, twelve. Q. Is that before you'd had any lessons at school? A. Yeah, 'cos we had them when we was in the fourth year Q. Not till then? A. But like we'd learnt about periods and that when we was in the lower school which is about the first to third year. Q. Yeah. But that seems a bit late, doesn't it? A. Yeah, 'cos when they teach us we already knew about it. Q. Did you tell them that? 'Cos fourth year must have been about, what, fifteen? A. Yeah, about fourteen, fifteen. Q. Some girls can be pregnant and have kids by fourteen or fifteen. A. My mate was pregnant when she was fifteen. Q. Did she have it? A. Yeah, she had an (?) abortion. Q. What did you think to that? A. Well I thought she was a bit young, but it's what she wanted. Q. And what would you feel if you got pregnant? A. Shocked. I don't know what I'd do. The first person I'd discuss it with would be my friends though 'cos I - I don't get on good with my parents, I can't talk personally... Q. So you can't talk about sort of sex or boyfriends and stuff? A. Well I can, if like I say I get a boyfriend I tell her, and she sort of, my mum says, well if you get a boyfriend, finish, it's not worth going out with some people; and just like little bits that she - the other day she come up to me and said like, your father does care for you, he's worried about you just in case you get pregnant, and all this. I said, mum, how d'you know about everything. Q. But did you want her to stop sort of talking about it or would you like her to talk about it? A. No, 'cos I feel like I already know most of the things now. Q. So did she tell you about periods though, things like that, or A. Well, a bit of it she did, yeah, she told me like a few things like having periods, come to me and I'll get your stuff. Q. And did you? A. Yeah, at first... get my own. You can't rely on her, sort of thing. Q. And has she talked to you about sex and contraception and things like that, apart from what you just A. Well she said about contraception before, the pill and that, she said if you wanna talk about it, talk about it, but I don't wanna go on the pill 'cos my mate put on too much weight when she was on the pill before. Q. Was that the mate who got pregnant? A. No, that's another one. Q. Are many of your friends on the pill? A. Well one is but she only uses it 'cos like her bad periods, she gets bad stomach cramp and that. Q. Yeah, they often give it for that. A. So she got... but the girl that was on it, she's finished with it now, she's put too much weight on. Q. So have you had a sexual relationship with anyone in the past? A. Mm, that was with the second boy I went out with. Q. The second one? 2 3 A. Yeah. Q. And what was it about him that made you have a sexual relationship? A. It was - when you're at a young age you wanna like go and experience things, you're curious about it, I was dead curious. Q. So what was it like? A. Well I didn't expect it to be what it was, it was boring. I found it boring. Q. And was it his first sexual experience? A. No. Q. But did you just feel you wanted to kind of see what it was like or was it somehow - I mean some people have said that they - they wanted to lose their virginity because A. No. Q. - loads of friends had and things like that. A. - No, it was - I just wanted to know what it was like, what everyone was talking about, oh it's really good Q. Is that what they were saying? A. Yeah, quite a lot of people - I didn't enjoy it. Q. So how did it happen? A. Like we talked about it and that and like just like - said oh do it in the, like this, this time we both were there we, like, done it. Q. And did you talk about getting anything to use? A. Yeah, got a condom. Q. And did you get that or did he get that? A. He got that, out of the toilets at Wood Green it was. He was too shy to go in the shop and buy them. Q. And was it easy to find somewhere to actually do it? People's houses aren't always that accessible. A. Yeah, it was like we had to arrange a time when no one would be in. Q. So it must have been a bit like plotting. A. Yeah, it was. Q. And how long had you been going out with him? A. I don't know, it was about two, three months I'd been going out with him. Q. And did you think you'd go out with him for long? A. I did at first but then I - I just like I kept on going out with him because he liked me and that's how it finished. Q. And did it go on much longer after you had sex together? A. About a month or two, then we finished. Q. And did you carry on having sex together, or was that the only time? A. That was - it was once after that, that's the last one... Q. So that's been your only times? (pause) So it doesn't sound you - as though you got a huge view of it as being wonderful, what everyone else was saying. A. No. Q. But did you tell them that? A. No. Q. 'Cos do you think sometimes they might have said it was wonderful 'cos they didn't want to say it wasn't? A. I don't know, they could have done. Q. You know, like sometimes boys go on about things to make it sound different to the way it is. A. I think it's - it's dead boring. Q. And with your other boyfriends, has it been sexual in any way? I don't mean actually having intercourse A. No. Q. - but A. Just kissing and that was all. Q. So no boys have actually wanted you to kind of go any further, I don't mean intercourse, I mean sort of other things. 3 4 A. Well they have but I've said no. Q. What about the guy you were with for a - more of a long time? A. Yes... had sex with... Q. He's your longest boyfriend? A. Yeah. Q. So that was about three months altogether. A. No, about five, six months that was. Q. And do you - what do you see yourself doing like in the future in terms of boys? 'Cos it doesn't sound to me like you're very keen at the moment. A. No, I'm sick of guys. But I don't know, after a while I might want to get a serious boyfriend, it just depends how it goes, if I find the right person. Q. Mm, 'cos there's no particular hurry. A. No. If the right one comes along, he comes along, but I'm not gonna, like, go out searching. Not yet anyway. Q. Does there ever feel any kind of pressure to have a kind of sexual relationship with someone, either from boys themselves or from other girls, sort of saying, oh, are you having sex with anybody? A. No, - well, in a way, yeah it does, like when I first start a relationship I always think they're gonna want sex after a while, which it usually does boil down to but it just depends how long, 'cos sometimes like it'll be a year, sometimes it'll be a couple of months, it just depends on the boys. 'Cos you can get someone understanding who like will wait until you're ready or when they want like, you really wanna please them as well as yourself. Q. Have you had any boyfriends who've actually wanted to kind of force it, almost? A. No, not yet. Not yet. Hopefully not. Q. And when you were having sex education things, did they talk much about AIDS? A. Well they did talk - like they, like we had a discussion on it and they used a video, and like we said to the teacher could they bring in someone who's suffering from AIDS so we could question them themselves on how they felt like having the disease. Q. And did they? A. No... Q. So what did you feel about them - I mean about the whole AIDS thing? A. Well at first I thought you could only catch it if you was a homosexual but it goes through all the kind of things, like homosexuals, heterosexuals, bisexuals, all like - it can be anyone, 'cos you can be a carrier and not suffer from it. Q. And does that scare you at all? A. Well it does in a way, yeah. Q. 'Cos if you were actually thinking of having a relationship with a boy, I mean would that be something you'd think about? A. Well, yeah, I'd want - I'd want, like if I was gonna - if I was gonna have sex with them and that I'd want them to like have a test just, like if they said to me they have had other partners before, I'd like them to have a test. Q. Do you think that would be easy to ask? A. No, 'cos I just - I think of it the way if they were gonna ask me, how I'd feel, put yourself in their shoes. Q. So do you think you would be able to ask them, for instance to use a condom? A. Yeah, I'd be able to say that easy enough 'cos if they want... I'd say... I don't wanna do it. Q. And did you and your friends ever talk about things like AIDS? A. Well we do - like we discussed it but not much, we discussed -discussed sex more in that kind of - not AIDS, not that much anyway. Q. What sort of things about sex would you talk about? A. Different positions, different things really. Q. So what - different positions and what? A. I can't remember what I said. And like about contraception as well, about what methods. Q. What, were people quite open about what they were doing or using or - 4 5 A. Well, me and my particular friend, we get on really well 'cos I've known her for about thirteen, fourteen years and like we can talk about it openly, like we discuss things, if we have any problems we just talk to each other, more than I do with other friends anyway. Q. And do you find you've sort of learnt anything through talking to A. Yeah. Q. - girlfriends. I mean do you think it's more useful talking to your girlfriends about things than say reading books or having sex education lessons or A. Well, if you read a magazine then they don't tell you what you wanna ask them but if, like, if you ask a friend then they can tell you, or if you have sex education class you can talk about it, you can get answers rather than just reading it, and you wanna know more you'd have to send off for more information. Q. What was I saying - sex education. 'Cos what classes did they put the sex education into? A. Health education. Q. And could you ask questions, I mean was the atmosphere right, or A. Well it was like all - all you really wanted to know about it and like the teacher started talking about it - oh must be a teacher like that - it was all secretive. Q. I mean, did they tell you anything you didn't know? A. Not really, no, not that I know of. I knew everything they said about Q. What about things like sexually transmitted diseases and things like that? A. Well, that, I didn't really know about that. Q. Did they cover that? A. A little bit. Like syphilis, gonorrhea. But that's - like I just know the words, but I don't know what really what they mean. Q. And in terms of things like AIDS, do you know anyone who you think could be at risk from that sort of thing? A. I don't know anyone personally, no. Q. Do any of your friends kind of sleep around, as it were? A. No. Hopefully not, not that I know of. Q. Is that because of things like AIDS or is it just because they don't do that anyway? A. They don't - they're not promis - promiscuous. Q. And do you feel that if you did have a relationship with somebody, do you think you could - you would ever sort of take a risk in terms of - of just making love without anything at all, say you fell madly, passionately in love with someone? A. I suppose so, if I was going out with him for quite a while. And if I wanted to get pregnant or anything like that and - maybe, yeah. But I would, like, prefer him to use a condom all the time. Q. And do you think the condom would be what you'd use in general as opposed to any other sort of methods of protection? A. Well, I'd rather use a condom because they're supposed to be safest, aren't they? I'd rather use one of them than anything else. Q. And do you think most boys would agree to that? A. Some boys don't like wearing them, like some boys, like some boys prefer get their girlfriends to go on the pill but I would say that I wouldn't go on it and I'd prefer him to use... and if he didn't use it then, no, whatever he Q. And do you think what - would sort of feel worse to you as your first reaction, would be kind of a risk from getting pregnant through - or a risk that you could get AIDS? A. Well, it's pregnant really is the first one, I think that like AIDS comes second really. Q. And do you take risks in any other kind of area of your life in terms of, you know, smoking, drinking? A. No, I don't smoke, I don't drink. The only risk I take is when I'm crossing the road, ... between cars. Q. Would you say you were ever a person who takes risks? A. Occasionally I take risks, yeah, but not much. Q. What sort of risks are those? 5 6 A. Once I went out with my mate's boyfriend while she was going out with him, that was a big risk. She found out in the end as well... and, like, we wasn't talking for quite a bit, and then we got back together. Q. Yeah. Why did you do it? A. I don't know. I liked him but I don't know why... I wish I didn't do it. Q. And if you wanted to go out and meet new people, what sort of places would you go to actually meet kind of friends, I mean boys or girls? A. Well you could go to a nightclub, or parties, pubs Q. But what do you usually do? A. I - I usually, 'cos when I walk my dog, I usually see people as I'm walking around with their animals, so I get talking to them. And they, like, recognise me and just start talking from them. Q. And what do you - what do you think you're gonna do after you leave school? A. Oh, hopefully get a job. Q. What as? A. I wanna work in a office but I don't know what doing. Got to think about it. A lot of jobs in office. Q. But nothing specific appeals to you? A. Well, something to do with computers. Q. Is that what you're doing here? A. Information technology we're doing, but just science technology at the moment. Q. It's what technology? A. Science technology. Q. Science tech – what, and then you go onto information technology? A. Information technology on Thursday afternoon for two hours. And like we - it's like word processing we're doing at the present moment, it's interesting. Q. And do you have any ideas about kind of when you - when or if you might like to get married and have kids, things like that? A. No, no. But if I do have kids I want them, like, when I'm pretty young. Q. What's pretty young? A. Twenties, like nineteen, twenty, twenty-one, roughly round that time. I don't wanna be like twenty-six and like when I - my kid's my age I'll be about forty, fifty. Q. And do you think you'll get married for that or doesn't that matter if A. Well I'd like to be married if I did have kids, yeah. So I wanna know if I'm gonna have kids that he's gonna stay there and he's gonna be there with me, but if, like - if it happened and if I wasn't married to anyone or anything I'd probably have an abortion. I'm not into it anyway at the moment. Q. What feels - is the most sort of important thing for you at the moment? A. Getting a job at the moment, 'cos I wanna start work as soon as possible. Q. And what's the most important relationship in your life at the moment? A. The most important relationship? ... Not really, it's not most important now 'cos I've just gone off him, he drove me up the bend. Q. But is - I was thinking not just of relationships with boys but I mean, could be with girlfriends or with your parents, brother, anyone else. Or maybe there aren't any? A. I don't know. Q. Does your brother have a girlfriend? A. ... my mates 'cos they usually see him with a girl, I mean even if, like he's only brought one girl home before, he hasn't brought any other home, but I've heard he has a lot of girlfriends. Q. But he keeps quiet about it? A. Yeah, 'cos my dad takes the mickey out of him when he brings them home. Q. His dad does? A. Yeah, and winds him up. Q. Does your dad take the mickey out of you? A. Yeah, he does actually. Q. Could you take your boyfriends home to him? A. Well I have – like, every boy I've been out with so far I have taken them home and my mum my mum and dad have liked most of them, apart from the first one. 6 7 Q. How old were you when you went out with your first one? A. About twelve, thirteen years old. Q. And how old was he? A. About the same age. Q. And how old were you - I might have asked you this, I can't remember, how old were you when you went with the one who you had a sexual relationship? A. About fifteen years old, I think, fifteen, sixteen. Q. And was he older? A. No, he was the same age. Q. So he was still at school. But he'd had other relationships. A. Yeah. Q. So did you feel as if he knew what he was doing? A. I think so, yeah. Q. I mean could you talk about it afterwards, was it something you could talk about with him? A. Well, if he'd wanna talk about it then I would talk about it with him but apart from that I wouldn't. Q. Do you think there are kind of double standards for girls and boys? A. What do you mean by that? Q. Well if a girl sort of goes and has a relationship with a boy and maybe has sex or whatever, sometimes she's criticised for it A. Yeah Q. - in a way that A. She's called a slag. Q. Yes. But a boy - often, you know, it's like a notch in his belt or something like that. I mean does that happen amongst your friends? A. Well not really, no, 'cos they're not, as I said before, like the randy sort. Q. And do you think, because part of what we're interested in is whether people actually are aware of - of AIDS as a risk in terms of contemplating having relationships with people, do you think it's something that - that over the years has changed at all? Like an awareness, you and your friends A. Well, a lot of people have woken up to the diseases now 'cos since AIDS has come out everyone's been more worried about it, 'cos they never knew about it before 'cos it's a couple of years since it's been out - 'cos that wasn't - like gonorrhea and that wasn't like a killer but AIDS is, so it's really woke them up now. Q. And do you think people actually do take it seriously? A. Yeah. Q. 'Cos sometimes people think oh, yeah, but it'll never happen to me sort of thing. A. Some people do think like that, 'cos I watched a programme about a year ago and there was a boy I knew saying oh, it's never happen to me, oh I wouldn't go with someone like that, but he wouldn't know if he went with them 'cos Q. No. A. - it doesn't - takes a couple of years to like form, doesn't it? Q. Yeah, or even longer. A. I think he's more likely to get it than anyone else 'cos he was like promiscuous, he seemed like to me anyway. Q. And you said you used to think - or that people used to think, that people most at risk were gays, homosexuals? A. Yeah, well that's what I thought at first but then I found out it was like - it can be anyone, 'cos it could be - it could start with homosexuals, then it could go on to like, someone could be bisexual, has sex with heterosex - no, another bisexual, they could have sex with a heterosexual, but it just goes on. Q. Mm. And how did you find that out, I mean was that through things you'd seen or read or A. Well it's - it's through, yeah, TV, magazines, generally talking about it with like the teachers, said about before. Q. 'Cos did that change the way you saw homosexuals at all at that time? 7 8 A. Not really, 'cos I've - I've always said like, if that's what they want then let them have - 'cos we was having a discussion the other day and some of the girls in the class were saying no, that's not right that another man should go with another man, but I say it's up to them 'cos it's them who is actually doing it, not me, so it's them. Q. Do you know anyone who's gay? A. Not that I know of, no. 'Cos I don't think they'd want it -they'd say, 'cos they'd be shocked, like they'd think that I'd go mad or something. A lot of my friends think I do go mad. Q. Why? A. 'Cos like my mate's been going out with a boy for about a month now, and she said she's - like they decided, a couple of weeks of going out with each other, and they decided they wanna get engaged and like I just - I just start moaning about it at first, but after all I said, well it's up to you, if you feel happy together then that's fine. And now they're gonna live together so Q. 'Cos did you think they were too young or what? A. Well no, she's sixteen and the boy she's going out with is twenty-three I think it is, twenty-one, twenty-three. And I thought at first I thought, 'cos he doesn't look that age, he looks about eighteen, nineteen, he acts that way as well - and I said it's up to them and I don't mind what they do. But she said she wants to get married, like wants to have a baby soon... Q. Can you imagine yourself having a baby? A. I don't know really 'cos - in a way I can but in a way I can't 'cos I really wanna have a good career but then a baby might drag me down or what - but in the end I do want a baby, but I doubt I'll be able to have one. Q. Why not? A. I don't know. It's like -'cos I've been watching TV that there's people like not being able to have babies 'cos of certain ... in the male or the woman. Q. 'Cos of certain what? A. 'Cos there's something wrong with them and like and so I think it could be me, I could have that, even though no one else that I know in my family has got something wrong with them or couldn't have babies, but there's always the first chance, the first time. Q. Mm. But you think that might be you? A. Mm, could be. Well it's a possibility it could be. Q. And if you had to describe yourself, what sort of person would you say you were? A. Mean. Q. Mean? A. Yeah. Q. Why? A. 'Cos like I - I seem to hold onto my money more than other people do and like I can be generous when I wanna be, but I - I'm -I think I'm easy to talk to, some people do talk to me, some people don't. Q. So are you quite kind of open with yourself even if people might think you're not open with your money? (?) We could stop now. Do you have any relationships with boys, not as boyfriends but just as friends? A. Yeah, I've got quite a few male friends. Q. And what do you do with them, is that like social things or A. Well we go out, yeah, and like we talk, just like you was with a girl really, the same. Q. And if you had like a boyfriend relationship, could you - were they people that you could discuss anything about that with, are they that close a friend or not? A. I am close with them but most of them fancy me. Q. Do you find that a drag? A. I do, yeah, because they always like - when I - I'd rather talk to them, 'cos there's one that I do get on really well with but he fancies me, so I'd like to talk to him about relationships 'cos another friend of mine, she talks to him, she can talk about her relationships 'cos he doesn't fancy her, but I can't 'cos he fancies me and he might start getting jealous. Q. God, it's really awkward, isn't it? A. Yeah, so it's mainly like girls I talk - talk to really. 8 9 Q. And when you actually had relationships with boys, the ones that you've had, did you - was it a kind of equal relationship or did they tend to take the lead in terms of what you did or where you went or things like that? A. It - it was mainly equal really, we both discussed it, like I didn't wanna do it or he didn't wanna do a thing, we wouldn't do it. Q. So could you sort of suggest dates that you met and things that you did and things like that? A. I could, yeah, but if he wasn't free then we'd arrange another time or another day so like it'd be he - like we'd both talk through about it, like he couldn't make it and it'd be another day. Q. And there's nobody you've got your eye on at all at the moment from the sound of it? A. Not really. Q. And does that feel alright or is there a pressure that you should be kind of having some kind of boyfriend or relationship? A. Well there is a pressure in a way but I just try and push it off, like it's up to me what I wanna do, my - as I've let everyone else do what they want with their life then they should let me do what I want. Q. And do your parents kind of ever talk to you about having boyfriends and that, are they - do they have views on it? A. Well they don't mind really if I have a boyfriend or not. It's up to me - take your time, pick who you want. Q. And would they mind - well I mean obviously you have had a sexual relationship, even if it was only a couple of times, but did you tell them about that? A. No. But once, like, we was having sex and my brother come in the room Q. What, when you were doing it? A. Yeah. Q. Oh, how embarrassing. A. But I had like a bit of sheet over the window so he couldn't really see, like on the door, so like I opened up the door, he said oh I'm gonna tell mum. But I don't know if he did or not. But they haven't said anything to me about it Q. - they haven't said anything about it A. But they might have - they might have like not bothered saying anything about it or he might not have told them. But I haven't - I haven't said anything to them about it, it would only... Q. Would they approve of you having a sexual relationship? A. Well I was fifteen at the time so I don't know, I don't think they would have done. Sort of strict. Q. What, strict, religious, or just strict? A. No, strict. They would like me in at a certain time, so... "a decent girl should be in at a decent time". Q. What's a decent time? A. About ten-ish, but sometimes I can stay out till about eleven-thirty, a bit of pushing. Q. No, I should think if he had told them your mum would probably be asking you whether you wanted to go on the pill or something like that A. Yeah Q. - she might be more worried that you might get pregnant than anything else, mightn't she, or not? A. Well I should think she would 'cos she does - I can see that she doesn't want me pregnant at my age, she'd rather I waited a couple of years or so. 'Cos I was a bit young at fifteen, I was a bit young to realise what a serious relationship was. 9 1 LSFS14 [NAME OF SCHOOL] 21.4.89 Aged 17. Saw at school. Light brown hair. Jeans and sweatshirt. Fairly self assured, open and relaxed, but rather casual about interview. I felt that she was saying rather the minimum than the maximum response. Lives with father, mother and brother. Said she was fed up with boys, had only had one sexual experience, which had been with a boyfriend that she'd been with for about 5 or 6 months. She'd wanted to see what sex was like, but found it was boring. Now she's asked out by boys but doesn't want to go. She just goes out with a few mates and hangs around etc. When she'd had sex she'd used a condom, and was fairly aware of AIDS.

Item sets