Feminist Approaches to Youth Sexualities

Anonymised transcript of an interview with a young woman from Huddersfield (Lucy). She was working as a dental nurse but is now back at college doing A levels in Sociology, English, English Literature and European Studies and hopes to go on to university to be an occupational therapist. Her parents divorced when she was 13 and she has an older sister (20), lives with her mum (Dad is in London). Felt her ex-boyfriend tried to pressure her into having sex (they first had intercourse when she was 15), and was romantically involved with a male friend who has now moved away. She has also had a sexual relationship with another male partner (her first serious boyfriend), and talked about pleasure (or a lack of) and using condoms with this partner. Most recently she had been 'going out with' a boy that she knew from college, who she slept with and decided to start taking 'the pill'. She is looking for a serious relationship rather than casual sex, but feels very self-conscious because of her braces. She talked about risk (mostly in relation to AIDS and HIV), but did not consider herself as at risk - though is worried about a friend who has had multiple sex partners but is not using barrier methods of contraception (like condoms). Thought double standards surrounding gender and sexual reputation were 'unfair', in that men are allowed to sleep around while women who do the same, or even carry their own condoms, are deemed 'slags'.

Title	Interview with Lucy, 18-19, White British, middle class. Women, Risk and AIDS Project, Manchester, 1989. Anonymised version (Ref: MAG18SS)
Description	Anonymised transcript of an interview with a young woman from Huddersfield (Lucy). She was working as a dental nurse but is now back at college doing A levels in Sociology, English, English Literature and European Studies and hopes to go on to university to be an occupational therapist. Her parents divorced when she was 13 and she has an older sister (20), lives with her mum (Dad is in London). Felt her ex-boyfriend tried to pressure her into having sex (they first had intercourse when she was 15), and was romantically involved with a male friend who has now moved away. She has also had a sexual relationship with another male partner (her first serious boyfriend), and talked about pleasure (or a lack of) and using condoms with this partner. Most recently she had been 'going out with' a boy that she knew from college, who she slept with and decided to start taking 'the pill'. She is looking for a serious relationship rather than casual sex, but feels very self-conscious because of her braces. She talked about risk (mostly in relation to AIDS and HIV), but did not consider herself as at risk - though is worried about a friend who has had multiple sex partners but is not using barrier methods of contraception (like condoms). Thought double standards surrounding gender and sexual reputation were 'unfair', in that men are allowed to sleep around while women who do the same, or even carry their own condoms, are deemed 'slags'.
Identifier	MAG18/O
Subject	First sex interpersonal relationships Sexual reputation Birth control Contraceptive devices Condom use Pregnancy AIDS disease Sexually Transmitted Diseases Sex education Media representations of sex Sexual pleasure One night stands Casual sex Divorce Employment Women's employment Students (college) Aspirations Risk Health care facilities White British Middle class No religion.
Date	07/04/1989
Creator	Women, Risk and Aids Project (WRAP, 1989-90)
Publisher	The Reanimating Data Project
Type	Text
Temporal Coverage	1989
Spatial Coverage	Greater Manchester, UK
Rights	CC BY-NC 4.0

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