Gender norms shape our sexual experiences because they provide us with information about the appropriate behavior for men and women in social interactions (Allgeier and McCormick, 1983). Family is one of the places where we first learn about gender norms. Research on youth sexuality shows the importance of family on the sexuality of individuals through paths such as parent-child communication, parents‟ gender attitudes, parental surveillance, etc. However, less is known about other practices in the family, such as gender dynamics, or gender role practices, that could also affect the sexuality of young individuals. The aim of this dissertation is to analyze whether the sexual division of decision-making power and labor (gender dynamics) in which vii youngsters were raised, have any effect on their age at sexual debut, and their use of condoms as a contraceptive method. The source of information is the National Survey of Youth 2000 for Mexico. A discrete time hazard model is used in the analysis of age at sexual debut and a logistic regression was performed to analyze condom use. Results show that egalitarian gender dynamics have effects that differ by socioeconomic status and gender. The most remarkable findings are that shared decision-making power decreases the likelihood of an early sexual debut among girls with low socioeconomic status, and increases the likelihood of condom use among girls with high socioeconomic status. / text

Master of Arts / Department of Communication Studies / Soo-Hye Han / At the turn of the 21st century, an ideological movement defined by many as the modesty movement helped push sexual abstinence as a controversial yet significant public issue in the United States. Concerned with a "hyper-sexualized" culture, modesty advocates urged young women to make a pledge to remain pure until marriage. Following the the growth of the movement, feminist scholars have been critical of the movement and the potentially detrimental consequences of purity pledges on young women's identity, sexuality, and sexual agency. This study takes a step back from this critical view of purity pledges and listens to young women's lived experience of making a purity pledge and living a life of purity. Specifically, this study asks how purity pledgers understand and enact purity and how they perceive their sexuality and sexual agency. To answer these questions, qualitative interviews were conducted with nine young women who at some point in their life made a purity pledge. A thematic analysis revealed three major themes: 1) living a pure life is situated within multifaceted perspectives on purity, 2) living a life of purity consists of negotiating multiple "selves," and 3) living a life of purity grants and reinforces a sense of agency. A composite description illustrates that religious messages, parents, peers, and sex education classes continue to influence their understanding of purity and sexuality. This project concludes with a discussion of theoretical implications surrounding the idea of a "crystallized self" and practical implications of this study on an organizational, familial, and personal level.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the attitudes, expectations, and evolution of early experiences of Trinidadian adolescent girls as they navigate physical and emotional intimacy, their capacity to conceptualize and/or enact sexual desire to develop their own sense of agency. Using Trinidad and Tobago (TandT) as a case study, it examines whether attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors pertaining to sexual agency are influenced by socioeconomic factors or key life events, adverse experiences, and the influences of family, community, and broader societal structures. Emerging scholarship on sexuality in the Caribbean explores how women navigate sexual relationships and exercise their agency within the social and economic contexts of the Caribbean. The lived experiences of Caribbean people, particularly women and girls, are important, worthy of exploration, and necessitate permanent documentation. An examination of Caribbean society – a confluence of diverse and complex natural and social environments will enrich scholarship on the worlds shaped by people in this region, particularly by youth who will form the society of the future. Using transnational, Caribbean, and Black feminist frameworks, this study seeks to understand sexual awareness, desire, actions, and motivations in their early stages by conducting interviews with a diverse sample of adolescent girls in TandT. / Doctor of Philosophy / The purpose of this study is to investigate the attitudes, expectations, and evolution of early experiences of Trinidadian adolescent girls as they navigate physical and emotional intimacy, their capacity to conceptualize and/or enact sexual desire to develop their own sense of agency. Using Trinidad and Tobago (TandT) as a case study, it examines the factors that influence adolescent girls' behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs, about sexual, and how their behaviors demonstrate their agency and independence of thought. Emerging scholarship on sexuality in the Caribbean explores how women navigate sexual relationships and exercise their agency within the social and economic contexts of the Caribbean. The lived experiences of Caribbean people, particularly women and girls, are important, worthy of exploration, and necessitate permanent documentation. An examination of Caribbean society – a confluence of diverse and complex natural and social environments will enrich scholarship on the worlds shaped by people in this region, particularly by youth who will form the society of the future. This study seeks to understand sexual awareness, desire, actions, and motivations in their early stages by conducting interviews with a diverse sample of adolescent girls in TandT.

This qualitative study examined how 14 young women's sexual desire and agency was influenced by the messages communicated from their parents and the quality of the parent-child relationship. Previous research results were supported, such as: parents do not communicate about sex frequently, or only about limited topics; mothers communicate more frequently than fathers, and peers communicate more sexual information. Utilizing a postmodern, feminist position, themes of parental transmission of patriarchal social controls were found, such as: fear of being viewed as a slut, gender roles that demand female passivity, sex is scary, and young women are not to have sex, or only in the context of committed relationships. Implications for parenting practices and the importance of developing sexual agency are discussed. / Ph. D.

This study explored multiple predictors of sexual well-being in a sample of 253 single, sexually active undergraduate females at a public Mid-Atlantic university. Several factors were identified from past research that might impact sexual well-being: casual sex, sexual agency, sexual attitudes, and sexual desire. Of the four factors, only sexual agency and sexual attitudes were found as significant predictors of sexual well-being. The results suggest that -- of single, sexually active undergraduate females -- those with a greater sense of agency and choice in their sexual interactions and those who maintain more open attitudes toward casual sex have a higher level of sexual well-being. Agency and openness may be important factors in the development of sexual well-being for young women. Limitations of the study, as well as implications for future research and psychoeducational and therapeutic interventions, are addressed. / Master of Science

A link between binge drinking, negative sexual health outcomes, and sexual victimization among university populations is well established in the research literature (Messman-Moore et al., 2013; PHAC, 2016; Smith et al., 2009). Despite these known risks, young people often hold beliefs that alcohol consumption can enhance or facilitate their sexual experiences, however, less is known about the role of alcohol in young women’s consensual sexual experiences. In this qualitative study, I used a feminist perspective to explore young women’s perceptions and experiences of the role of alcohol in their sexual agency – the ability to communicate and fulfill their sexual desires and boundaries – and the social norms that influence this relationship. I collected data through interviews with 14 young university women between the ages of 19 and 25 who identified as heterosexual, lesbian, bisexual, or queer. Participants identified heteronormative sexuality norms that influence the role of alcohol in their sexual agency, namely the prioritization of women’s sexual inexperience, female sexual fidelity, and women’s attractiveness. Participants perceived that alcohol influenced their sexual agency at an individual and social level. In their individual experiences, participants discussed the dis-inhibitory effects of alcohol as a “tool” to alleviate feelings of shame associated with sexual expression and negative body image. At a social level, participants used alcohol as a means to deflect social stigma associated sexual expression as they could “blame the alcohol” as their motivation for engaging in sexual activity. These findings suggest that young women’s motivations for drinking may be linked to sexuality norms that discourage young women’s sexual agency, which could be relevant to consider in health promotion and harm reduction efforts. / Graduate / 0573 / 0453 / 0733 / 0758 / eecusack@gmail.com

Sexuality is an integral part of health and well-being. Despite a 30-year history of adolescent sexuality research, there has been little that has focused on more than risky sexual behaviour. For example, there has been little research on conceptions of sexuality and pathways to sexual health. In part, this is because sexual health has been often defined as the lack of risky behaviour and health problems. In the studies reported here, components of female sexual health were identified and tested, including behaviours and cognitions, among groups of girls in their late teens and early 20s. After a review of the literature, four sets of factors appeared central to identifying female sexual health. These factors included sexual subjectivity, sexual agency, psychosocial well-being and sexual exploration. The first factor, sexual subjectivity, had previously been described as important to female sexual well-being, but had been developed within feminist theories and studied with qualitative methodologies. After a thorough review of the literature, no psychometrically sound measure of sexual subjectivity was found. Therefore, an instrument to assess sexual subjectivity was constructed and validated through a series of studies. Partially as expected, five factors were found - sexual body-esteem, entitlement to sexual pleasure from oneself, entitlement to sexual pleasure from a partner, sexual self-efficacy in achieving sexual pleasure, and sexual self-reflection. In additional cross-sectional and longitudinal (6-month, 2 waves) studies, associations between sexual subjectivity, sexual agency, psychosocial well-being, and sexual experience were examined. The results showed that there were concurrent associations between sexual subjectivity and measures of sexual agency and some measures of psychosocial wellbeing. Results also showed that females with more sexual experience (i.e., experience with sexual intercourse, self-masturbation, noncoital orgasmic responsiveness, and same-sex sexual experience) were relatively higher in sexual subjectivity and sexual agency. However, well-being was similar in sexual experience groups when they were compared. In longitudinal analyses, changes in sexual subjectivity, sexual agency and psychosocial well-being were examined for the whole sample and among subgroups defined by levels of sexual experience. Comparisons were also made between those girls who commenced sexual intercourse during the course of the study, those who remained virgins, and those who were nonvirgins at the first assessment. Main effects generally validated cross-sectional findings. Girls who commenced first sexual intercourse relatively earlier increased in self-esteem over time, compared to their virgin counterparts. Girls who reported a history of self-masturbation and noncoital orgasmic responsiveness, and girls who reported no history with either behaviour, increased in sexual body-esteem and self-esteem over time, but the former group of girls were relatively higher in sexual body-esteem and self-esteem than the latter group of girls. Girls who reported a history of one, but not the other of self-masturbation and noncoital orgasm did not change over time. Results also indicated that girls' transition to first sexual intercourse had little association with sexual subjectivity, but some findings were suggestive of a need for further research. Future research, and study strengths and limitations are discussed. There is a need to examine sexual subjectivity as both an antecedent and an outcome using longer time lags with several waves of assessment so that the linkages between sexual subjectivity and other factors can be determined. The implications of sexual subjectivity and sexual exploration for sexuality education are also discussed.

In dieser Arbeit wurden Zusammenhänge zwischen den sexuellen Erfahrungen junger Frauen und Männer, ihren Persönlichkeitseigenschaften und ihren sexualmoralischen Einstellungen auf der einen Seite und der Einschätzung ihrer sexuellen Handlungsfähigkeit auf der anderen Seite untersucht. Die Grundlage für das Modell der sexuellen Handlungsfähigkeit bildeten die Vorstellungen der Arbeitsgruppe um Matthias Grundmann (Grundmann et al. 2006) sowie von Emirbayer und Mische (1998). Das in dieser Arbeit entwickelte Modell zur sexuellen Handlungsfähigkeit ist ein multidimensionales Konstrukt, das sich aus den Komponenten „sexuelle Kommunikation“, „sexuelle Zufriedenheit“, „sexuelle Reziprozität“ sowie „sexuelle Eigenverantwortung“ zusammensetzt. „Sexuelle Kommunikation“ beinhaltet die Fähigkeit, sexuelle Wünsche zum Ausdruck bringen zu können. „Sexuelle Zufriedenheit“ beschreibt den Grad der Zufriedenheit mit dem eigenen Sexualleben. „Sexuelle Reziprozität“ verweist auf die Fähigkeit, sexuelle Aufmerksamkeiten sowohl Annehmen als auch Geben zu können. „Sexuelle Eigenverantwortung“ betont schließlich die Einschätzung, inwieweit die eigene Sexualität selbst bestimmt gestaltet werden kann. Mit Emirbayer und Mische werden die sexuellen Erfahrungen der Frauen und Männer als Korrelate der Einschätzung der Dimensionen der sexuellen Handlungsfähigkeit betrachtet. Mit Grundmann et al. sind es zudem verschiedene Persönlichkeitseigenschaften sowie sexualmoralische Einstellungen, deren Beschaffenheiten Aussagen über die sexuelle Handlungsfähigkeit erlauben. Um die Thematik der sexuellen Handlungsfähigkeit empirisch zu betrachten, wurden im Jahr 2006 695 junge Potsdamer/innen im Alter von 19 bis 21 Jahren im Rahmen einer standardisierten Erhebung zu ihren sexuellen und Beziehungserfahrungen befragt. Die empirischen Analysen verdeutlichen eine ko-konstruktive Anschauung von der Entwicklung sexueller Handlungsfähigkeit. Diese entsteht nicht im Individuum allein, sondern innerhalb der Interaktions- und Aushandlungsprozesse des Individuums mit den Anderen seiner sozialen und sexuellen Umwelt. Von Bedeutung erweisen dabei sowohl die Erlebnisse der sexuellen Biografie als auch die Persönlichkeitsmerkmale eines jeden Einzelnen. Nur geringfügig erscheinen die erfragten sexualmoralischen Ansichten von Bedeutung. / This study examines the connections between young women’s and men’s sexual experiences, their psychometrically meassures, and their moral attitudes according to sexuality on the one hand and the young women’s and men’s evaluation of their sexual agency on the other hand. The model of sexual agency used in this study is based upon the conceptions of Matthias Grundmann and collegues (Grundmann et al. 2006) as well as upon the conceptions of Mustafa Emirbayer and Ann Mische (1998). According to Emirbayer and Mische, in this study young women’s and men’s sexual experiences are conceived as correlates of their self-evalutation of sexual agency. Moreover, according to Grundmann et al., it is suggested that the young adults’ personality traits and their moral attitudes concerning sexulity are able to characterize their state of sexual agency. In this work a multidimensional construct of sexual agency has been developed. The multidimensional construct of sexual agency consists of the four dimensions “sexual communication”, “sexual satisfaction”, “sexual reciprocity”, and “sexual self-responsibility”. “Sexual communication” characterizes the ability to communicate one’s own sexual wishes. “Sexual satisfaction” describes the state of satisfaction with one’s sexual life. “Sexual reciprocity” contains the ability of both taking and giving sexual pleasures. Finally, “sexual self-responsibility” emphasizes the capability of creating one’s sexuality in an self dependened way. Based on a quantitative sample the subject of sexual agency has been examined empirically. In the year 2006 695 young adults, aged 19 to 21 years and living in Potsdam, Germany, have been asked about their sexual experiences and their experiences concerning romantic relationships. Data support a co-constructive view of the development of sexual agency. Thus, the development of sexual agency is not an exclusively individual demand, but a demand of the individuum’s negotiations with it’s social others, with men and women of it’s social and sexual society. Therefore, aspects of the individual’s sexual biography as well as the individual’s personality traits are important for the self-evaluaton of it’s sexual agency. However, data also show that the moral attitudes concerning sexuality are less important for the perception of one’s state of sexual agency.

The development of sexual agency in young women is essential. Adolescence can be a confusing time for many youths as they are forging their way into adulthood. This confusion can be especially difficult for second generation migrants (SGM), a group that are often faced with different cultural spheres when discussing sexual and reproductive health (SRH) topics. This exploratory retrospective study examined the relationship between their cultural affiliations, the sources of SRH provided to SGM girls during adolescence (10-17 years old) and their subsequent level of sexual agency (18-24 years old) as young adults. The sources examined were parents, siblings, friends/peers, teachers and the media. Sexual agency was measured using the Sexual Assertiveness Questionnaire (SAQ) and the Sexual Affect Scale. A small sample of 105 respondents participated in the online survey. The participants reported the media to be their highest-ranking source of actual SRH messages and friends/peers as their preferred source. SRH messages provided by parents and friends/peers were significantly negatively correlated with the overall sexual agency of the participants. The results also present the individual associations between the 14 statements for each of the sources and the sexual agency of the participants. Not being ready for sex was the most cited reason for abstinence and was significantly positively associated with sexual agency.

Through her texts depicting amorous adventures, Eliza Haywood engages with critical, contemporary discussions about power relations and consent in both social and legal constructs. Her texts resist the boundary between the private domain of interpersonal relationships and the public domain of political relations. Rather, her fiction engages in a wide-reaching discourse that explores the interrelations between power, agency, consent, and education, and lays bare the ways in which societal roles and expectations are reinforced in damaging ways. This thesis aims to prove that Haywood’s repetition of central motifs—including the continued tension between resisting and yielding to sexual pressure or temptation, and the line between seduction and rape—serves to question how these behaviours become normalized and naturalized. Through analyzing three categories of relationships—women and their fathers or guardians, women and their lovers, and women with other women—this thesis unpacks how women’s agency is stifled by parental relationships, transferred to male lovers, and finally empowered by female intimacy.