Citation

Tolman DL. Women Ther. 2002; 24(1-2): 195-209.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2002, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1300/J015v24n01_21

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

In this paper, I explore the resonance between experiences that are labeled "sexual problems" among adult women and adolescent girls' normative descriptions of their sexual experiences. Noting that female adolescent sexual dysfunction is an oxymoron, I review the feminist phenomenological research on female adolescent sexuality to support this claim. This review demonstrates and underscores the ways in which becoming sexual as an adolescent girl within the confines and constructs of patriarchy lays the groundwork for the kinds of "sexual problems" that are most evident in the female adult population. A developmental perspective on female sexuality is suggested as a way to support and extend the New View of Women's Sexual Problems.

Keywords

adolescent girls; Adolescent sexuality; narrative research; sexual desire; sexuality development