ERIC Number: EJ885375
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2010
Pages: 20
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0013-1946
EISSN: N/A
Sluts: Heteronormative Policing in the Stories of Lesbian Youth
Payne, Elizabethe
Educational Studies: Journal of the American Educational Studies Association, v46 n3 p317-336 2010
The power of compulsory heterosexuality regulates the sexuality of adolescent lesbians as strongly as it does their heterosexual peers. Marked with a sexual(ized)identity, young Southern lesbians in this life history study made claim to moral high ground by consistently identifying with the hegemonic "good girl" construct and by participating in the naming of women whose sexual behavior demonstrated a disregard for the "rules." The good girl/bad girl, the virgin/slut binaries, played significant roles in their identity claims, in their relationships, and in their choices of friendships. Personal self-control ("just kissing") is seen by these young women as admirable and "sluts" are seen as dangerous women who harm others and themselves. This article explores the marking of "sluts" and "too experienced" women in the life stories of White Southern adolescent lesbians and the continued social controls imposed on adolescent female sexuality through the devaluing of women's sexual agency. (Contains 1 note.)
Descriptors: Females, Sexual Orientation, Biographies, Sexuality, Homosexuality, Social Attitudes, Social Bias, Late Adolescents, Young Adults, Moral Values, Self Control, Whites, Gender Bias, Interviews, Personal Narratives
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Texas
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A