This article reads contemporary Chinese children's author Yin Jianling's novels "The Paper Puppy" ("Zhiren") and "Orange Fish" ("Juzi Yu") alongside her letter collection "Fifteen Letters to Girls" ("Zhi Weilai de Ni") to explore the overarching themes of femininity, difference and female…

Sexual maturation is one method by which researchers account for developmental timing during growth. In a longitudinal motor performance study (MPS), mothers reported their own recalled age at menarche and their daughters.' Approximately twenty years later, a sample of those daughters provided their recalled age at menarche. Study purposes were to…

Purpose: Over the years, efforts to ensure equal participation of girls in school in Nigeria have been met with some setbacks, amidst significant progress in mobilising communities for gender equality and mainstreaming. The purpose of this paper is to explore a number of features associated with sexual maturation that affect girls' non-enrolment,…

In this study, we tested two competing explanations of the previously established link between early female puberty and sexual harassment in early adolescence. The sample included 680 seventh-grade Swedish girls (M[subscript age] = 13.40, SD = 0.53). Findings revealed that looking more sexually mature and being sexually active mediated the link…

This paper explores three female swimmers' relationships with their male coaches and the body practices they were exposed to within Australian swimming. Particular attention is given to how the relationships and practices might relate to gender. Additionally, the article examines how (if at all) the conduct contributed to the social construction…

Girls who experience earlier pubertal timing relative to peers also exhibit earlier timing of sexual intercourse and more unstable sexual relationships. Although pubertal development initiates feelings of physical desire, the transition into romantic and sexual relationships involves complex biological and social processes contributing both to…

Evolutionary-minded developmentalists studying predictive-adaptive-response processes linking childhood adversity with accelerated female reproductive development and health scientists investigating the developmental origins of health and disease (DOoHaD) may be tapping the same process, whereby longer-term health costs are traded off for…

"Reading Girls" captures the voices and literacy experiences of a diverse group of urban adolescent girls. The author--an experienced researcher and middle school teacher--intertwines investigations of multiple literacies, technologies, race, class, gender, sexuality, and gender expression to provide a provocative look at what helps and what hurts…

The current study tested sex-specific pathways to early puberty, sexual debut, and sexual risk taking, as specified by an integrated evolutionary-developmental model of adolescent sexual development and behavior. In a prospective study of 238 adolescents (n = 129 girls and n = 109 boys) followed from approximately 12-18 years of age, we tested for…

This book is a guide for teens and their families. The following topics are discussed: (1) All of Us Are Sexual; (2) Our Sexual Bodies; (3) As Boys Become Men; (4) As Girls Become Women; (5) How Pregnancy Happens; (6) Expressing Ourselves Sexually; (7) Protecting Ourselves Sexually; (8) Notes for Parents; and (9) Helpful Hints for Parents.

Ninety-five women (18-26 years of age) from 23 countries were interviewed regarding (1) their preparation for menarche, (2) messages from others at the time of menarche, and (3) their emotional responses to the first period. Mothers were the source of information for most girls. Others' reactions were primarily hygiene-centered. Comparisons with…

Romance novels have become increasingly popular and sexually explicit, in part because women may gain a sense of self through reading them and perhaps in reaction to the patriarchal structure of society. Women may seek escape and a sense of self-identity through the novels'"larger-than-life" characters and predictable endings. Readers of…