Progressive policies protecting women's rights to make reproductive decisions and the recent increase in literature exploring female sexual agency do not appear to have impacted on more equitable sexual relations in all contexts. In South Africa, gender power inequalities, intersecting with other forms of inequality in society, pose a challenge…

This study investigated the attitudes of 43 teachers and school administrators towards sex education, young people's sexuality and their communities in 19 secondary schools in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, and how these attitudes affect school-based HIV prevention and sex education. In interviews, teachers expressed judgemental attitudes…

Despite growing attention to the subject, a dearth of information exists regarding college students' perceptions and process of meaning-making related to the act of oral sex. Such perspectives and allied social sexual scripts can have considerable consequences on the sexuality and sexual health of older teens and college-aged populations. The…

Drawing from data collected during interviews with grade 2 teachers who work in a black working-class township school, this paper explores the meanings that teachers attach to HIV and AIDS education. It is argued that the relationship of many teachers to the subject of HIV and AIDS is inscribed within regulatory forces based on the notion of…

Adolescent pregnancy, especially among low income non-white groups, is becoming a matter of increasing concern. Data indicated that pregnancy in the adolescent, especially under age 16, is associated with high incidences of toxemia, anemia, contracted pelvis, prolonged labor, and a high maternal death rate. It is also the largest single reason why…

The relationship between certain attitudes and the levels of fertility in five cultural groups was explored in this study. The group studied were blacks, Cubans, American Indians, migrant Chicanos, and white Protestants. Mothers, aged 35-45, with one or two children (small family) or five children (large family) were compared. Attitudes measured…