Posted on 06/07/2006 7:45:41 AM PDT by presidio9
Teenage girls commonly have sex not because they want to, but because they feel pressured into it - and the result may be a higher risk of sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy, a new study suggests.
Researchers found that among 279 teenage girls they interviewed, many said they'd given in to unwanted sex at some point because they were afraid their boyfriend would get angry.
The findings, published in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, indicate that may teenagers -- both female and male -- need help in negotiating their relationships.
"We need to give guidance to teens on how to communicate with each other," said lead study author Dr. Margaret J. Blythe, a pediatrician at the Indiana University Medical Center in Indianapolis.
That means helping girls to take more control over their sexual activity, and boys to understand what constitutes pressure, according to Blythe.
The importance of educating boys, she told Reuters Health, "is often the untalked-about part."
The study included girls between the ages of 14 and 17 who were seen at urban health clinics in Indianapolis. Over about two years, the girls were periodically interviewed about their current relationships, including any instances of unwanted sex over the past three months. Specific questions included: "Would he break up with you unless you had sex?" and "Would he get mad if you didn't want to have sex?"
In all, 41 percent said they'd had unwanted sex at some point. The most common reason was fear that their boyfriend would become angry. Ten percent, though, said their partner forced them have sex when they didn't want to. About 5 percent said they'd had sex after being offered money or gifts.
Girls who reported unwanted sex also reported less condom use, a poorer relationship quality and a higher rate of pregnancy than their peers, the study found.
Other research has shown that unwanted sex, particularly in cases of rape, can lead to depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder. The current findings, Blythe and her colleagues say, point to sexually transmitted diseases and unintended pregnancy as additional serious consequences.
Most of the girls in the study were black and lower-income, and it's not clear how representative the findings are of the general population. But the results are similar to those of some past studies, according to Blythe and her colleagues.
For example, girls who reported unwanted sex were more likely than their peers to have a partner who smoked marijuana, and other studies have linked drug and alcohol use to forced or unwanted sex.
Substance use can blur the line between consensual and non-consensual sex, the researchers write, and boys who use drugs or alcohol may become "less sensitive" to what their partners want or don't want.
From what I've been hearing about girls in this age group is they are much more agressive about sex. They are pressuring the boys and not the reverse. There are other studies out there which support this.
"We need to give guidance to teens on how to communicate with each other," said lead study author Dr. Margaret J. Blythe"
No works. Otherwise it's rape.
Ummmm.... maybe the causal relationship is the other way around: girls who got pregnant because they weren't careful about birth control (and had to face some consequences for having sex - even it it's an abortion) might be more likely to salvage their self-esteem and avoid admitting their own responsibilty by describing the sex which led to their pregnancy as unwanted. Naaaaah....couldn't happen.
Well, this is a brand new development.
It was long ago
and it was far away,
and it was so much better than it is today....
That's just an "old saying"? I thought it was fact.
Interesting given the current pervasiveness liberals love about sexualizing our culture that teenage girls still, "apparently", naturally feel the need to keep their virginity.
Must be an innate survival mechanism. Glad the libs haven't bread that out of the gene pool yet.
Send your check to IronJack ...
Actually, the media does the pressuring.
But the important question is what do teenagers do about their desires? You have pointed out, correctly, that traditionally boys have pushed for sex - since they bore the fewest direct consequences - and that traditionally the burden of saying "no" has been put upon girls who can become pregnant. Now, with the breakdown of the traditional social taboos and the changes in technology, the girl who wants to say "no" has lost the traditional arguments. And, of course, boys have not taken on any more responsibility -- why should they in the prevailing climate?
It won't change unless people want it to change, and people won't want it to change unless most individuals feel it's in their personal advantage for things to change. I don't hold much hope before there's been some cataclysmic change.
I was just thinking of that song.
Actually, I think it's children.
Pop culture forces the idea of the sexually aggressive independant she-wolf as if it were something that every girl wants to be, and actually SHOULD BE.
Cripes on a crutch--I can't find appropriate shoes for my THREE-YEAR-OLD Daughter these days. Literally, in Target, K-Mart, Toys R Us: we have sparkley, glitter covered sling back f-me sandals with two-inch heels on sale for toddlers. Elsewhere, I have my choice of baby t-shirts that say Porn Star and Spoiled Kitten in glitter, mini skirts and short shorts and even low-slung hip hugging blue jeans in size 3T!
It's a full on culture war out there, and its come to the suburbs, and our children are at stake.
Everywhere you look, teens and pre-teens are being inundated with hard-core sexualized messages, being encouraged to explore the wonders and joys of homosexuality and transgenderism, and the best these geniuses come up with is:
"Teenage girls feel pressured into sex..."
Hell, I should ask the government for a bunch of money, sit on my a$$ for six years and then present an unreadable scientific paper that says, "Pop science is for dimwits."
My daughter just turned 13. Her and I can talk about anything. About a week ago I was driving her to school and as we do each day, we have a topic of discussion.
She asks me what a BJ is. Tells me her friend is doing it with her boyfriend and she has no clue what her friend is talking about.
Now I am a pretty cool dad, but this took me aback to a point where I had to pull over so as not to crash. I looked at my daughter with a straight face and told her a BJ was a disbarred, indicted former President. I then told her if that confuses her to aske her mom.
When I was dating the girl that became my wife, the first time I went to pick her up for a date, her father answered the door and we all chatted for a few minutes. He had served in Okinowa in World War II, was over 6 ft tall, and looked like the kind of guy I would not like to discover mad at me in a dark alley.
He then said, "Before I let you take my daughter out in your car, I need to make sure that you are a good driver. Please drive me around the block so I an observe your driving". I later found out he did this to all of the young men who showed up to date her. So ... I drove him around the block, and he observed.
As I parked at the curb in front of his house, he said ... "There is something you need to know. My daughter is leaving here with you in a particular condition ... and when you bring her back, she had better be in that same particular condition. And you know what I mean." Then he gave the "the look".
That certainly provided plenty of incentive for restraint on my part.
By the way, it was almost a decade later that my wife discovered the reason for the drive around the block --- she was mortified ... but grateful.
I currently have a 10 year old daughter. When she gets to dating age, I WILL meet the boy who wants to date her, and have him drive me around the block.
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