Ready or Not …? Teen Sexuality and the Troubling Discourse of Readiness

Abstract

In this article, I explore how talk about being “ready” or “not ready” for sex shapes teen and adult understandings of sexuality. I argue that this “discourse of readiness” poses serious threats to teens' identity development, sexual decision making, and educators efforts to help them through these processes. To illustrate, I draw from my nine‐month ethnography, examining how participants used readiness discourses to make sense of their sexualities. I suggest implications for educators, policy makers, and researchers in anthropology and education.