Putting a big thing into a little hole: Teenage girls’ accounts of sexual initiation

Abstract

The rise in adolescent coitus in the late 1970s and early 1980s provoked many studies of teenage contraceptive practice. Drawing on 400 in‐depth interviews with teenage girls, this article considers the quality of teenage girls’ sexual initiations, comparing the family and sexual histories of girls who describe sexual initiation as painful, boring, or disappointing with those of girls who emphasize sexual curiosity, desire, and pleasure. In conclusion, the article draws several recommendations for sexual education.