Abstract: This collection of essays presents a new vision of adolescent sexuality shaped by a variety of social factors: race and ethnicity, gender, sexual identity, physical ability, and cultural messages propagated in films, books, and within families. The book is divided into three parts: (1) Contexts and Theories; (2) Cultures and Communities; and (3) Texts and Conversations. The contributors consider the full range of cultural influences that form a teenager's sexual identity and argue that education must include more than its current overriding message of denial hinged on warnings of HIV and AIDS infection and teenage pregnancy. Examining sexual experiences, feelings, and development of Asians, Latinos, African Americans, gay men and lesbians, and disabled women, this book provides a new understanding of adolescent sexuality that goes beyond the biological approach. (RJC)

Title: Sexual Cultures and the Construction of Adolescent Identities. Health, Society, and Policy Series.
Author: Irvine, Janice M., Ed.
ISBN: 1-56639-136-9
Note: 325p.
Publication Year: 1994
Document Type: Book (010); Position Paper (120)
Target Audience: Teachers and Practitioners
ERIC Identifier: ED387375
Clearinghouse Identifier: SO025079
Available from: Temple University Press, Philadelphia, PA 19122 (paperback: ISBN-1-56639-136-9; hardcover: ISBN-1-56639-135-0, $44.95).
This document is NOT available from the ERIC Document Reproduction Service (EDRS).

Descriptors: Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome; * Adolescent Development; Adolescents; * Cultural Influences; Ethnicity; Racial Differences; Secondary Education; Sex Differences; * Sex Education; * Sexual Identity; * Sexuality; Venereal Diseases