Amy T. Schalet
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226736181
- eISBN:
- 9780226736204
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226736204.003.0003
- Subject:
- Sociology, Marriage and the Family
This chapter presents interviews with American parents and the differences uncovered in these interviews—between fathers and mothers, between liberal and conservative parents, between past behavior ...
More
This chapter presents interviews with American parents and the differences uncovered in these interviews—between fathers and mothers, between liberal and conservative parents, between past behavior and current approaches, and between cultural languages. However, if the differences and contradictions that characterize the American parents' conceptions of teenage sexuality and romance are easy to identify, a less apparent shared narrative of sequence unites them. Adolescent sexuality starts early with impulses, leads to battles, but becomes only fully legitimate once young people have successfully navigated these trials by fire and established autonomous households, an accomplishment both deeply desired and dreaded. Three frames structure that narrative: the first is hormone-based adolescent sexuality; the second is the battle between the sexes; and finally, until youth establish their autonomy through financial self-sufficiency or marriage, the principle of parent-regulated adolescent sexuality applies, leading a majority of parents to respond to the sleepover question with a resounding “No way, Jose.”Less
This chapter presents interviews with American parents and the differences uncovered in these interviews—between fathers and mothers, between liberal and conservative parents, between past behavior and current approaches, and between cultural languages. However, if the differences and contradictions that characterize the American parents' conceptions of teenage sexuality and romance are easy to identify, a less apparent shared narrative of sequence unites them. Adolescent sexuality starts early with impulses, leads to battles, but becomes only fully legitimate once young people have successfully navigated these trials by fire and established autonomous households, an accomplishment both deeply desired and dreaded. Three frames structure that narrative: the first is hormone-based adolescent sexuality; the second is the battle between the sexes; and finally, until youth establish their autonomy through financial self-sufficiency or marriage, the principle of parent-regulated adolescent sexuality applies, leading a majority of parents to respond to the sleepover question with a resounding “No way, Jose.”
