Sexuality in youth culture: identity and change

The sexual decisions of adolescents are, as Brooks-Gunn and Furstenberg have suggested, filtered through at least three culturally determined screens: the meaning of sexuality, the process of male-female negotiations, and adolescents' perception of danger. In making sexual choices today, young people must consider not only issues of identity, personal growth, and relationships, but also the growing danger of AIDS. A ten-year study of the sexual behavior of college students in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada, shows that students choose among three sexual subcultures: celibacy, monogamy, and free experimentation. Since 1980, there has been some shift away from casual sex toward committed partnerships, but the basic outlines of this sexual "plural society" have remained unchanged. Despite AIDS, most students have not adopted careful sexual practices, either in number of partners or use of condoms. North American data suggest that this pattern is typical of most colleges and universities throughout Canada, although students on many U.S. campuses have become more careful. This study explored the reasons behind sexual choices, and investigated whether the possibility of contracting AIDS will eventually lead adolescents to better balance their needs for sex, love, freedom, and self-preservation. Working against the choice of caution is the fact that, in our culture, sexual expression is an important element of becoming an adult.