woman 6b

Readings

· Donenberg, G. R., Emerson, E., & Mackesy-Amiti, M. (2011). Sexual risk among African American girls: Psychopathology and mother–daughter relationships. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 79(2), 153–158.  Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

· Graber, J. A., & Sontag, L. M. (2006). Puberty and girls’ sexuality: Why hormones are not the complete answer. New Directions for Child & Adolescent Development, 2006(112), 23–38.  Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

· Kahn, J. A., Slap, G. B., Bernstein, D. I., Tissot, A. M., Kollar, L. M., Hillard, P. A., & Rosenthal, S. L. (2007). Personal meaning of human papillomavirus and pap test results in adolescent and young adult women. Health Psychology, 26(2), 192–200.  Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

· Martin, J., Sheeran, P., Slade, P., Wright, A., & Dibble, T. (2009). Implementation intention formation reduces consultations for emergency contraception and pregnancy testing among teenage women. Health Psychology, 28(6), 762–769.  Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

· Meade, C. S., Kershaw, T. S., & Ickovics, J. R. (2008). The intergenerational cycle of teenage motherhood: An ecological approach. Health Psychology, 27(4), 419–429.  Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

· O’Donnell, L., Myint-U, A., Duran, R., & Stueve, A. (2010). Especially for daughters: Parent education to address alcohol and sex-related risk taking among urban young adolescent girls. Health Promotion Practice, 11(3S), 70S–78S.  Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

· Document:  Curriculum Guide Example (PDF) Note: Use this document as a reference to a curriculum guide example for the Week 6 Assignment.

Media Transcript

PSYC 8574: Women’s Health “Adolescent Sexuality” Program Transcript NARRATOR: Adolescents are bombarded with information about gender roles, body image, sexuality, and peer relationships. It can be difficult for them to make sense of the input they are receiving and to make healthy decisions based on it. Mothyna James, Coordinator Of Community Education at TurnAround Incorporated-- a domestic violence and sexual assault organization-- discusses how she works with adolescents to start a conversation related to these tough issues with the hope that this dialogue will nurture adolescents' self-esteem and decision making skills. MOTHYNA JAMES: When you're talking about gender roles and expectations and the contribution it makes to violence in our society, it plays a very key and very significant role. Anytime we believe very rigid stereotypes about how men and women are supposed to act and be in the world, that also creates an environment where anything outside of those rigid beliefs-- which changes from culture and community and society-- whenever somebody acts outside of those beliefs, then we deem them as wrong or we deem them as not having enough or the right type of information, or not doing it correctly. So what you're looking at in terms of how it is that we educate, how do we have a conversation and put it to the level where my 12, 13, or 14 year olds can understand it. And what you're looking at is helping them identify within their environment how they see this type of violence take place. One of the things that I often do with my middle school groups is also helping them to understand how really having strict beliefs around what each specific gender has to do can contribute to the sense of violence. And so, for example, we're having a conversation and I say, what does act like a man mean? And what does act like a lady mean? And they give me very strict things, well, ladies are supposed to clean, ladies are supposed to be nice, ladies are supposed to be quiet. What does act like a man mean? Oh, men are supposed to be strong, men are supposed to be rude. What do we call a lady when we want to make her feel bad about herself? We call her a slut. What do we call a guy when we want him to feel bad about himself? We call him a sissy, we call him a punk. OK, so in order to make a woman feel bad you talk about what she does or doesn't do sexually. In order to make a man feel bad you call him a woman. So you're saying that to bring men down he has to act like a lady. So you're saying that women are less than men when you relate it to this. ©2012 Laureate Education, Inc. 1 And then you connect those dots for them and help them see, this is what you just said to me. And they're like, oh yeah, hey, uh. And so now we're having a conversation and just opening their minds to how gender based violence transmits itself from our strict beliefs, that don't necessarily match up with our values, versus what actually happens in our world. In terms of dealing with the sexuality as it relates to the audiences that we're working to educate, part of what we talk about is for a long time people only heard "no means no--" and no does mean no-- but yes also means yes. And so being very clear about that-- you know, one of the things that I tell them is that-- tell me if this is confusing, no, stop, leave me alone. I'm smiling, but I'm saying no-- that can be kind of confusing behavior for anybody to understand. And so no means no, yes means yes. And teaching people to be clear about that, know what you want and know that it's OK to set those boundaries and set those limits. And so really having that ownership that you are the boss of your body, not anyone else. Regardless of race, religion, creed, cultural status, or marital status, you are the boss of your body. And being able to own that becomes very, very key in understanding one's sexuality. You don't have to be an expert on every culture that exists in the world, but you do have to have an understanding that culture affects how it is we see sexuality, sex, and gender roles and thus the violence related to those pieces. And so you have to be willing to understand what's going on in the world. You may have to just allow yourself to understand what it is our young people in particular-- if you're going to work with young people-- what it is that they're understanding and engaging in. Understanding what those references are, if they say they're going to drop the world on your head, you may want to know that that's a reference to a Lil Wayne song, for example. You may also want to know that in some communities and cultures they don't talk about sex. You have to be very clear about that. So understanding that will put anyone who desires to help in a better position to do exactly that.