Abstract
The previous chapter examined the effects of a developmental discourse operating within cognitive science, revealing its limitations in explaining the development of reasoning ability in young people. This chapter continues my concern with the way ‘youth’ is conceptualised as a ‘problem’ and the need for greater reflexivity in accounting for the conditions of this conceptualisation. With respect to extreme public concern about the sexualisation of culture and its harmful impact on girls and young women, I argue here that part of the ‘problem’ of youth sexuality is the very function of the concepts of youth that are called on to make sense of it. Specifically, this chapter analyses three films that foreground questions of young female sexuality in order to deconstruct the discourse of ‘coming of age’. This is a different way to approach the problematic nature of young female sexuality than that offered by contemporary debates on the sexualisation of youth, which predominantly focus on the negative impact of media culture on young girls’ development. However, as this is a formative context for discussing female sexuality, I will briefly outline the phenomenon of sexualisation and some of its scholarly explanations in order to further explain and situate my approach.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2013 Fleur Gabriel
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Gabriel, F. (2013). Presumed Innocent: The Paradox of ‘Coming of Age’ and the Problem of Youth Sexuality. In: Deconstructing Youth. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137317520_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137317520_5
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-34887-9
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-31752-0
eBook Packages: Palgrave Media & Culture CollectionLiterature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)