Education, heterosexual expectations and avenues of escape

Abstract

In Chapter 1 I argued that access to educational opportunities may offer individuals a sense of competency in generating change and exercising control. It can also provide women with the material resources to construct different pathways from those traditionally available to women. Conversely, limited access to this power may engender the view that ‘things simply are the way they are’. These two positions may be useful in understanding the adolescent experiences and perspectives towards employment of my respondents. However, another dimension needs to be added, and that is expectations based on interpretations of sexuality. In the last chapter we saw that, as respondents entered their teens, many felt uncomfortable with the dictates of emphasized femininity and romantic heterosexuality.