Heterosexual relationships of young women in a rural environment

This paper draws on ethnographic research to discuss the ways in which a gr oup of thirteen- and fourteen-year-old girls living in a rural area organis ed, negotiated and controlled their developing heterosexual relationships-o f getting' and 'having' boyfriends. Their active initiation of relationship s with boys and the bad they took in defining boundaries contradicts the pi cture of passivity presented in feminist youth culture literature of the 19 70s and 1980s. Three forms of heterosexual relationships are explored: 'getting off' 'seei ng someone' and 'going out with' and the differing 'quality' of each relati onship. Within each variety there is a 'continuum of seriousness'. Each rel ationship form was negotiated in such a way that it would not interfere wit h the business of 'doing friendship' with girlfriends. The girls' sexual behaviour and the way in which they themselves discuss an d make sense of their sexuality are framed within the boundaries of 'compul sory heterosexuality'.