This article reviews recent research on young women's friendship groups in
western societies, arguing that much of this work has relatively little to
say about the sexual and erotic dimension of such relationships and the con
struction of young women's sexualities. Research on young women's lives oft
en overlooks the possibility of same-sex female desire, and also lesbian (o
r bisexual) existence, thereby assuming that young women are always already
heterosexual by default. The article ends by arguing that feminist youth r
esearch could engage more fully with debates on the social, psychological a
nd cultural processes involved in the construction of female sexualities, w
hether lesbian, bisexual, heterosexual or queer. 'Adolescence' is a crucial
moment in which young women (and men) must be 'won' for the (heterosexual)
patriarchal system, so these debates have important political implications
for feminism.