In their article ‘“It’s Like Doing Homework” Academic Achievement Discourse in Adolescent Girls’ Fellatio Narratives’, April Burns, Valerie Futch and Deborah Tolman describe how young girls use norms surrounding academic achievement when making sense of their sexual behavior.
It seems that in cultures that have a dominant discourse of academic achievement, which “… frames the primary purpose of education in terms of the achievement of high grades and standardized test scores, rather than preparation for college, employment or civic participation”, girls can incorporate such values in other aspects of their lives as well, including their sexual behavior.
The authors found that girls tend to talk about engaging in sexual behavior such as oral sex, in a manner that resembles how they talk about doing homework and test-taking at school: it’s a job that needs to get done, that they need to practice to become good at, and that they expect to be evaluated for. Performance anxieties that girls may have about taking tests at school, including fears of failing and the need to perform (as) well (as others), may have entered girls’ sexual lives.
Girls’ narratives of their own sexual pleasure, a “positive” discourse of sexuality in relationship, or consequences of sexual behavior such as STIs, pregnancy or rape, were rare. Whereas the physical sexual satisfaction seemed to be of boys alone, girls’ satisfaction was the pleasure in a job done well, and correctly.
Burns, A., & Futch, V.A., & Tolman, D.L. (2011). “It’s Like Doing Homework” Academic Achievement Discourse in Adolescent Girls’ Fellatio Narratives Sexuality Research and Social Policy
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