Shortcomings of Sexual Initiation as a Sexual Health Indicator: A Case Study of Asian Americans

• In Event: Medical Sociology Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (90 minute): Table 11. Sexuality and Sexual Health

Abstract

In the United States, prevailing cultural scripts portray young people as impulsive and rebellious risk-takers, with youth sexuality considered especially risky despite its prevalence. Delayed sexual initiation and factors that contribute to it are held up as indicators of success in the public health literature. However, this framing stigmatizes all youth sexual activity as inherently dangerous while neglecting the resources and behaviors – such as condom and contraception use and sexual healthcare utilization – that can mitigate health risks. Furthermore, just as youth sexuality is considered risky, adult sexuality is considered normative and even healthy, and the arbitrary dichotomy in this framing does not clarify how young people can transition to and develop a healthy adult sexuality; some evidence even suggests that late sexual initiation or sexual repression is associated with adverse outcomes. Finally, this paradigm diminishes sexual self-determination and fulfillment as legitimate objectives in their own right, even for young people. These arguments are supported by a literature review of Asian American youth sexuality; large surveys show that young Asian Americans are less sexually active than other racial groups and therefore ostensibly low-risk, but more precise studies reveal that they demonstrate low sexual health literacy, sexual healthcare utilization, and sexual self-efficacy than their peers, putting them at risk of harm when they do become sexually active. Research on youth sexual health should therefore consider more expansive, subject-centered, and sex-positive measures of sexual well-being irrespective of age and sexual activity.

Author

• Alicia Jen, Columbia University