Chapter 1. Teen Girls: Emerging Sexuality

Short Description

Teen girls describe how their physical development often elicits embarrassing sexual comments and reactions from boys. Some girls attempt to find clothes that conceal their emerging sexuality. The narrator notes that, unlike testosterone, the sex hormone estrogen is less directly linked to sexual behavior.

Long Description

Teen girls describe how their physical development often elicits embarrassing sexual comments and reactions from boys. Some girls attempt to find clothes that conceal their emerging sexuality. The narrator notes that, unlike testosterone, the sex hormone estrogen is less directly linked to sexual behavior. In contrast to other animals, human females have lost their period of heat. In fact, most women do not know when they ovulate. One of the hallmarks of human female sexuality is that women may copulate at any time in the menstrual cycle. The hormonal factors that drive women to have sex are complex and not just related to estrogen. Researchers now believe that testosterone plays an important role in both the female and male sex drive. At about eight years of age, girls produce a weak form of testosterone from their adrenal glands. But clearly estrogen plays some role in female sex drive because, when deprived of estrogen, women experience a loss of sexual interest and response. However, research also suggests that testosterone is the key hormone in determining female sexual motivation.

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