Apprehension and fear: Learning a sense of sexual vulnerability

Feminist theory and the sociological thinking of Gagnon and Simon (1973) complement each other in predicting the causes of a sense of sexual vulnerability in adult women. Using these theoretical perspectives, the authors predicted that females rather than males would be the targets of active efforts to instill a sense of sexual vulnerability, and that the effects of these efforts would be revealed most strongly in adult females rather than in children. An interview was used to collect data on the frequency and content of warnings received by men and women as children and as adults, the source of the warnings, and how concerned respondents felt as a result of the warnings. Results indicate that as children, neither female nor male respondents recall receiving many warnings of sexual danger, nor do they recall feeling much concern during childhood about potential sexual assault or harassment. Males continue to report low levels of warnings and fear as adults. However, adult women report much higher levels of both warnings and fear of sexual assault than either their adult male counterparts reported, or than they themselves felt as children. These results support other findings which suggest that gender differences in sexual socialization occur largely in adolescence, rather than in early childhood.This research was supported in part by a grant from the Graduate School, University of Minnesota, to the first author, and by faculty research funds from an NIMH Deviance Traineeship Program to the Department of Sociology, University of Minnesota. It was conducted while the first author was associated with the Department of Sociology, University of Minnesota. The authors would like to thank Rochelle S. Albin and Sharon Studer for thoughtul comments on an earlier draft of this paper. For further information, contact Martha R. Burt, Ph.D., Urban Institute, 2100 M Street N.W., Washington, D.C. 20037.