What Is Sexual Empowerment? A Multidimensional and Process-Oriented Approach to Adolescent Girls’ Sexual Empowerment

Abstract

Theorists disagree about how to define the concept of empowerment. This disagreement extends to discussions of adolescent girls' sexual empowerment. Feminists struggle with whether sexual empowerment should be conceptualized as a subjective internal feeling of power and agency or an objective measure of power and control. Defining sexual empowerment as a subjective state may mistakenly equate feelings of agency with cultural and institutional power. Yet, a subjective definition of sexual empowerment is advantageous in that it validates girls' own experiences and perceptions. This commentary argues that sexual empowerment might best be conceptualized as a continuous and multidimensional construct. This would allow for the recognition of sexual empowerment as a developmental process, and it would allow for the acknowledgement of ambivalent empowerment.

Empowerment of Adolescent Girls for Sexual and Reproductive Health Care: A Qualitative Study

“…The present study discussed the need for having strategies for individual empowerment through educating knowledge, skills, and ethics, developing family processes (for adolescent's empowerment through family), reinforcing educational institutions of family and school, and providing health services, the last two cases of which require actions for organizing the society as well as interorganizational actions. According to Peterson, the best concept in explaining the sexual empowerment is the clarification of the point that sexual empowerment is a continuous and multidimensional construct 28 . Further, Berkeley, in expressing the strategies for promoting adolescents' sexual health, points out the necessity of having a holistic approach to create effective changes at cultural, socioeconomic, and service providing levels 6 .…”

Propuesta y validación de una escala general para medir el empoderamiento de los adolescentes en México

“…En general, el empoderamiento se concibe como una condición dinámica, un proceso permanente sin un punto de llegada definitivo, y, al mismo tiempo, como un proceso multidimensional que incluye varias dimensiones o aspectos de la vida, por lo que en cualquier momento un individuo puede experimentar empoderamiento en algunos niveles o áreas y desempoderamiento en otros (Peterson, 2010). Cochran (2008) plantea tres atributos que definen o caracterizan el empoderamiento: la conciencia interior, el potencial habilitado y las actividades orientadas a la obtención de resultados.…”

“…El poder en la relación sexual se refiere a la capacidad de un miembro de una pareja sexual de actuar de manera independiente, no sujeta al control (permanente) del otro (Pulerwitz, Gortmaker y DeJong, 2000;Peterson, 2010;Tolman, 2005).…”

The confidence trick: Competing constructions of confidence and self-esteem in young Australian women's discussions of the sexualisation of culture

“…In taking seriously the power of sexualised culture to shape the subjective desires, experiences and actions of women, we are mindful of the dangers of positioning women as "cultural dupes" (e.g., Duits & van Zoonen, 2007;Peterson 2010). A key tension has emerged in feminist scholarship around self-sexualisation practices concerning how to temper an analysis of cultural pressures and effects with respect for women's ability to define the meaning of own their choices (e.g., Duitz & van Zoonen, 2006;Gill, 2007b).…”

“…A key tension has emerged in feminist scholarship around self-sexualisation practices concerning how to temper an analysis of cultural pressures and effects with respect for women's ability to define the meaning of own their choices (e.g., Duitz & van Zoonen, 2006;Gill, 2007b). Attempts to problematize individualistic analyses of behaviour by considering wider social forces has been critiqued as ignoring women's autonomy and invalidating their accounts of their own experiences and actions (Duitz & van Zoonen, 2007;Lerum & Dworkin, 2009;Peterson, 2010). But although it is of course important to take seriously women's understandings of their own behaviour and their subjective feelings of empowerment and experiences of pleasure, we consider it important to resist an analysis of this important phenomenon in which experience is the only, or final, word (Gavey, 2012;Gill, 2007b;Gill & Donaghue, 2013).…”