Not Under My Roof

by Schalet, Amy T.

• ISBN13: 9780226736198
• ISBN10: 0226736199
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-11-01
• Publisher: Univ of Chicago Pr

Summary

For American parents, teenage sex is something to be feared and forbidden: most would never consider allowing their children to have sex at home, and sex is a frequent source of family conflict. In the Netherlands, where teenage pregnancies are far less frequent than in the United States, parents aim above all for family cohesiveness, often permitting young couples to sleep together and providing them with contraceptives. Drawing on extensive interviews with parents and teens, Not Under My Roofoffers an unprecedented, intimate account of the different ways that girls and boys in both countries negotiate love, lust, and growing up. Tracing the roots of the parents' divergent attitudes, Amy Schalet reveals how they grow out of their respective conceptions of the self, relationships, gender, autonomy, and authority. She provides a probing analysis of the way family culture shapes not just sex but also alcohol consumption and parent-teen relationships. Avoiding caricatures of permissive Europeans and puritanical Americans, Schalet shows that the Dutch require self-control from teens and parents, while Americans guide their children toward autonomous adulthood at the expense of the family bond.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. vii
Raging Hormones, Regulated Love	p. 1
Dutch Parents and the Sleepover	p. 29
American Parents and the Drama of Adolescent Sexuality	p. 53
Adversarial and Interdependent Individualism	p. 77
"I Didn't Even Want Them to Know": Connection through Control	p. 107
"At Least They Know Where I Am": Control through Connection	p. 131
Romantic Rebels, Regular Lovers	p. 155
Sexuality, Self-Formation, and the State	p. 181
Conclusion Beyond the Drama	p. 203
Methodological Appendix	p. 213
Notes	p. 225
References	p. 261
Index	p. 279
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.