Claiming the Erotic and Intimate Self: The Sexual Agency of Adolescent Girls in Trinidad and Tobago

Abstract:This study explores the sexual agency of adolescent girls in Trinidad and Tobago (T&T). Using Black, Caribbean, and transnational feminist frameworks this work examines the genesis and complexity of adolescent girls' sexual agency, specifically how girls begin to develop ideas of sexual attraction and intimacy, messages they internalize from family and community, and the agentic ways they actualize their feelings and desires. It considers the historical, economic, and political contexts of postcolonial T&T, and implications for future exploration of young women's and girls' sexual agency, not only in T&T, but among Caribbean women in the Diaspora. Themes analyzed in this study demonstrated that girls were knowledgeable about intimacy and sex. They identified specific moments when they are aware of sexual attraction and distinguish from other forms of love. Most girls learn about sex from trusted adult relatives who are not their parents, from peers, biology, sexual and reproductive health and health and family life courses at school, and via the internet. They read the institutionalized environments as unresponsive to their concerns and interpret their parents' lack of communication or admonishments as signals that talk about sex is taboo. Consequently, they seek information outside of the purview of adults to satisfy their needs. They want to understand how to navigate trust and consent; how to choose good partners; how to balance their future goals with a desire to have intimacy and sexual relationships in the long run. By tapping into their personal desires and motivations around sex they manifest early forms of social and political agency.