Good Girl or Flirt Girl: Latinas' Definitions of Sex and Sexual Relationships

Abstract

This study provides theoretical understanding of 31 young adult Latinas' (Puerto Rican, Dominican, and Cuban) experiences and understandings of sexuality through in-depth interviews. The grounded theory analysis of defining sex and sexual relationships revealed similar descriptions of processes within Latinas' accounts. Women's responses included defining sex as intercourse, defining sex as virtually anything, and making distinctions between sex and making love. Women also offered definitions of safer sex and their ideal sexual relationships. Ideas about men's sexuality as uncontrollable led women to devise plans for avoiding players and avoiding being a flirt girl because of the desire to be seen as moral and culturally competent. Latinas made sense of their sexuality by accepting, altering, or rejecting cultural messages. The findings have implications for interventions aimed to assist women in dealing with safer sex topics.