Chapter 11, Sex and Violence Summary and Analysis

In the first half of this chapter, Dr. Pipher discusses teen sexuality and all of its implications. In the second half, she speaks of the effect that sexual violence has on young women, and what must be done in order to reduce the number of rapes committed in America every day. As an example of the sexual pressure that girls face today, she introduces the reader to Christy, a fourteen-year-old gifted child. Christy is a year younger than most of her classmates. Christy is not ready to become sexually active. Many of her friends are sexually active, though, and they are pressuring her to have sex, too.

Dr. Pipher points to two major sexual issues facing girls in the 1990s. First, they are coming to terms with their own sexuality. Second, all women face the...