Interview with Rebecca, 18 - 19, White British, lower middle class. Women, Risk and AIDS Project, Manchester, 1989. Anonymised version including fieldnotes (Ref: THW50)

This interview is part of the Women, Risk and Aids Project (1989-90) archive which was created as part of the Reanimating Data Project (2018-20).Anonymised transcript of an interview with Rebecca, who is doing her 'A' levels. She would like to perhaps go on to university, but feels there is a lot of pressure from her mother. Her school provided sex education in biology lessons, which were segregated by gender and required parental permission to participate. Rebecca thought it was quite 'outdated' and although they described different methods of contraception, they was no explanation on how to use any of them - it wasn't practical enough. She doesn't really talk to her mum about sex and relationships, but there has never been any pressure for Rebecca to get married and have children - Rebecca is quite cynical about romance and relationships, following her parent's divorce. She was never interested in relationships until she turned 16, but felt there has always been peer pressure to be in one. She lost her virginity to gain experience, but is now worried about her sexual reputation - this at odds with some of her feminist values around gender and sexuality. She has been interested in exploring her sexuality and is aware of her right to sexual pleasure. In terms of AIDS protection and safe sex, which she learnt about through the news and on television, she is aware that she should use condoms but sometimes feels embarrassed or awkward to ask male partners, though she is ok with buying her own from a chemist.