Abstract |
‘Teenage-hood’ has acquired the status of a universally applicable category of human development, with the experience of ‘teenage-hood’ contingent on one's circumstances and adoption of certain values. In its popular usage, the term ‘teenager’ refers to a person who is neither child nor adult. In this liminal space between childhood and adulthood, teenage-hood is encouraged to be and characterised as a time of self-discovery, anxiety, experimentation, instability and vulnerability. A teenager's journey towards adulthood takes them through important biological and socio-legal milestones – puberty, sexual debut, and legal recognition of being able to make decisions regarding one's body and conduct, including consent to engage in sexual relationships. Contributions selected for this volume discuss the world inhabited by teenagers, and encourage us to develop and expand our ideas about teenage desire and fertility |