title: Gendered discourses of youth sexualities--an exploration of PubMed articles on prevention of sexually transmissible infections.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore how gender is addressed in medical articles on the prevention of sexually transmissible infections (STI) among adolescents.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixtyone articles were retrieved from a PubMed search and scrutinized by qualitative content analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Most articles were affiliated with North American research institutions, but there were also reports from Europe, Africa, South America, and Asia. Gender turned up in the following four recurrent discourses: Gendered Receptiveness for Information, Stereotyped Heterosexual Expectations, Power Imbalance in Sexual Relations, and Gendered Prevention Approaches. Young women were described as knowledgeable, communicative, and responsible, but at risk because of feminine ideals and a lack of negotiating power. Men were described as less informed, more reluctant to discuss, and more risk taking due to masculine ideals and power dominance. Prevention approaches concerned how to postpone sex and/or tailor gender-sensitive programs for specific groups of young women and men.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Researchers' own gender expectations might have a substantial impact on how sex and sexual health is considered in prevention research. To avoid reconstruction of current inequalities and stereotypes regarding sexual practices of young women and men, the impact of gender, the power structures in intimate relations, and the cultural context should be considered. Medical research on STI prevention could benefit from including a wider array of gender perspectives.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Family Medicine, Research Programme Challenge Gender, Umeå University, Umeå S-90187, Sweden. Electronic address: eva.johansson@fammed.umu.se.
authors.forename: Eva E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Johansson
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, Research Programme Challenge Gender, Umeå University, Umeå S-90187, Sweden.
authors.forename: Lena
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Alex
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, Research Programme Challenge Gender, Umeå University, Umeå S-90187, Sweden.
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Christianson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D015706:Bibliometrics; D003469:Culture; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011209:Power, Psychological; D039781:PubMed; D012309:Risk-Taking; D063507:Sexism; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D019529:Sexuality; D012749:Sexually Transmitted Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control; D013240:Stereotyping
keywords: Gender; Prevention; Qualitative analysis; Sex; Sexually transmissible infection; Youth