“Sexuality has become a pawn in power struggles between competing political interest groups.”

—Pepper Schwartz and Virginia Rutter

In her book Slut!: Growing Up Female with a Bad Reputation, Leora Tanenbaum decries the societal message that adolescent girls often receive—that only bad, “slutty” women have sexual desires. Conversely, Wendy Shalit, author of A Return to Modesty, maintains that teenagers’ discomfort with sexuality is an “instinctive,” protective mechanism that can help youths avoid premature sexual relations. In a July 1999 Salon magazine article featuring a debate between these two authors, Tanenbaum asserts that “girls and boys” should learn that “sexual desire is a natural part of adolescence” lest they end up feeling “guilty and ashamed of their own sexual desire.” Shalit counters that “girls are then more vulnerable because they don’t...