Sex and Sexuality

Risk and Relationships in the Age of AIDS

With the continued specter of AIDS looming, young people who are becoming sexually active have a new set of issues with which to deal in their relationships. Foremost among them is the negotiation of sexual risk, when the ignorance of that risk can mean their death or that of their partners. Dana Lear has studied a group of college studentsùa community likely to experiment sexuallyùand has written a timely and persuasive book that considers how sexual communication does and does not occur among young adults, how gender and sexual orientation influence the ability to negotiate safer sex, and what barriers to open communication still exist. Lear presents a number of provocative and telling excerpts from the interviews that were a part of her study. These accounts portray the attitudes toward risk, casual relationships, trust, and the negotiation of sexuality that are at issue today. Finally, Lear considers her findings in terms of normative influences as well as possible policy implications. This book will be an invaluable resource to those interested in public health, human sexuality, the study of adolescence, and gender roles, among many others.