Public and private spaces in adolescent girls' lives : school graffiti, sexualities and romantic relationships.

The thesis investigates a number of girls' writings as they occurred in the form of
graffiti in a sixth-form College in Malta. It develops an analysis of these graffiti texts,
which are mainly concerned with how their authors try to make sense of their gender
identity and involvement in sexual activity and romantic encounters. The analysis
examines possible reasons why a number of female students resort to writing graffiti.
It highlights the ways through which the acquisition of sexual knowledge occurs
informally outside the formal curriculum, through spaces created and struggled over
by the informants. The study interrogates the emotional, social, cultural, personal and
political worlds as described by them. This includes a discourse analysis, aimed at
providing a deeper understanding of ignored emotional and social perspectives. In the
absence of sexuality and relationships education in postsecondary education curricula
in Malta, this study challenges silences surrounding these matters. The study
documents the graffiti as subversive processes of learning, which reproduce and resist
dominant discourses. It regards the graffiti as constituting a discourse in itself,
understood as possibly promoting agency in some of the informants' lives.
A reflexive approach was adopted to arrive at the research aims. Poststructuralist
feminist and queer theory perspectives locate the study's theoretical positionings.
Ethnographic observations and informal conversations with nineteen female students
were employed to assist the data analysis.
The findings show that some informants question the ways they relate to their gender
identity when confronted by hetero, lesbian and bisexual social relationships.
Heteronormative dominance and familiarity are actively reproduced, contested,
disturbed and resisted. The findings suggest that the informants seek a safe school
environment, where they can discuss sexualities and relationships' matters in a
context of empathy, caring, understanding and support. They request detailed
information about decision-making processes related to conflicting emotions about
romantic feelings, relationships and interpersonal communication skills with their
partner/so
The study points to the need for a deeper understanding of the emotional and overall
wellbeing of teenagers with respect to romantic and sexual relationships. The study
aims to contribute towards academic debates and knowledge about teenage
perspectives on sexualities and romantic relationships and towards the planning,
discussion and design of future postsecondary sexuality education curricula in Malta.