This study aimed to identify standards and expectations regarding sexual initiation of 14 to 18 year-old adolescents in Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil, using data from four focal groups conducted in 2006. Results revealed that gender issues are clearly present in participants' reports and showed to be essential in their choices about the moment, partners and contraceptive practices in the first sexual relation. Adolescents are subordinated to gender roles, traditionally attributed to male and female genders, i.e. the notion that sex is an uncontrolled instinct for boys, and intrinsically and closely associated to love and desire for girls. Adolescents also play a preponderant role in the perpetuation of these values within the group they live in.
adolescent health; sexual and reproductive health; gender and health