This book has explored the impact of gendered expectations on young women's abilities to navigate the ‘uncharted territory’ of young intimate relationships. The intention was not to establish prevalence rates of abuse but rather to propose a fresh perspective on young intimate relationships by promoting young women as active agents. The young women's narratives illustrated the challenge of shifting young men's power, due to the cultural attitudes that perpetuate established hierarchical gendered identities which favour men over women.

Young women continue to face challenges when negotiating their feminine identity, in particular, sexual ‘double standards’. The presence and harmful impact of patterns of harassment, emotional abuse and coercive control experienced on an ‘everyday’ basis were evident across all the discussions with the young women. The role of gender norms in shaping their relationship scripts, including their views on abuse and violence, was evident. Despite their ability to share attitudes focused on gender equality, they demonstrated limited empowerment and space to draw upon this understanding within their intimate relationships. Young women's constructions of their attitudes, identities and relationship experiences suggest a gap between their desires, expectations and actual everyday experiences. As a result, the young women adapted their expectations and repeatedly demonstrated how they restricted their voice, choice and control within their intimate relationships in order to avoid rejection. They adapted their wishes, feelings and expectations and, as a result, remained in unhealthy relationships. As part of this, the majority of the young women, specifically those who had experiences of intimate relationships, continued to demonstrate attitudes supportive of gender equality, reflecting both their limited power to change their reality and influence established gender norms on their own relationship experiences. The young women performed what they saw as the expected girlfriend role to satisfy the needs of their audience, essentially, to maintain what Goffman termed as ‘facework’ (Goffman, 1955), paying ‘lip service’ to their boyfriends’ demands to the detriment of their own self-development of identity.