Accounting for Men’s Refusal of Heterosex: A Story-Completion Study With Young Adults

Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3463-5704

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Journal of Sex Research

Publication Date

1-2-2019

Volume

56

Issue

1

First Page

127

Last Page

136

DOI

10.1080/00224499.2017.1399978

Abstract

©, Copyright © The Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality. In the present study we bring together theory regarding the construction of heterosexuality and masculinities to understand the shifting and changing terrain of heterosexual sex (heterosex). We use inductive qualitative content analysis of story completion data to discover the different ways that heterosex is constructed by the male and female respondents in scenarios where women initiate sex and men, at first, refuse. The stories represented a spectrum of responses that reify and subvert dominant understandings of heterosex. Five major themes were generated from the current data (1) men should initiate sex, (2) he wants to take it slowly, (3) it is natural for men to want sex, (4) it is men’s job to look after women, and (5) coercion. We discuss in detail the dominant narratives described by women and men and how they may be shifting. The study thus provides a rich, experience-based representation of heterosexual sexual activity and suggests subtle shifts in how masculinity is managed within heterosexual relationships.

Link to Full Text

Share

COinS