Sex, Organs and Audiotape: A Discourse Analytic Approach to Talking about Heterosexual Sex and Relationships
- 1 June 1992
- journal article
- research article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Feminism & Psychology
- Vol. 2 (2) , 209-230
- https://doi.org/10.1177/095935359222010
Abstract
This article examines talk about sex and heterosexual relationships, based on a study of 12 women and 13 men who participated in semi-structured interviews, in order to identify the `discourses' of sexuality which inform talk about heterosexual sex. One theme in talk about heterosexuality can be understood through the `pseudo-reciprocal gift discourse': women are described as `giving' themselves to men, whereas men `give' women orgasms, reproducing dominant norms of male activity and female passivity, — and thereby reinforcing the oppression of women. Men talk more graphically about sex than women — we suggest the resources of meaning concerning sex suit men's interests rather than women's, and reflect men's dominance in a (hetero)sexist society.Keywords
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