Transforming feminine categories: genealogies of virginity and sainthood

The categories of virginity and sainthood, often used as norms of femininity, are historically and contextually constructed. Genealogies of these categories reveal definitions of female subjectivity in accordance with male desires. Traditional conceptions of virginity have implications for theories of female development and sexuality, conceptions of the psychoanalytic process, and theories of social symbolism. Notions of virginity as an unblemished state, the first penetration by a penis as an irrevocable transformation to womanhood, and defloration as a developmental milestone in female sexuality derive from male fantasies of female purity that translate into justifications for social structures of control and ownership. While fantasies of sainthood played significant roles in the work of both Sigmund and Anna Freud, their images of saints, which they did not analyze, were unconsciously shaped by a Victorian sensibility. Because the psychoanalytic legacy is androcentrically informed, analysts may be hampered in their efforts to treat the pathologies of perfection that continue to plague women. Contesting and unsettling conventional epistemological assumptions open up the categories of virginity and sainthood to images and representations of female autonomy and integrity. The critical analyses offered here contribute to theories of the plasticity of gender and the social construction of femininity.     

“You Want Fireworks? I’ll Show You Fireworks!”: Or Not—Woman-to-Woman Violence on <Emphasis Type="Italic">Sex and the City</Emphasis>, <Emphasis Type="Italic">The L Word</Emphasis>, and <Emphasis Type="Italic">The O.C.</Emphasis>

Instances of intimate partner violence (IPV) between women on Sex and the City, The L Word, and The O.C. reflect the social reality that IPV between lesbians is a serious social and public health issue. However, narrative analysis of IPV in female same-sex relationships reveals the violence is both literally and figuratively rendered unremarkable. The absence of frames common in contemporary portrayals of heterosexual IPV perpetuates the misperception that violence does not occur in same-sex relationships. Further, a specifically gendered, raced and classed image of “the violent lesbian,” and recuperation narratives where heterosexuality is presented as the “solution” to woman-to-woman IPV, raise questions about the increased presence of LGB characters in entertainment media. In sum, thematic elements that unite seemingly dynamic portrayals of lesbian sexuality and relationships in these series do not interrupt cultural narratives silencing victims of intimate violence. Instead, messages about woman-to-woman IPV perpetuate stereotypes and homophobic, sexist, racist and classist ideologies. This analysis presents insight into popular media portrayals of a serious community health issue. Results call for additional research assessing the form and content of media representations of same-sex sexuality in a changing cultural context.     

Looking heteronormatively good! Combining story completion with Bitstrips to explore understandings of sexuality and appearance

ABSTRACT

This study sought to develop knowledge about understandings of sexuality and appearance by using a story completion task combined with an innovative visual methodology. Fifty-four (mainly female) participants were randomly assigned to complete a story about a fictional bisexual, lesbian, or heterosexual character who is going on a date, and then asked to build a Bitstrips online avatar of their character. Our social constructionist thematic analysis identified that looking good was a common feature of the stories and that this was understood in largely heteronormative terms. This imperative was also clear in stories of the date, which relied on traditional notions of gender and heterosexuality. Finally, individuality and authenticity were rewarded in participants’ stories, yet this was simultaneously constrained by (dominant) heteronormative narratives. We conclude that combining story completion with visual methods enabled deeper insights into representations of appearance, dating, and relationships, than a textual method alone.     

On a type of heterosexuality, and the fluidity of object relations

This paper delineates a form of heterosexuality whose underlying psychological structure resembles that of perversions. It is characterized by: idealization of instinctual processes, whereby the ego subordinates the object to the actualization of the instinctual event itself; heightened narcissism in an otherwise neurotic ego organization; multiple intrapsychic uses of the object; a special kind of defensive organization; an experienced victory over the superego and associated elevation of certain aspects of the ego ideal; and a resultant alteration in the nature of close interpersonal relationships. I use clinical vignettes from both male and female patients in psychoanalysis to focus on the phenomena in question. The thinking of Chassequet-Smirgel, Freud, Khan, Rangell, Socarides, and others is used in an attempt to gain an encompassing perspective. It is emphasized that patients demonstrating this form of heterosexuality do not possess a perversion per se, but demonstrate a character neurosis which integrates certain perverse mechanisms into its defensive organization. These mechanisms can be isolated and studied in psychoanalytic treatment, with the potential for illuminating their defensive and mood-regulating functions, and eventual working through and resolution of the intrapsychic conflicts underlying them. Some comments on the implications of this form of sexuality for our contemporary culture are included.     

“Being Masculine is not About who you Sleep with...:” Heterosexual Athletes Contesting Masculinity and the One-time Rule of Homosexuality

Using in-depth interviews and participant observations, I examine how two groups of heterosexual high school US football players alter differently the construction of heterosexuality and masculinity after joining collegiate cheerleading. First, I show that informants from both groups make masculinity accessible to gay men before next describing how they reconcile heterosexuality with limited forms of same-sex sex. Forty-percent of the heterosexual men I interview confirm engaging in same-sex sex, although they differently frame the requirements for it. I suggest these findings have various meaning for the relationship between sexuality and masculinity, as both groups somewhat strengthen and contest the borders of heterosexuality and masculinity. These findings beckon consideration as to how the relationship among sport, sexuality, and homophobia is changing.     

Cheshire Calhoun's Project of Separating Lesbian Theory from Feminist Theory

I support Cheshire Calhoun's argument that there is a distinctive type of sexuality injustice addressed to lesbians and gays, but challenge her definitional strategy regarding the concepts of “lesbian” and “gay” and the “universalistic essentialist” distinction that she draws between patriarchy and compulsory heterosexuality. Finally, I take issue with the political implications of her claim that lesbians’ and gays’ special oppression stems from our exclusion from the legal prerogatives of marriage and parenthood.     

A Listening Guide Analysis of Lesbian and Bisexual Young Women of Color’s Experiences of Sexual Objectification

In the present study, I utilize objectification theory and compulsory heterosexuality as theoretical lenses to investigate lesbian and bisexual young Women of Color’s sexual objectification experiences. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight Black and Latina 16–19 year-old young women who identified as lesbian or bisexual. Using the Listening Guide method of narrative analysis, two voices pertaining to young women’s objectification experiences were identified: a Voice of Surveillance and a Voice of Self-Surveillance. Findings suggest that young women experienced sexual objectification as rooted in their gender, sexuality, and racial identities. Experiences were further shaped by the contexts in which objectification occurred: participants voiced distinct struggles navigating (a) sexual harassment and violence in relationships with peers and romantic partners, (b) sexual harassment and discipline in school, and (c) street harassment and violence from men. Findings highlight the importance of understanding sexual objectification experiences as they are informed by gender, sexuality, and race, as well as the ways that young women actively cope with and resist objectification. Psychologists, activists, and mental health professionals are encouraged to consider how sexual objectification is rooted in multiple forms of oppression, its implications for young women’s identity, desire, and well-being, and how young women can be supported as they struggle against it.     

Rules, risk and self-disclosure

The notions of rules and risk are inextricably involved with self-disclosure in counselling and in personal relationships. A hundred single British male under-graduates were asked to rate 120 self-referent items in terms of whether, if that item were true of them, they would like or dislike that aspect of themselves; and then to assess the degree of risk that might be entailed in disclosing it to a close male friend, a close female friend, a male acquaintance, and a female acquaintance. The characteristics most positively valued included happiness, health, heterosexuality, agood' job, and getting on well with others (including parents). In general, subjects anticipated greater risk in disclosing negative than positive characteristics, though there were some exceptions. The degree of friendship with the recipient of the disclosure appeared to lessen the anticipated risk of disclosure, while the sex of the disclosee generally made only a marginal difference. The findings are discussed in terms both of students' self-esteem and also of their relevance to counselling. Additionally, the social exchange implications of positive and negative self-disclosure are considered.     

Infantile bisexuality and the 'complete oedipal complex': Freudian views on heterosexuality and homosexuality

In the psychoanalytical discussion of what is 'mature' sexuality we speak of the 'genital' stage and the 'resolution' of the oedipal complex in the form of identification with the parent of the same sex and a heterosexually-directed object choice. A close reading of Freud's texts about sexuality shows that such a normative view cannot be corroborated by his viewpoint. He suggests that infantile sexuality is bisexually orientated, the final object choice due to repression of either homosexual or heterosexual desires. As Freud puts it, genital heterosexuality occurs out of necessity for procreation. In order to enrich the present psychoanalytical discussion about homosexuality and bisexuality the author returns to Freud's theories in this context.     

Voices from the margins: Islam,queer identity,and female agency in Rayda Jacobs’s Confessions of a Gambler

This article foregrounds the intersection between queer Islamic masculinity and Islamic female identity in Rayda Jacobs’s Confessions of a Gambler, and shows how these two identity categories are subjugated in light of dominant expressions of Islamic masculinity. The novel’s action takes place within a traditional Cape Muslim community and employs, among other literary strategies, the main protagonist’s vice of gambling and her son’s sexuality as tools to illuminate the interstitial and perilous social space occupied by women and gay men in South African Muslim society. The research dissects the poignant picture that Jacobs paints of marginal identities as they exist at the intersection of religion, gender identity and sexual identity, and ultimately exhibits that homophobia and gender inequalities are not necessarily intrinsic to Islam. The article adopts a cultural studies style literary analysis. In light of this theoretical approach, this article evaluates Jacobs’s novel in a manner that goes beyond its literariness and shows how it also acts as a form of social commentary. This article also shows how the novel problematises hegemonic representations of gender and sexuality within Islam by giving voice to women and gay men: identity categories which remain largely voiceless in the dominant representations of Islam.     

What's in a Disorder

Abstract

This paper analyzes the emergence of two FDA-approved products to treat “sexual disorders”: Viagra, a drug prescribed for the treatment of erectile dysfunction, and the Eros, a device prescribed for the treatment of female sexual dysfunction. Through an analysis of advertising and promotional materials for Viagra and the Eros, we argue that these pharmaceutical devices and the discourses they circulate reinforce normative gender ideals by enacting dominant cultural narratives of masculinity, femininity, and male and female sexuality. These cultural narratives of normative gender structure sexuality in such a way that reinforces certain kinds of masculinity, femininity, and (hetero)sexuality, thereby rendering “atypical” gender and sexual expressions, desires, and appearances invisible and marginal. We argue that these constructions reify cultural ideologies about “what counts” as legitimate and appropriate sexuality and that these constructions have profound implication for social actors, sexologists, and therapists.     

The Effects of Clothing and Dyad Sex Composition on Perceptions of Sexual Intent: Do Women and Men Evaluate These Cues Differently1

The effects of clothing revealingness and dyad-sex composition on perceptions of male- and female-stimulus persons' sexuality were examined. Based on Abbey's (1982) findings, we hypothesized that men would attribute more sexuality to both male and female targets than women would. Furthermore, we predicted that the difference between men's and women's sexuality ratings would be most divergent when a male-female dyad was presented and when the female stimulus person wore revealing clothing. A laboratory study was conducted in which subjects viewed a photograph of two students in a classroom. As predicted, male subjects rated female targets as more sexy and seductive than did female subjects. Also as predicted, female targets who wore revealing clothing were rated as more sexy and seductive than those wearing nonrevealing clothing. Female targets were rated higher on sexual traits regardless of the gender of their partner. Men did not consistently perceive male stimulus persons more sexually than women did. Finally, both female and male targets were perceived as more kind and warm when they wore nonrevealing clothing. The implications of these findings for person perception and date rape research are described.     

Social Considerations Related to Adolescent Girls’ Sexual Empowerment: A Response to Lamb and Peterson

We expand on Lamb and Peterson’s (2011) discussion of the influence of social forces on the development of girls’ sexual empowerment. A predominant message from a variety of media in the U.S. is that women are sexual objects controlled by men’s sexual desires. Media messages are bolstered by the sexist treatment of girls and women in everyday society, and by gendered social roles derived from the patriarchal structure of society. We present empirical evidence that societal representations of sexuality in the United States are gendered and promote male control over female sexuality. We review research linking exposure to these sexist messages with the development of self-objectification and attitudes and behaviors supportive of gender stereotyped sexual roles. While many studies are conducted with women rather than girls, researchers are beginning to study these issues in older girls, and some longitudinal data are available. We make suggestions for further research within an ecological framework that would allow the examination of messages from multiple sources within a developmental framework.     

Gender-specific social experiences and the development of aggressive and sexual behavior in male mice

This study examined influences of gender-specific social experiences on the development of aggressive and sexual behavior in male mice. To determine the effects of gender-specific social experience three different types of groups were constituted after the animals had been weaned. The subjects were randomly assigned to different treatments. Female groups were composed of one experimental male and three female cohabitants. Male groups were composed of five experimental males each, and the mixed-sex groups were composed of two experimental males and of two females. The experimental subjects stayed in these groups until the age of approximately three months, when the testing for sexual and aggressive behavior commenced. For the sexuality tests, a receptive female was placed in the home cage of the experimental male for ten minutes. A nonaggressive male was placed in the home cage of the experimental male for seven minutes for the aggression tests. The experimental males were administered both sexuality and aggression tests, the sequence of testing sexual and aggressive behavior was systematically varied in order to control the influence of the two different types of behavioral tests. The results showed that males with only male social experiences showed fewer responses and were less active in both the aggression and sexuality tests than the males from the two other types of groups. Significant positive correlations between activity during aggression and sexual tests were obtained for all three groups. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Sex and shame: the inhibition of female desires

A developmental narrative is presented that centers on bodily based narcissistic injury and sense of shame in response to unrequited oedipal longings. Through an experience of oedipal defeat in relation to both mother and father, a female sense of inadequacy and shame may be internalized and accepted as one's identity, in contrast to the male phallic-omnipotent trajectory. The demise of genital narcissism in females can underlie various expressions of pervasive inhibition and failure to actualize desire. The thesis offered goes beyond separation-individuation theory in suggesting that girls may inhibit sexuality and aggression, and themselves more generally, due to a representation of self as "not having what it takes" genitally, and then bodily and psychically. Mental representations of the self, based on positive imagery of the female body, are needed to give voice to a woman's bodily experience and sexual desire and agency in various realms. Two clinical vignettes illustrate female inhibitions in sexuality and in professional ambition as understood within the framework presented.     

Mind games: the mental representation of conflict

Perception and misperception play a pivotal role in conflict and negotiation. We introduce a framework that explains how people think about their outcome interdependence in conflict and negotiation and how their views shape their behavior. Seven studies show that people's mental representations of conflict are predictably constrained to a small set of possibilities with important behavioral and social consequences. Studies 1 and 2 found that, when prompted to represent a conflict in matrix form, more than 70% of the people created 1 of 4 archetypal mixed-motive games (out of 576 possibilities): Maximizing Difference, Assurance, Chicken, and Prisoner's Dilemma. Study 3 demonstrated that these mental representations relate in predictable ways to negotiators' fixed-pie perceptions. Studies 4-6 showed that these mental representations shape individuals' behavior and interactions with others, including cooperation, perspective taking, and use of deception in negotiation, and through them, conflict's outcomes. Study 7 found that the games that people think they are playing influence how their counterparts see them, as well as their counterparts' negotiation expectations. Overall, the findings document noteworthy regularities in people's mental representations of outcome interdependence in conflict and illustrate that 4 archetypal games can encapsulate fundamental psychological processes that emerge repeatedly in conflict and negotiation.     

Social representations of aggression: Crossing the sex barrier

Controversy over Moscovici's concept of social representations has focused upon the extent to which they can be viewed as enduring cognitive structures characterizing social groups and whether individual members are ‘prisoners’ of their social representations, unable to duplicate the social representations of other social groups. Previous research has established a consistent gender difference in orientation toward aggression with men viewing it as an instrumental act of coercion and women as a temporary loss of self-control. These two social representations, originally recovered from spontaneous conversation, have been measured with a psychometric instrument called Expagg. To examine the mutability of these representations, men and women in the present study were asked to complete the questionnaire either spontaneously or as they believed a member of the opposite sex might respond. Under conditions of same-sex responding the usual significant sex difference appeared. When asked to respond as a member of the opposite sex, men accurately mirrored women's higher expressive total score on the questionnaire but psychometric analysis revealed that there was no similarity in terms of item–total correlations. Women grossly overestimated the degree of men's instrumentality but item–total total correlations revealed a considerable degree of similarity with men's structure. The male representation whether natural or assumed showed higher internal consistency than did the female mode. The results are discussed in terms of differential modes of access to gender-linked representations and the cultural dominance of a masculine and instrumental representation of aggression.     

Intergroup alliances and rejections within a protest movement (analysis of the social representations)

Studied the development of a student protest movement which, after an initial success, rapidly declined. Opinion surveys were conducted simultaneously with an analysis of the social representations which our population (i.e. male and female university students) held about itself, its potential partners and the proposed strategies. For this latter method, different words related to the protest movement were used as stimuli for a free association task. Similarities between dictionaries were analysed according to Johnson's clustering method and Kruskal's multidimensional scaling method. The structure of social representations allows us to explain the lack of success of the protest movement in terms of intergroup differentiation: the students refused an alliance with the leaders of the movement and rejected their strategies because they progressively defined them and their culture as foreign to and incompatible with themselves. The concept of social representation is discussed in light of the findings.     

“She doesn’t let age define her”1: Sexuality and motherhood in recent “middle-aged chick flicks”

This article explores Hollywood’s recent representation of older women as having a relatively more open and fluid sexuality than they were portrayed as having in earlier decades. While seemingly offering a liberatory vision of older women as sexual beings, there is nevertheless a subtext in many of these films that this newfound sexuality is disturbing to the stability of the nuclear family. The analysis also focuses on the “super-text” of how the actresses who portray these older women, such as Susan Sarandon and Diane Keaton, are themselves constructed in the popular press as being mutually sexy and “women of a certain age.” In this way, these popular cultural representations are trying to tap into the growing demographic of aging female bady boomers, both celebrating and marketing to this group as sexually embodied beings.