Social Concepts and Judgments: A Semantic Differential Analysis of the Concepts Feminist, Man, and Woman

Male and female participants  ( N = 274)  made judgments about the social concepts of feminist , man , and woman on 63 semantic differential items. Factor analysis identified three basic dimensions termed evaluative, potency, and activity as well as two secondary factors called expressiveness and sexuality. Results for the evaluative dimension showed that the concept feminist was rated negatively with male participants rating feminist more negatively than female participants. In terms of potency, feminist was judged higher than man whereas the concept woman was rated low on this dimension. Participants also judged the concept feminist as low in expressiveness and rated woman as the most expressive. Feminist received low ratings on the erotic-sexual dimension (sexuality) by female participants and negative sexuality ratings by men. These results are discussed in terms of social role theory, gender stereotypes, and the changes in women's roles and behavior.     

Liminal Space,Sexuality, and the Language of #MeToo

#MeToo has advanced the way that we think and speak of sexual abuses of power by creating a powerful social platform in which victims can function as a group, symbolizing what as psychoanalysts we consider unthinkable, while also striking at the inherent paradox that sexuality poses – how to account for the vagaries of human sexuality and its transgressive nature while holding individual and collective abuses of power accountable? My essay addresses such questions by focusing on the way that language fails to hold and symbolize sexuality due to its affective excess and its driven and enigmatic qualities, and advances the idea that the sexual is metabolized in action with an other and not through words and language. Further, that the boundary between what is permissible and what is not is negotiated on both conscious and unconscious levels of knowing, which I refer to as the liminal area of sexuality. I develop these ideas within a post-Lacanian framework and suggest that psychoanalysis must interface with other disciplines in order to bring depth to our consideration of sexuality at its most transgressive as well as to help stretch the symbolic function of language.     

Is There Such a Thing as “Christian” Sex?

It is challenging for Christian pastors and counselors to discuss human sexuality in ways which do not alienate liberals on the left, conservatives on the right, or biologists in the middle. Feminists frequently see males as dominating or insensitive, and conservative Christians sometimes feed into this by emphasizing patriarchal models of marriage as if this were the biblical paradigm for all time. Evolutionary biologists view sexuality primarily as a means of propagating the species. Into this cacophony of strident voices the Christian seeks to inject a calm but clear message: Christian sexuality is primarily a search for intimacy. In a culture obsessed with sexuality as entertainment, the followers of Christ call others to view human sexuality not primarily in terms of eroticism, power, or procreation, but rather in terms of psychological intimacy. From a biblical perspective, becoming one flesh, with one's mate also provides the occasion for becoming a co-creator with the eternal I AM. In addition to the procreational potential and orgasmic excitement provided by sexual intercourse, God intended for these encounters to be loaded with an abundance of psychological intimacy. Intimacy is the raison d'etre of sexual relationships. Intimacy provides sexuality with a quality that can mollify crises in the present life, and imbue sexuality with a splendor worthy of the next life as well.     

Beyond artificial, sex-linked distinctions to conceptualize female sexuality: comment on Baumeister (2000)

The authors comment on three aspects of R. F. Baumeister's (2000) theoretical article on female sexuality. Questioning the predominance of nature versus cultural factors in accounting for sexual outcomes for men and women, the authors draw attention to the similarities (as opposed to differences) in the sexual attitudes, behaviors, and responses of men and women, and directly question the suggestion of "controlling" women's sexual attitudes, behaviors, responses, etc. to meet social needs for change.     

A History of Women and Feminist Perspectives in Community Psychology

Using an historical framework, we document and assess efforts to include women, women's issues, and feminism in community psychology and in the Society for Community Research and Action (SCRA). Initiatives of the SCRA Task Force/Committee on Women are traced from its inception to present. We also chronicle the dilemmas and difficulties of moving toward a feminist community psychology. The history is divided into five phases. Each phase is described in terms of women's involvement in the field and efforts to integrate feminist content into research and practice of the field. Reflections on the qualities of contexts that have both supported and inhibited inclusion are identified. We look to this history to try to understand the observation that while women have been increasingly visible in leadership roles and women's professional development has been encouraged, less progress has been made toward building a feminist community psychology.     

AN EXAMINATION OF WOMEN'S PERSPECTIVES ON POWER

Historically, theoretical and popular conceptions about power have not included or addressed women's experiences. This study adds to the growing body of knowledge about women by examining women's perceptions of and relationship to power. One hundred twenty-five women, ranging in age from 21 to 63, were asked to define and explore power through a variety of structured and open-ended questions. The results showed that women's definition of power differed significantly from their perception of society's definition of power, as well as from the way power has traditionally been conceptualized. More theoretical and empirical attention should be given to understanding the role of personal authority in both women's and men's experience of power.     

WOMEN'S INTENTIONS REGARDING, AND ACCEPTANCE OF, SELF-SEXUALIZING BEHAVIOR

No known research has examined women's acceptance of self-sexualizing behaviors, which includes the use of catwalks at dance clubs, taking pole dance classes, and wearing clothing with sexually suggestive statements. Structural equation modeling assessed the links between choosing sexually objectifying media, internalized appearance ideals, and self-objectification to self-sexualizing behaviors and general acceptance of sexualizing behavior among 207 female university students. Media choice predicted one's own behavioral intentions and the acceptance of others' sexualizing behavior. Neither internalized appearance ideals nor self-objectification mediated these relations. Hyperfemininity and sexism were tested as individual difference variables predicting these variables. Hyperfemininity added to the prediction of self-sexualizing behaviors and general acceptance of sexualizing behavior, whereas sexism did not. Our results indicate that sociocultural ideals of women's sexual attractiveness predict women's intentions regarding, and acceptance of, sexualizing behavior. Self-sexualizing behavior may have negative consequences, including the lack of subjective experience of one's sexuality.     

Bare’ing it all for the Camera: Women’s Experience of Having Erotic Photographs Taken

One area in which a change in women’s sexual behavior has been observed is in the growing number of women who are having erotic photographs taken of themselves by professional photographers. The current research is an attempt to learn more about this unstudied phenomenon. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 women who have had erotic photographs taken by a professional photographer. The interviews were subjected to thematic analysis. The women described the erotic photography experience as having positive implications, such as increased body esteem and feelings of empowerment, as well as giving the women the ability to see themselves as sexual and an opportunity to celebrate their bodies. Having erotic photos taken also provided women with the opportunity to create a sexual image in a photograph on their own terms. The findings provide insight into the changing nature of attitudes about women’s sexuality.     

The Semiotic Regulation of Sexuality from a Microgenetic Perspective

On the level of collective culture, sexuality and sensuality are interpreted as zero signifiers, i.e., areas of human life, which gain their power through being purposefully kept invisible and unverbalized. Explicit transgressions (e.g., curse words) only refer to culturally "illegitimate" forms of sexuality, while the respective figure--in terms of the figure-ground principle--of "legitimate" meaning and feeling fields has to be constructively inferred by the person him- or herself. The present paper gives some examples of personal meaning making in the field of sexuality. For studying the semiotic regulation of sexuality and sensuality on the personal level, microgenetic investigations are proposed. Only they can offer an online access to the powerful process of culturally mediated sign construction and reconstruction.     

Gender differences in erotic plasticity: the female sex drive as socially flexible and responsive

Responding to controversies about the balance between nature and culture in determining human sexuality, the author proposes that the female sex drive is more malleable than the male in response to sociocultural and situational factors. A large assortment of evidence supports 3 predictions based on the hypothesis of female erotic plasticity: (a) Individual women will exhibit more variation across time than men in sexual behavior, (b) female sexuality will exhibit larger effects than male in response to most specific sociocultural variables, and (c) sexual attitude-behavior consistency will be lower for women than men. Several possible explanations for female erotic plasticity are reviewed, including adaptation to superior male political and physical power, the centrality of female change (from no to yes) as a prerequisite for intercourse, and the idea that women have a milder sex drive than men.     

Dynamics in the Notions of Sexuality Among Three Generations of Bulgarian Muslims

Based on ethnographic research in a Muslim town in Bulgaria, this study provides a comparative analysis, exploring the modernization of sex and sexuality within three generations of Pomaks (Slavic Muslims). Although the modernization of sexuality was “postponed” by the repression against Muslims in Bulgaria during communism known as “Rebirth process”, the results from the study show that the detraditionalization of sexuality is not a rapid and recent process and that different (hidden) forms of sexual/intimate interaction have existed long before the democratic changes after 1989. The liberalization of the sexual attitudes after 1989 was strongly intensified by the opening of a high school in the community, the development of the local economy, and the influence of media. The emerging non-traditional models of sexual behavior and attitudes are initiated primarily by women with higher education within the context of women rights and independence. However, the modernization is not a homogeneous linear process but is rather adapted to the local customs and expectations and depends greatly on the educational status of women. Paying particular attention to the women’s sexuality, this study analyzes the processes of detraditionalization of sexuality in comparison to another Muslim community in Bulgaria known for its re-traditionalization in terms of gender and sexuality because of the influence of Arabic organizations. The results suggest that the ethnic isolation and the following need for ethnic identification of Pomaks has intensified two opposite tendencies regarding sexual attitudes in two similar communities.     

Measuring the Dimensions of Women's Sexuality: The Women's Sexual Self-Concept Scale

The sexual self-concept is an important component of the self-concept that researchers have rarely examined. The Women's Sexual Self-Concept Scale (WSSCS) is a 39-item measure designed to assess women's sexual self-concept. Women rate the extent to which various behaviors, cognitions, emotions, and adjectives describe their sexuality. In a study with 262 women, the measure was found to be both reliable and valid. Three factors were identified through exploratory Principal Components Analysis. Women rated themselves highest on the Reserved Approach subscale, followed by the Agentic Sexuality subscale, and the Negative Associations subscale. Compared to a stereotype of women's sexuality (obtained with a mixed-gender group of 444 participants), the women in the present study rated themselves higher on the Reserved Approach subscale and lower on the Negative Associations subscale. Group differences in women's sexual self-concepts were identified by past xinvolvement in romantic or sexual relationships, and current sexual involvement.     

Brief Report: Power and Attitudes in Relationships (PAIR) Among a Sample of Low-Income,African-American Women: Implications for HIV/AIDS Prevention

This study describes a scale that was designed to measure low-income urban, heterosexual women's perception of Power and Attitudes in Relationships (PAIR). Although frequently mentioned in the literature as an important aspect of women's risk for HIV, there are few described scales which measure such attitudes among this population. PAIR was based in part on Connell's (1987) Theory of gender and power. PAIR was found to be reliable (alpha = 0.79) among a Baltimore cross-sectional sample of inner-city women (n = 417), half of whom were HIV-negative and half were HIV-positive. Our findings suggest that PAIR is reliable among both HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected inner-city women. The scale can be a useful tool in understanding the interpersonal context of women's risk of HIV.     

HYPERFEMININITY AND INFLUENCE

Murnen and Byrne (1991) have defined hyperfemininity as an exaggerated adherence to a feminine gender role as it relates to heterosexual relationships. Hyperfeminine women believe their success is determined by maintaining a romantic relationship with a man, and that their sexuality can be used to maintain this relationship. Extrapolating from theory concerning gender and status, including expectation states theory, it was hypothesized that a woman's expression of hyperfeminine attitudes would lead male college student participants to agree with her in response to a persuasive speech because it would indicate her compliance with women's subordinate status. It was found that men (but not women) who listened to a very hyperfeminine (high) speaker agreed with her more than did men who heard a mildly hyperfeminine (low) speaker, despite the fact that the high hyperfeminine speaker was judged less competent and knowledgeable. Implications of the results, including the idea that the sexual objectification of women perpetuates women's subordinate status, were discussed.     

A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR UNDERSTANDING RACE, CLASS, GENDER, AND SEXUALITY

Since the mid-1980s, scholarship and college courses that address multiple dimensions of inequality under the rubric of race, class, gender, and (recently) sexuality studies have grown rapidly. Most courses now employ a set of readings, many of which are drawn from a growing number of anthologies. A strength of this approach is its presentation of the diversity of human experiences and the multiplicity of critical perspectives. A weakness is its failure to convey the commonalities in race, class, gender, and sexuality analyses of social reality. To aid in teaching and research on race, class, gender, and sexuality, this article presents six common themes that characterize this scholarship. Race, class, gender, and sexuality are historically and globally specific, socially constructed power relations that simultaneously operate at both the macro (societal) and micro (individual) levels of society. Scholarship in this tradition emphasizes the interdependence of knowledge and activism.     

Human sexuality: how do men and women differ?

A large body of scientific research documents four important gender differences in sexuality. First, on a wide variety of measures, men show greater sexual desire than do women. Second, compared with men, women place greater emphasis on committed relationships as a context for sexuality. Third, aggression is more strongly linked to sexuality for men than for women. Fourth, women's sexuality tends to be more malleable and capable of change over time. These male-female differences are pervasive, affecting thoughts and feelings as well as behavior, and they characterize not only heterosexuals but lesbians and gay men as well. Implications of these patterns are considered.     

RECONCEPTUALIZING ISSUES THAT AFFECT WOMEN'S SEXUAL DECISION-MAKING AND SEXUAL FUNCTIONING

This paper addresses five existing societal myths and their underlying faulty assumptions about women's sexuality. The following myths are examined: (a) women possess adequate sexual knowledge to understand their sexual needs, (b) they know how to communicate about sex, (c) they engage in sex because they want to do so, (d) if they are sexually active, they enjoy sex, and (e) they use their knowledge of sex to protect themselves from sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy. These myths need to be considered when conducting research and developing interventions designed to decrease women's sexual risk-taking. Research that assesses women's levels of factual sexual knowledge, comfort and skills discussing sexual information, and literacy is needed. The importance of examining ethnic, cultural, economic, religious, relationship factors, and psychological issues is discussed in order to encourage research relevant to women's sexual decision-making.