Parental Sexual Socialization, Sexual Subjectivity, and Emotional Responses to Sexual Experiences among Adolescent Girls.

This study explored girls' sexual subjectivity as a pathway through which parental socialization influenced their emotions about past sexual experiences. A national online survey of 397 adolescent girls (Mage = 16.8 years) from diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds (33.0% Black, 25.7% Latina, 28.0% non-Hispanic White) assessed (1) parental messaging emphasizing relational, sex-positive, gendered sex role, abstinence-only, and sex-is-taboo discourses; (2) girls' sexual subjectivity including sexual body esteem, entitlement to sexual pleasure, and perceived sexual control; and (3) positive and negative emotional reactions to sexual experiences. Sexual subjectivity fully mediated the positive effect of relational messaging on positive emotional reactions and the negative effect on negative emotional reactions. Additionally, sexual subjectivity partially mediated the positive effect of gendered sex role messaging on negative emotional reactions. This study draws critical attention to placing the psychological aspects of girls' sense of their own sexuality and the emotional components of their sexual experience at the forefront of understanding the influence of parental sexual socialization on the sexual experiences of adolescent girls.

Changes in ageing women's sexual subjectivity as seen from a life course perspective: security, caring, and desire.

This article explores the sexual subjectivity of women of post-reproductive age who seek partners on dating apps. The existing literature highlights the sexual subjectivity and agency of older women as contested and not sufficiently investigated. Even less research has been conducted on changes in the sexual subjectivity of women born in the USSR in the 1960s, with the liberalisation of sexual behaviour. The study is based on 45 interviews with women aged 55 years and over, who were born in the USSR and who now live in Israel, Finland and Russia. In the article, we examine sexual subjectivity as presented in the interviews from a life course perspective. We explain theoretically and empirically how changes in sexual subjectivity are expressed in the light of age and socio-cultural context constraints. Three life stories highlight the accumulation of experience and turning points, such as divorce and migration. They illustrate very different pathways in changing sexual subjectivity, yet all contain three Leitmotifs: desire, security and caring. The expression of post-reproductive female desire can be related to the need to feel secure and enjoy mutual care in sexual relationships. We show that these Leitmotifs shape and are shaped by women's identifications as both sexual objects and subjects, and explore how they relate to different sexual cultures and variations in the socio-sexual positioning of women in Israel, Finland, and Russia.

How Does Sexual Subjectivity Vary on the Basis of Gender and Sexual Orientation? Validation of the Short Sexual Subjectivity Inventory (SSSI-11) in Cisgender, Heterosexual and Sexual and Gender Minority Adolescents.

Through sexual exploration, adolescents learn that they are sexual beings with choices, desires, and are deserving of pleasure, which corresponds to sexual subjectivity. However, the two measures of this construct (i.e., Female Sexual Subjectivity Inventory and Male Sexual Subjectivity Inventory) have not been validated with younger adolescents and have different items for boys and girls (with no scale available for gender diverse individuals), limiting gender comparisons. This study examined (1) the factor structure of the adapted Short Sexual Subjectivity Inventory-11 items (SSSI-11) in a large sample of young cisgender, heterosexual and sexual and gender minority adolescents, (2) measurement invariance across language (English and French), gender, and sexual orientation, (3) validity with sexuality-related outcomes, and (4) one-year temporal stability. Results of a confirmatory factor analysis among 2001 adolescents (Mage = 15.5 years, SD = 0.60) revealed a multidimensional factor structure. The SSSI-11, in both English and French, showed adequate reliability and one-year temporal stability, and was invariant across genders, sexual orientations, and languages. Girls had lower scores on the entitlement to self-pleasure and self-efficacy in achieving pleasure factors, and higher scores on the entitlement to pleasure from a partner factor. No significant differences were observed on the basis of language or between heterosexual and sexual minority adolescents. The SSSI-11 correlated positively with sexuality-related variables. Findings support the strong psychometric properties of the SSSI-11, rendering it of considerable use in clinical, education, and research applications.

Sexual Subjectivity in Solo and Partnered Masturbation Experiences Among Emerging Adult Women.

This qualitative study aimed to examine the experiences and attitudes toward masturbation among emerging adult women. The study was the first to compare women's solo and partnered masturbation experiences, focusing on how feelings of pleasure, sexual desire, and a sense of empowerment-important markers of women's sexual subjectivity-varied across the two contexts. The sample consisted of 40 women between the ages of 18 and 22 years. The majority of participants identified as Latina (33%) or Black (30%) and were enrolled in community college. Semi-structured interviews about women's masturbation experiences were analyzed using thematic analysis. Women described a multitude of feelings, including pleasure but also awkwardness and guilt. Although women did not describe their masturbation practices as morally wrong, they often alluded to disliking masturbation and preferring it less to partnered sex. Whereas some attitudes and feelings (e.g., awkwardness) arose in the context of both solo and partnered masturbation encounters, others were prevalent only in one (e.g., guilt in the solo encounters). Feelings of pleasure, sexual desire, and empowerment manifested differently in the two contexts. There was more focus on self-knowledge, control, and physical pleasure in the solo encounters and more enjoyment of a partner's desire and intimacy in the partnered encounters. We examine the findings through a feminist lens and consider how race/ethnicity, sexual scripts, and contemporary societal contexts shape women's sexual lives.

Associations between sexting motivations and consequences among adolescent girls.

INTRODUCTION: Approximately 15% of adolescent girls in the United States have engaged in sexting. Although sexting frequency is similar across genders, adolescent girls report more negative consequences. To date, the majority of sexting research focuses on demographic and behavioral predictors of sexting frequency or onset and there is limited research on the associations between different sexting motivations and consequences. This cross-sectional study draws upon approach-avoidance motivation theory to examine how different sexting motivations serve as risk and protective factors related to negative sexting consequences and which motivations promote more positive experiences. METHOD: A sample of 200 cisgender girls, 14-18 years, diverse with respect to race/ethnicity and geographical region, who had sexted a male recipient in the past year completed an online survey. RESULTS: Regression analyses indicated that avoidance motivations sexting in response to peer pressure and popularity and sexting in response to male coercion were risk factors for negative sexting consequences. Sexual subjectivity (sexual body-esteem, entitlement to sexual pleasure, and sexual self-reflection) was a protective factor against negative sexting consequences and, along with sexting for sexual or romantic reasons, an approach motivation, was associated with experiencing more positive sexting consequences. CONCLUSION: These findings support previous recommendations that schools incorporate ways to counter pressured sexting into existing cyberbullying or dating violence curricula and also align with a positive sexual development framework that acknowledges the importance of consensual and healthy sexual experiences during adolescence that minimize risks and vulnerabilities.

'Sexuality, without that mirror': The role of embodied practice in the development of sexual potential.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Research needs to take a sex positive approach to the development of sexual health, with sexual intimacy, orientation, and eroticism understood as central to well-being. Embodiment is central to this project. This qualitative study explores how regular embodied practice might encourage the development of sexual potential. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Four women who engaged in a regular embodied practice (e.g., yoga) participated in semi-structured interviews. Verbatim transcripts were analysed using an interpretative phenomenological framework. RESULTS: Three superordinate themes were identified that captured participants' journeys toward the development of sexual potential: Other-validated Sexuality, Embodiment Practice, and Self-validated Sexuality. CONCLUSION: Engagement in regular embodied practice encouraged the development of sexual potential in this sample of women by shifting focus from sexuality as experienced from the perspective of the other to the lived experience of sexuality as connected to their bodily states and enabling integration of the spirit and flesh.

Are you sexually empowered? Validation of the Female Sexual Subjectivity Inventory for Spanish-speaking women / ¿Sexualmente empoderada?: validación del Inventario de Subjetividad Sexual Femenina en mujeres hispanohablantes

Abstract The Female Sexual Subjectivity Inventory (FSSI) consists of 20 items that represent three principal elements distributed into five factors that assess: Sexual body-esteem, Pleasure-self, Pleasure-partner, Self-efficacy, and Sexual Self-reflection. The goal was to adapt and examine the psychometric properties of the FSSI. The sample consisted of 278 Ecuadorian adult women. Item analysis, confirmatory factorial analysis, reliability, and evidence for validity were provided by examining associations with socio-demographic variables as well as with body image dissatisfaction and sexual self-consciousness. Using a confirmatory factor analysis, we confirmed a five-factor structure in which items 1 and 6 were deleted. Regarding socio-demographic factors, older women indicated greater sexual self-efficacy, while the women involved in longer relationships indicated less sexual self-efficacy and more entitlement from their partners. The FSSI-factors were associated with body image dissatisfaction and self-consciousness, which revealed that the women reporting greater sexual subjectivity also reported less body dissatisfaction and lower self-consciousness. The reliability of this 18-item version was good, and Cronbach's alpha values ranged from .74 to .86. This study emphasises the need to re-examine the structure and psychometric properties of measures when applied to another context or culture. We provide evidence for the validity and reliability of the FSSI for Ecuadorian women.

Resumen El Inventario de Subjetividad Sexual Femenina (ISSF) consta de 20 ítems distribuidos en cinco factores que evalúan: la autoestima sexual, placer propio, placer con pareja, autoeficacia y autorreflexión sexual. El objetivo de este estudio fue adaptar y examinar las propiedades psicométricas del ISSF. La muestra consistió en 278 mujeres adultas ecuatorianas. Los cuestionarios se administraron en formato online. Se realizaron análisis de ítems, análisis factorial confirmatorio (AFC), se proporcionaron evidencias de fiabilidad y evidencias de validez al examinar las asociaciones con variables sociodemográficas, así como con la autoconciencia sexual y la insatisfacción con la imagen corporal. A través del AFC, se confirmó una estructura de cinco factores en el que se eliminaron los ítems 1 y 6. En relación con las variables sociodemográficas, las mujeres de mayor edad indicaron mayor autoeficacia sexual, en tanto que las mujeres que se encontraban en una relación indicaron menor autoeficacia sexual y mayor placer obtenido de la pareja. Los factores del ISSF se asociaron con la insatisfacción con la imagen corporal y la autoconciencia, en concreto, quienes informaron de mayor subjetividad sexual estaban más satisfechas con su cuerpo e informaron de menor autoconsciencia sexual. La fiabilidad fue adecuada, oscilando los valores alfa de Cronbach entre .74 y .86. Este estudio enfatiza la necesidad de reexaminar la estructura y las propiedades psicométricas de los instrumentos cuando son aplicados en otro contexto o cultura. Se ofrecen evidencias de validez y fiabilidad para el uso del ISSF en mujeres ecuatorianas.

Sexual Self-Efficacy and Entitlement to Pleasure: The Association of the Female Sexual Subjectivity Inventory with Sexual Risk Taking and Experience of Orgasm.

Young women's understanding of their own sexuality has increasingly been acknowledged as an important component of their sexual health. The Female Sexual Subjectivity Inventory (FSSI) was developed to measure five distinct factors of young women's experiences of sexual pleasure and empowerment. No studies have explicitly evaluated the association between FSSI scores and clinical sexual health outcomes. We conducted a cross-sectional survey of women to assess the association between FSSI factors and the occurrence of three clinical sexual health outcomes in the prior 12 months: acquisition of an STI, unwanted pregnancy, or taking emergency contraception (Plan B). We also assessed the association between FSSI scores and self-reported orgasm frequency during partnered sexual activity. We used multivariate logistic regression models to estimate associations. Finally, we used the FSSI scale in a novel way to identify a population of women who are discordant on their levels of entitlement to pleasure from a partner and self-efficacy in achieving sexual pleasure. We did not find any statistically significant associations between mean score on any of the FSSI factors and clinical sexual health outcomes of interest in the prior year. We found that all FSSI factors except Sexual Self-Reflection were positively associated with increased orgasm frequency. Our study underscores the validity of the FSSI as a measure to assess psychosocial constructs relevant to young women's ability to experience sexual pleasure with a partner and introduces a novel way to use the scale to assess the development of women's sexual subjectivity.

The Relational and Bodily Experiences Theory of Sexual Desire in Women.

We review the theory and research on women's sexual desire and present a theory that incorporates internalized representations of relational and bodily experiences into our understanding of the full range of desire in women. To this end, we move away from the current tendency to focus on low sexual desire in women and instead consider desire on a spectrum or continuum from absent or diminished to high desire across multiple sexual orientations, including heterosexual, bisexual, and lesbian. We review definitions of sexual desire, as well as the epidemiology and etiology of hypoactive sexual desire, the most prevalent sexual complaint in women, including the biological, psychological, and relationship correlates of inhibited sexual desire. Subsequently, we examine the research on highly sexual women, who tend to experience high levels of sexual desire, sexual agency, and sexual esteem, and distinguish between high sexual desire and hypersexuality. We introduce two important constructs that are integrated into the Relational and Bodily Experiences Theory (RBET) of sexual desire in women: attachment and sexual body self-representations, suggesting that women's internalized representations of self and other that stem from childhood and their capacity to embody their sexual bodies are integral to our understanding of the phenomenology of sexual desire in women. RBET calls for further research into the links between attachment, sexual body self-representations, and desire, and suggests that clinical interventions for sexual desire difficulties in women should emphasize internalized working models of relationships (i.e., attachment) and integrate bodily based approaches.

A Dyadic Perspective on Sexual Subjectivity and Romantic Relationship Functioning.

Sexual subjectivity is a central feature of healthy sexuality that is believed to shape and be shaped by relationship experiences. However, no studies have examined sexual subjectivity within a dyadic context. The current study examined partner similarity in sexual subjectivity within 75 heterosexual couples and associations with sexual relationship functioning using actor-partner interdependence models. Within couples, partners' scores were significantly correlated on three of five elements of sexual subjectivity and showed similar mean levels on four of the five elements. Men's and women's sexual self-efficacy were positively associated with their own sexual communication. Other associations varied by gender. Men's sexual body esteem and entitlement to self-pleasure predicted their reports of sexual relationship functioning, and women's entitlement to pleasure from partners and sexual reflection predicted their reports of relationship functioning. Few partner effects were observed. Findings suggest that partners' sexual subjectivity is relevant for dyadic functioning in emerging adulthood. Longitudinal research is needed to examine how experiences within and across relationships contribute to the development of sexual self-concepts and sexual functioning.

HIV-related syndemic pathways and risk subjectivities among gay and bisexual men: a qualitative investigation.

Life history interviews were conducted with 40 gay and bisexual men to identify modes of syndemic experience and risk practice. Out of the interview narratives emerged one major and two minor modes of developmental pathway whereby syndemic conditions are navigated and expressed: (1) a combination of adverse childhood events with later episodes of depression and/or substantial substance use; (2) personal disruption that led to periods of depression and anxiety associated with the stresses of migration; and (3) a disorientation and an unravelling of life trajectory in the transition from family of origin to college or work. Risk practices fell into three high-risk modes: active and frequent engagement in condomless sex; unassertive deferment to a partner's initiation of condomless sex; and episodic risk combined with a risk reduction strategy. Three low risk modes were also identified: no recent condomlessness but multiple risk history in interview; a trajectory over time from high to low risk; and consistent low risk practice. These different modes of syndemic experience and risk management may have implications for identification of the effective HIV prevention tools that work best for different sets of men.

A Model of Female Sexual Desire: Internalized Working Models of Parent-Child Relationships and Sexual Body Self-Representations.

The etiology of low female sexual desire, the most prevalent sexual complaint in women, is multi-determined, implicating biological and psychological factors, including women's early parent-child relationships and bodily self-representations. The current study evaluated a model that hypothesized that sexual body self-representations (sexual subjectivity, self-objectification, genital self-image) explain (i.e., mediate) the relation between internalized working models of parent-child relationships (attachment, separation-individuation, parental identification) and sexual desire in heterosexual women. We recruited 614 young, heterosexual women (M = 25.5 years, SD = 4.63) through social media. The women completed an online survey. Structural equation modeling was used. The hypotheses were supported in that the relation between internalized working models of parent-child relationships (attachment and separation-individuation) and sexual desire was mediated by sexual body self-representations (sexual body esteem, self-objectification, genital self-image). However, parental identification was not related significantly to sexual body self-representations or sexual desire in the model. Current findings demonstrated that understanding female sexual desire necessitates considering women's internalized working models of early parent-child relationships and their experiences of their bodies in a sexual context. Treatment of low or absent desire in women would benefit from modalities that emphasize early parent-child relationships as well as interventions that foster mind-body integration.

Concept Analysis of Female Sexual Subjectivity based on Walker and Avant's Method.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to clarify attributes, antecedents, and consequences of female sexual subjectivity. METHODS: Walker and Avant's concept analysis process was used to analyze 27 studies from the current literature that relates to female sexual subjectivity. A systematic literature review of women's study in sociology, psychology, theology, law, health science, and nursing was reviewed. RESULTS: The defining attributes of female sexual subjectivity were sexual self-awareness, sexual decision making, sexual desire, and good sexual communication with partner. The antecedents of female sexual subjectivity were social environment, sexual education, sexual experience, and interpersonal relationship. The consequences of female sexual subjectivity were safe sex, prevention of sexual victimization, and sexual satisfaction. CONCLUSION: Female sexual subjectivity is defined as sexual self-awareness, sexual decision making, sexual desire to seek sexual pleasure and safety, and effective communication with partner in terms of sexual behavior, sexual experience and sexual health. Based on these results, a scale measuring female sexual subjectivity is needed.

Concept Analysis of Female Sexual Subjectivity based on Walker and Avant's Method

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to clarify attributes, antecedents, and consequences of female sexual subjectivity. METHODS: Walker and Avant's concept analysis process was used to analyze 27 studies from the current literature that relates to female sexual subjectivity. A systematic literature review of women's study in sociology, psychology, theology, law, health science, and nursing was reviewed. RESULTS: The defining attributes of female sexual subjectivity were sexual self-awareness, sexual decision making, sexual desire, and good sexual communication with partner. The antecedents of female sexual subjectivity were social environment, sexual education, sexual experience, and interpersonal relationship. The consequences of female sexual subjectivity were safe sex, prevention of sexual victimization, and sexual satisfaction. CONCLUSION: Female sexual subjectivity is defined as sexual self-awareness, sexual decision making, sexual desire to seek sexual pleasure and safety, and effective communication with partner in terms of sexual behavior, sexual experience and sexual health. Based on these results, a scale measuring female sexual subjectivity is needed.

A Longitudinal Study of Sexual Entitlement and Self-Efficacy among Young Women and Men: Gender Differences and Associations with Age and Sexual Experience.

Many scholars have called for an increased focus on positive aspects of sexual health and sexuality. Using a longitudinal design with two assessments, we investigated patterns of entitlement to sexual partner pleasure and self-efficacy to achieve sexual pleasure among 295 young men and women aged 17-25 years attending one Australian university. We also tested whether entitlement and efficacy differed by gender, and hypothesized that entitlement and efficacy would be higher in older participants and those with more sexual experience. A sense of entitlement to sexual partner pleasure increased significantly over the year of the study, whereas, on average, there was no change in self-efficacy over time. At Time 1 (T1), young women reported more entitlement than young men. Age was positively associated with T1 entitlement, and experience with a wider range of partnered sexual behaviors was concurrently associated with more entitlement and efficacy and was also associated with increased entitlement to partner pleasure and increased self-efficacy in achieving sexual pleasure at T2 relative to T1. A group with the least amount of sexual experience was particularly low in entitlement and efficacy when compared to groups with a history of coital experience. There was no evidence that any association differed between young men and young women. Limitations of the study include a sample of predominantly middle class, Caucasian students at one university and the possibility that students more interested in sex and relationships, and with more sexual experience, chose to participate.

'And next, just for your enjoyment!': sex, technology and the constitution of desire.

In the 1976 sci-fi film Logan's Run, actor Michael York, relaxing in a fetching caftan after a day hunting 'Runners', logs-in to the 'Circuit', a de- and re-materialisation technology that allows those seeking sex to select partners. Logan's first candidate, a young man, is passed over with a smile. The second is co-star Jenny Agutter; she is accepted and we join a sexual ride in the future. Online dating sites such as Gaydar® and RSVP® would seem to have a long way to go to achieve that, and Microsoft™ needs some fast apps development to get us there. Against this background, this paper examines some starting points in our fascination with technosex, long before the Internet, in books and magazines, the creative arts and other media and cultural forms. It focuses upon gay men's contribution to this fascination, and looks at the queering of heterosexuality and the part technology has played in that process. Online technologies are examined, particularly in relation to the 'publicisation' of sexual life and to shifts in sexual identity and practice related to changing processes of sexual objectification, self-objectification and subjectification. Finally, the transformation of sex into health and healthy sex is discussed.

Desirable rights: same-sex sexual subjectivities, socio-economic transformations, global flows and boundaries--in India and beyond.

Sexual rights are increasingly and unevenly advanced internationally as constitutive of progressive legal possibilities for same-sex desiring subjects. Legislative progress in this area has taken place in the context of recognition of same-sex sexual subjects within the globalising flow of neo-liberal political-economic ideologies in some parts of the word, and resurgent homophobia as a countervailing trend elsewhere (or indeed even within the same context). Ambivalent responses to sexual rights praxis in people's day-to-day lives indicate complex relationships between sexual subjectivity, economy, law, the state, and people's most intimate aspirations. Rights on grounds of same-sex sexualities may or may not be perceived as universally desirable, even among those people who might otherwise be imagined as their beneficiaries. Given this, the relationship between sexual subjectivities, political economies, and rights must be understood in terms of multifaceted refractions, attending to generative and curtailing possibilities--imagined in people's differing responses to free-market capital, legislation, and possibilities for livelihood. These issues are explored in respect of ethnographic work in West Bengal, India, with a particular focus on male-bodied subjects who evince both masculine and feminine subjectivities, and in respect of recent contestations in law, polity, and sexual rights praxis.

Being both and acting 'man': exploring patterns of masculinisation among young same-sex-attracted men in Thailand.

Twenty-five same-sex-attracted rural young Thai men were interviewed three times to investigate how their sexual subjectivity changed over an 18-month period after they completed high school and moved into a new life-phase. Many young men grew up with strong gender-based understandings of homosexuality, in which a masculine (top) partner is seen as complementing a feminine (bottom) partner. The discursive division between the masculine and feminine domains became increasingly blurred in the actual practice of dating, forcing the young men to develop new understandings of homosexuality and same-sex relations. The shift from a rural to urban environment, the use of the Internet and the experience of falling in love played important roles in this experimentation with new, increasingly masculine presentations of the self, also influenced by a modern urban masculine aesthetic. The paper concludes that the encounter between 'traditional' gender-based homosexuality and new ideas, in which masculine object-choice is important in defining sexual identity leads to a variety of fluid ideas and expressions. This process created confusion among some, and opportunities for exploration of new ways of defining sexual subjectivities among others.