Sexual ideology and sexual physiology in the discourses of sex advice literature

• Published in: The Canadian journal of human sexuality 2006-03, Vol.15 (1), p.23-45
• Main Authors: Connell, Erin, Hunt, Alan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Advice; Anatomy & physiology; Criticism and interpretation; Discourse; Discourse analysis; Females; Gender differences; Gender roles; Gynecology; Husband and wife; Ideology; Literature; Male-female relationships; Males; Marital Relations; Marriage; Perceptions; Physiology; Portrayals; Responsibility; Sex; Sex education; Sex in marriage; Sex Roles; Sex therapy; Sexual behavior; Sexual behaviour; Sexual Orientation; Sexual relationships; Sexuality; Social science literature; Spouses
• ISSN: 1188-4517; 2291-7063

This paper explores the connection between changing knowledge of sexual physiology & normative prescriptions about gendered roles within sexual relations. An analysis of marital/sexual advice literature reveals a profoundly gendered construction of male & female roles within heterosexual relations. Texts from the opening years of the twentieth century stressed the duty of the husband to court & woo his wife & fulfill two distinct responsibilities: first, to arouse his wife & second, to control his climax. This gendered model of male as initiator & tutor & female as responding student has proved remarkably persistent throughout the twentieth century. The period between the two World Wars was decisive for the formation of modern heterosexuality. Shifts in the prevailing sexual knowledge induced significant changes in the normative prescriptions which responsibilized husbands for ensuring the sexual pleasure of their wives. The "sexual revolution" of the 1960s weakened the link between sex & marriage as demonstrated, for example, in the shift from "marriage" manuals to "sex manuals" & the increasingly hedonistic quest for mutual sexual pleasure through an emphasis on technique & the relocation of sex into the realm of consumption. In addition, the new sexology of Kinsey & Masters & Johnson insisted on the existence of strong female sexual desire equal to that of men. However, the underlying discourse emphasized polar differences between the sexes. The HIV/AIDS crisis has continued to advance themes of responsibilization, normalization & moralization where the new pattern of sexual advice moved decisively toward themes of "risk" & "safety" through the discourse of safer sex. References. Adapted from the source document.