Strategizing to Make Pornography Worthwhile: A Qualitative Exploration of Women's Agentic Engagement with Sexual Media.

Strategizing to Make Pornography Worthwhile: A Qualitative Exploration of Women's Agentic Engagement with Sexual Media.
Arch Sex Behav. 2018 Mar 01;:
Authors: Chadwick SB, Raisanen JC, Goldey KL, van Anders S
Abstract
Women often expect to encounter negative, problematic content when they consume pornography, yet many women use and enjoy pornography anyway. Some research has centered content type (e.g., sexist/violent vs. nonsexist/women-focused) as a key determinant of women's pornography experiences, but this precludes the notion that women are active, engaged consumers of pornography and minimizes women's role in shaping their own experiences. In the present study, we explored how a sample of sexually diverse women in the U.S. (aged 18-64; N = 73) worked toward positive experiences with pornography via active negotiation with negative content, using a secondary analysis of focus group data on women's sexual pleasure. We found that, although women often experienced pornography as risky, many women used it anyway and actively employed strategies to increase the likelihood of having a positive experience. Women's strategies were similar across sexual identity and age groups, but the heteronormative, youth-oriented portrayals of sexuality in mainstream pornography presented unique concerns for heterosexual, queer, and older women. Results have implications for how women can be conceptualized as active, rather than passive, consumers...

Source: Archives of Sexual Behavior - March 1, 2018 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Chadwick SB, Raisanen JC, Goldey KL, van Anders S Tags: Arch Sex Behav Source Type: research