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Oral Sex, Young People, and Gendered Narratives of Reciprocity

Young people in many countries report gender differences in giving and receiving oral sex, yet examination of young people’s own perspectives on gender dynamics in oral heterosex are relatively rare. We explored the constructs and discourses 16- to 18-year-old men and women in England used in their...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Lewis, Ruth, Marston, Cicely
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Routledge 2016
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4960515/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26849152
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2015.1117564
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author Lewis, Ruth
Marston, Cicely
author_facet Lewis, Ruth
Marston, Cicely
author_sort Lewis, Ruth
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description Young people in many countries report gender differences in giving and receiving oral sex, yet examination of young people’s own perspectives on gender dynamics in oral heterosex are relatively rare. We explored the constructs and discourses 16- to 18-year-old men and women in England used in their accounts of oral sex during in-depth interviews. Two contrasting constructs were in circulation in the accounts: on one hand, oral sex on men and women was narrated as equivalent, while on the other, oral sex on women was seen as “a bigger deal” than oral sex on men. Young men and women used a “give and take” discourse, which constructed the mutual exchange of oral sex as “fair.” Appeals to an ethic of reciprocity in oral sex enabled women to present themselves as demanding equality in their sexual interactions, and men as supporting mutuality. However, we show how these ostensibly positive discourses about equality also worked in narratives to obscure women’s constrained agency and work with respect to giving oral sex.
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spelling pubmed-49605152016-08-05 Oral Sex, Young People, and Gendered Narratives of Reciprocity Lewis, Ruth Marston, Cicely J Sex Res Articles Young people in many countries report gender differences in giving and receiving oral sex, yet examination of young people’s own perspectives on gender dynamics in oral heterosex are relatively rare. We explored the constructs and discourses 16- to 18-year-old men and women in England used in their accounts of oral sex during in-depth interviews. Two contrasting constructs were in circulation in the accounts: on one hand, oral sex on men and women was narrated as equivalent, while on the other, oral sex on women was seen as “a bigger deal” than oral sex on men. Young men and women used a “give and take” discourse, which constructed the mutual exchange of oral sex as “fair.” Appeals to an ethic of reciprocity in oral sex enabled women to present themselves as demanding equality in their sexual interactions, and men as supporting mutuality. However, we show how these ostensibly positive discourses about equality also worked in narratives to obscure women’s constrained agency and work with respect to giving oral sex. Routledge 2016-09-01 2016-02-05 /pmc/articles/PMC4960515/ /pubmed/26849152 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2015.1117564 Text en Published with license by Taylor & Francis This is an Open Access article. Non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly attributed, cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way, is permitted. The moral rights of the named author(s) have been asserted.
spellingShingle Articles
Lewis, Ruth
Marston, Cicely
Oral Sex, Young People, and Gendered Narratives of Reciprocity
title Oral Sex, Young People, and Gendered Narratives of Reciprocity
title_full Oral Sex, Young People, and Gendered Narratives of Reciprocity
title_fullStr Oral Sex, Young People, and Gendered Narratives of Reciprocity
title_full_unstemmed Oral Sex, Young People, and Gendered Narratives of Reciprocity
title_short Oral Sex, Young People, and Gendered Narratives of Reciprocity
title_sort oral sex, young people, and gendered narratives of reciprocity
topic Articles
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4960515/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26849152
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2015.1117564
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