A discourse analysis of male sexuality in the magazine <I>Intimacy</I>

Abstract

BackgroundThe World Health Organization's publication, Developing sexual health programmes, states that the media is an important source of information about sexuality. Although the media can promote awareness of sexual health issues, it also acts as a vehicle for defining and regulating sex norms. In other words, the standards of ‘normal’ sex are in part defined by the media. Accordingly, it has become imperative to analyse the media's construction of sexual norms in order to reveal how they are related to specific ideological views. For the purposes of this study, the focus will be limited to analysing the South African publication Intimacy.AimThe study aims to reveal how the sex advice articles written in Intimacy for women in regard to their male partner's sexuality reflect patriarchal and phallocentric ideologies.MethodA discourse analysis of the sex advice articles in the magazine Intimacy was conducted. It was informed by feminist theories of sexuality that seek to examine the ways in which texts are associated with male-centred versions of sexual pleasure.ResultsThe discourse analysis identified a number of key themes regarding male sexuality. These include: (1) biological accounts of male sexuality; (2) phallocentric scripting of the sex act; and (3) the melodramatic penis.ConclusionConstructions of male sexuality require the inclusion of alternative modes of male erotic pleasure. This requires texts that encourage men to explore and also to experiment with pleasurable feelings associated with non-genital erogenous zones of the body.

Women’s Experiences of Vulvodynia: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of the Journey Toward Diagnosis

“…This is in keeping with the previous literature which highlights clinicians’ often androcentric views of sexuality (Du Plessis, 2015; Maines, 1999), suggesting that physicians may instruct female patients on values, morals, and sexual behavior (Gannon, 1998), which is further supported by the experiences of participants in the current study. Many of the women reported experiencing shame and stigma surrounding sexual health in the context of the healthcare system and, in some cases, suggestions that their sexuality was unseemly, or only for the purpose of child-bearing, or the pleasure of men, demonstrating that consistent with the feminist literature of the 1990s (Krieger & Fee, 1994), women’s needs continue to be viewed in the context of maternal and child health, ignoring the other multifaceted and individualized needs of women.…”

“…Historically, women’s health has been predominantly concerned with women as wives and mothers, with women’s needs assumed to be met by maternal and child health programs, with less attention paid to women’s non-reproductive health (Krieger & Fee, 1994). Feminist sexology literature reveals that the medical profession has been characterized by phallocentrism and constructed within androcentric views of sexuality (Maines, 1999), particularly in regard to sex whereby “real” sex equals penetration of the vagina by the penis (coitus), placing this particular sexual act as central to “normal” heterosex (McPhillips et al, 2001; Maines, 1999), as well viewing penile erections as the essence of male sexuality and satisfaction, and the expectation of female submission to provide pleasure and meet the sexual as well as the emotional needs of men (Du Plessis, 2015). As such, feminist sexology literature demonstrates how these factors impact upon women’s experience of sexuality by restricting women’s sexuality to a framework that is inflexible and limited in possibilities to penetration.…”

Women’s Subjective Experiences of Living with Vulvodynia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Ethnography

“…There are several key areas which would be useful to visit here, including: the coital imperative, phallocentrism, and patriarchal ideologies (Du Plessis, 2015 ; Exner, Dworkin, Hoffman, & Ehrhardt, 2003 ; McPhillips, Braun, & Gavey, 2001 ), the hydraulic male sex drive assumption (explained below) (Gavey, McPhillips, & Doherty, 2001 ; Vitellone, 2000 ), the negating medical profession, and the medicalization of women’s bodies (Marken, 1996 ; Tiefer, 2001 ).…”

“…The “coital imperative” is the notion that “real” sex equals penetration of the vagina by the penis (coitus) and it places this particular sexual act as central to “normal” heterosex (Jackson, 1984 ; McPhillips et al, 2001 ). “Phallocentrism” and “patriarchal ideologies” in this area have been defined in feminist sexology research as, respectively, viewing penile erections as the essence of male sexuality and satisfaction, and the expectation of female submission to provide pleasure and meet the sexual as well as the emotional needs of men (Du Plessis, 2015 ). Feminist sexology research provides examples of how each of these factors can impact upon women’s experience of sexuality, often in a limiting way.…”

“…For example, while reviewing sexology literature into HIV and AIDS prevention, Exner et al ( 2003 ) highlighted several detrimental narratives surrounding sex, including men as sexual initiators and orchestrators (Byers, 1996 ) and a universal sexual double standard that gives men greater sexual freedom and rights of sexual determination than women (Blanc, 2001 ), both of which contribute to prohibiting women from owning their own sexuality and asserting their own needs or desires (Segal, 1994 ). Moreover, feminist sexology research has begun to examine the way in which the media have replaced traditional regulators of sexual practice (historically religious leaders) as the authority on normal sexual practice (Du Plessis, 2015 ). Specifically, Du Plessis, using discourse analysis, concluded in an examination of media outlets that the media are still underpinned by patriarchal notions of male sexuality which limit both male and female sexuality to predefined gender relation such as the penis as an icon of sexual pleasure for both men and women; “real” sex equals penile–vaginal penetration and anything other than this is “foreplay” and therefore of secondary importance; men have a “need” for sex that is biological and innate and women are obliged to satisfy it, which all restrict women’s sexuality to a framework that is inflexible and limited in possibilities.…”