The Gendered Nature of Sexual Scripts

Abstract

Social scripting theory points to the fact that much of sexual behavior seems to follow a script. Similar to scripts that stage actors use to guide their behavior, social scripts instruct members of a society as to appropriate behavior and the meanings to attach to certain behaviors. In Western cultures, scripts for sexual activity are markedly different for males and females. In this article, the goals are to provide (a) an introduction to social scripting theory, (b) an exploration of the ways and potential reasons sexual scripts differ by gender, and (c) a discussion of ways that a social scripting perspective can be applied to work with individuals and couples experiencing sexual problems.

Eating concerns, body dissatisfaction, thinness internalization and antifat attitudes and their relationship with gender ideology in a sample of men

“…According to these authors, women tend to focus on their own weight and body and therefore to become fearful of developing weight problems, while men pay attention to slimness in other's bodies to appreciate it or to criticize it, as in the case of obese people. In other words, men judge bodies and women are judged by their bodies (Wiederman, 2005). As a matter of fact, it has been found that men report greater antifat attitudes than women (Crandall, 1994).…”

What’s on Sale? A Discourse Analysis of Four Distinctive Online Escort Advertisement Websites

“…Masculine gender roles have long dictated power, general independence, assertiveness and exploration. Whereas feminine gender roles command ideals of behavioural restraint and personal control (Lippa 2001;Oliver and Hyde 1993;Wiederman 2005).…”

Predictors of Sexual Scripts Among Young, Sexually-Active, Substance- Using African American Women

“…face-to-face meetings. Codes were collapsed into themes informed by Wingood's focus of Connell's TGP on the powerless of AA women in sexual decision making [44][45][46]66] and Stephen and Phillip focus on female's sexual script development research of AA women [36,[50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60]. The research team then conducted a frequency analysis on emerging themes using NVIVO11 and Microsoft Excel software.…”

“…Stephens and Phillips' focus of females' sexual script development research with AA women explores ways culture shapes perception, expression of appropriate and socially acceptable sexual behavior, individual level expectations, and experiences of behaviors that occur in series [49] within a population at high risk for HIV [36,[50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60]. The SST articulates the way sexual scripts provide instructions (i.e., a roadmap) for clarifying the intention and meaning of sexual cues and responding to them, which in turn informs how men and women behave in sexual situations [50,51,[60][61][62][63].…”

“…The SST articulates the way sexual scripts provide instructions (i.e., a roadmap) for clarifying the intention and meaning of sexual cues and responding to them, which in turn informs how men and women behave in sexual situations [50,51,[60][61][62][63]. Sexual scripts in Western culture sometimes support women in heterosexual relationships to defer to the male partner for sexual decision making, resulting in situations where women are vulnerable to the decisions made by their male counterparts [51,63,64].…”