Peer-Reviewed Journal Details
Mandatory Fields
OCONNOR, P
1995
May
Sociological Review
Understanding variation in marital sexual pleasure: an impossible task?
Published
()
Optional Fields
43
2
342
362
Over the past twenty years, sociologists have begun to explore the social and cultural context within which sexual relationships are constructed and in Western society, given such importance. However, although it is commonly recognised that the contraceptive pill has changed the meaning of sexuality (Giddens, 1992; Ferguson, 1989) comparatively little attention has been paid to locating the level of pleasure married women derive from marital sex within the situational, structural and cultural parameters of their lives. The material in this paper is based on intensive interviews with 60 married women, aged 20-42 years old and randomly selected from the records of general medical practitioners in North London. The paper indicates that methodological squeamishness about the viability of a study of sexual pleasure is unwarranted. It shows that only just over one third of these respondents had a high level of sexual pleasure on the scale devised in the study (weighted kappa = .89). For the most part, such pleasure was not associated with other aspects of the marital relationship. Drawing on illustrative material, it locates such pleasure within the context of their marital and family situation and suggests future lines of enquiry.
0038-0261
Grant Details