Women’s constructions of heterosex and sexual embodiment after cancer

Bibliographic Data

ID12259488
AuthorsChloe Parton (0000-0002-7698-7265, Western Sydney University, corresponding author), Jane M Ussher (0000-0002-2128-0019, Western Sydney University), Janette Perz (0000-0003-2065-8662, Western Sydney University)
Year2016
Volume27
Issue3
Pages298-317
Publication date2016-12-18
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueFeminism & Psychology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0959-3535 • E-ISSN: 1461-7161
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0959353516674493
OpenAlexW2744846811
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited43

The significant impact of cancer on women’s sexual well-being has been acknowledged increasingly within research. However, the role of cultural discourse in shaping women’s construction and embodied experience of sexuality has received less attention. In this study, we examined heterosexual women’s constructions of sexual embodiment in the context of cancer. Sixteen women across a range of ages (20–71 years), cancer types and stages took part in in-depth semi-structured interviews. A thematic decomposition analysis was conducted on the interview transcripts, drawing on feminist poststructuralist theory. A main theme was identified in which the women took up subject positions of “Embodying sexuality” and “Embodying the absence of sexuality”. Accounts of “Embodying sexuality” included “Experiencing bodily ease during sex” and “Managing a dysfunctional body during sex”. The women’s positioning of “Embodying the absence of sexuality” included “Asexuality and the absence of desire” and “Unsuccessful attempts to renegotiate sex”. Women’s intrapsychic negotiation of sexual and gendered discourse, the materiality of embodied change and relationship context influenced their constructions of sexual subjectivity. These findings indicate a need for researchers and clinicians to acknowledge cultural discourses of sex and gender that shape the possibilities and constraints for women’s sexual well-being after cancer

Aesthetics · Context (archaeology · Developmental psychology · Embodied cognition · Human sexuality · Materiality (auditing · Narrative · Qualitative research · Sexual desire · Sociology · Subjectivity · Thematic analysis · Anthropology · Cancer survivorship and care · Family Support in Illness · Gender Studies · History · LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy · Psychology · Social Psychology

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