You Couldn't Say “No”, Could You?’

Young Men's Understandings of Sexual Refusal

Dados Bibliográficos

ID12260554
AutoresRachael O’Byrne (Murdoch University, autor correspondente), Rachael O'Byrne (Murdoch University), Mark Rapley (Edith Cowan University, autor correspondente), Susan Hansen (0000-0002-5530-7056, Murdoch University, autor correspondente)
Ano2006
Volume16
Fascículo2
Páginas133-154
Data de publicação2006-04-20
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoFeminism & Psychology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0959-3535 • E-ISSN: 1461-7161
EditoraSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0959-353506062970
OpenAlexW2124600760
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas72
Referências citadas42

While several psychological theories of rape have been developed, Tannen's ‘ miscommunication’ model is dominant, informing ‘expert’ and popular accounts alike. Rape is constructed as an extreme example of miscommunication – whereby women's ‘failure’ to say ‘no’ is interpreted by men as sexual consent. Kitzinger and Frith have demonstrated that young women have an implicit understanding of the normative interactional structure of refusal, and it is this that explains their difficulty in ‘just saying no’ to unwanted sex. However, Kitzinger and Frith's study could not demonstrate, but only argue, that young men share this sophisticated understanding, such that women saying ‘no’ should not be necessary to refuse sexual intimacy. Here we extend Kitzinger and Frith's study, via the analysis of data from two focus groups held with young men. We demonstrate that, as Kitzinger and Frith suggested, men not only do have a refined ability to hear verbal refusals that do not contain the word ‘no’, but also – and importantly – an equally refined ability to ‘hear’ the subtlest of non-verbal sexual refusals

Developmental psychology · Epistemology · Frith · Linguistics · Normative · Gender, Feminism, and Media · Psychology · Sexual Assault and Victimization Studies · Sexuality, Behavior, and Technology · Social Psychology