Shaping Sexual Behaviors & Sexual Scripts

Open Access: Yes.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore young women’s experiences of pornography and how they believe pornography has affected both themselves and other adolescents in terms of sexuality and sexual experiences. Seven young women aged 17–18 years were interviewed and their narratives were analyzed through thematic analysis. The results show that the participants’ pornography consumption has at times evoked feelings of shame in relation to their official feminist stance. Moreover, they all report experiences of being pressured to adopt a “supporting role” in sex and to perform in line with a narrow pornographic script, thus compromising their wish to enjoy sex and enact sexual agency. It is also evident how the participants have struggled to navigate through the conflicting positions that are available within a postfeminist culture, for instance in relation to feminism, heterosexual gender norms, and the strong ideal of being an “agent” in sex. In the pursuit of young women’s healthy sexual development, the results highlight the need for safe female venues, a relational understanding of agency, cultural change rather than individualized responsibility, porn literacy training, and the advancement of broader sexual scripts.

Relevance

“While all the participants agree that pornography is unethical and shameful, they have all been consumers of it.”

The young women in the study “use pornography as a frame of reference for their own and their partner’s sexual actions and performances. Typically, this “pornographic script” is based on gender stereotypes and includes various elements of male domination and female subordination… this leads to “normative sex” based on the restrictive ideals of pornography, where female pleasure is supposed to be expressed mostly for the sake of the man’s confidence and where there are limited opportunities for communication or consent.”

“The participants repeatedly describe how mainstream pornography shows the extremes of gender roles: the man as dominant, aggressive, and beastly, and the woman as submissive, willing, and sexualized, subordinate to the man and his pleasure. All the participants also expressed how the conveyed messages that come with consuming pornography affect their own sexual experiences negatively.”

“The participants all described how their own experiences match  mainstream pornography in that consent is not part of the sexual routine.”

“Despite the supposed sexual liberation of women, there has been an increase in the normative burden on women. On one hand, women are supposed to act as strong agents, and to be in command of their sexual behavior, all in keeping with the values of feminism…  On the other hand, in order to form and maintain sexual relationships, young women are pressured to conform to traditional gender norms” which are “sometimes in accordance with the pornographic script.”

“It is essential that sex educators do not shy away from addressing young women’s experiences of pornography at a fairly young age.” They need to teach young people “porn literacy.” Moreover, “Young women also need to be supported in understanding how the neoliberal or postfeminist emphasis on individual responsibility often obscures the social conditions of sexual actions, such as those implied in the dominant pornographic script.”

Citation