Psychology & Sexuality ( IF 2.344 ) Pub Date : 2021-01-07 , DOI: 10.1080/19419899.2021.1871775 Breanne Fahs 1
ABSTRACT
While some researchers have studied the spread of sexually-transmitted infections and diseases (STIs and STDs), little attention has been paid to the subjective narratives of how women assess sexual safety and the possibility of contracting STIs when having sex with partners. This study analysed semi-structured interviews with twenty women from a diverse 2014 community sample collected in a large Southwestern U.S. city in order to examine how women assess safety and danger in partners with regard to their sexual health. I identified five themes in how women described assessing their risk for contracting an STI: 1) Avoidance and refusal to ask; 2) Intuiting safety or ‘just feeling’ they are STI-free; 3) Verbally asking and trusting their responses; 4) Checking for physical signs of STIs; 5) Asking that a partner get tested. Tensions about sexual health knowledge, entitlement to ask for proof of a partner’s STI status, and the gendered power dimensions of sexual health and sexual risk-taking are discussed. Ultimately, women’s overwhelming lack of effective measures to ensure their own sexual health and safety are put into conversation with discourses of sexual (dis)empowerment.
中文翻译:
“我只是告诉自己没关系”:美国女性关于性安全的叙述以及她们如何评估性传播感染的风险
摘要
虽然一些研究人员研究了性传播感染和疾病(性传播感染和性病)的传播,但很少有人关注女性如何评估性安全以及与伴侣发生性关系时感染性传播感染的可能性的主观叙述。本研究分析了对 2014 年在美国西南部一个大城市收集的多元化社区样本中的 20 名女性进行的半结构化访谈,以检查女性如何评估伴侣在性健康方面的安全和危险。我确定了女性如何评估她们感染性传播感染风险的五个主题:1)回避和拒绝询问;2)直觉安全或“只是感觉”他们没有性病;3) 口头询问并相信他们的回答;4) 检查性传播感染的体征;5) 要求合作伙伴接受测试。讨论了有关性健康知识的紧张局势、要求提供伴侣 STI 状态证明的权利以及性健康和性冒险的性别权力维度。最终,女性绝大多数缺乏有效措施来确保自己的性健康和安全,这与性(去)赋权的话语相提并论。