ABSTRACT

Although sexual refusal can be a complex, face-threatening interpersonal exchange, the nuances of these encounters are often overlooked by sexual and consent education messages. To examine this phenomenon more closely, the current study analyzed emerging adult college women’s descriptions of past sexual refusal episodes to better understand how they frame their sexual refusal experiences in terms of face needs and risks, and the cultural roles and scripts are reflected in the descriptions of sexual refusal. Two primary frames emerged through the analysis: Refusal as successful and refusal as failure. Thematic characteristics within each frame are examined in terms of politeness theory and face needs, as well as the broader cultural sexual scripts that impact norms surrounding who, how, when, and if sexual refusal can occur. Theoretical implications include consideration of how the discourse of U.S. sexual consent education emerges in the findings, the limitations of politeness theory in understanding sexual refusal, and suggest alternative theoretical approaches.

摘要

尽管性拒绝可能是一种复杂的、威胁面子的人际交流，但这些接触的细微差别常常被性和同意教育信息所忽视。为了更仔细地检验这一现象，本研究分析了新兴的成年大学女性对过去性拒绝事件的描述，以更好地了解她们如何从面子需求和风险方面构建自己的性拒绝经历，并且文化角色和脚本反映在描述中性拒绝。通过分析出现了两个主要框架：拒绝成功和拒绝失败。每个框架内的主题特征都根据礼貌理论和面子需求以及影响围绕谁、如何、何时以及是否可能发生性拒绝的规范的更广泛的文化性脚本进行检查。