Surveying sexualities: Internet research with non-heterosexuals

In this article we describe and evaluate the process of conducting online survey research about the legal recognition of same-sex relationships (key findings from which we have reported elsewhere, see Harding and Peel, 2006). Our aim in so doing is to contribute to the growing generic literature on internet-based research methods (Nosek et al., 2002; Rhodes et al., 2003; Stern, 2003; Strickland et al., 2003; Thomas et al., 2000) to the research methods literature within lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer (LGBTQ) psychologies (Fish, 2000; Morris and Rothblum, 1999; Meezan and Martin, 2003; Mustanski, 2001) and also to extend the germinal literature focusing on internet research with non-heterosexual groups (Elford et al., 2004; Ellis et al., 2003; Ross et al., 2000). We begin by discussing the process of developing the online survey tool, before outlining the experience of the survey ‘going live’ and providing details of who completed the survey. We conclude by exploring some of the positives and pitfalls of this type of research methodology.

Contraception and heterosex: an intimate relationship

Whilst the importance of contraception within heterosex has long been accepted, particularly in relation to the prevention of HIV/AIDS, the way in which the use, or non-use, of contraception re/constructs heterosexual encounters themselves has had far less attention. The embodied nature of both the risk of pregnancy, and most contraceptive technologies leads women to assert a right to bodily autonomy. Yet this assertion conflicts with their expectation of equitable coupledom within heterosexuality and their routine consideration of men’s preferences. This article will argue that the use of contraception is an intricate part of heterosexual practices, and shows how normative ideas about heterosexuality leave men as appearing as an absent presence within women’s contraceptive decisions.

Who are you sleeping with? The construction of heteronormativity in stories about sleep in British newspapers

In popular British understanding the terms 'sleeping' or 'slept' are often used to mean sex, and (hetero)sex is seen as crucial to sustaining intimate relationships. This study of UK newspapers coverage shows that stories about sieep and sleeping arrangements can be seen to (re)produce heteronormativity through focusing on the (heterosexual) 'marital bed'. The 'marital bed' is constructed as both the physical and symbolic centre of successful heterosexual relationships. Moreover, the maintenance of this symbolic space is gendered with women given primary responsibility. The focus on the 'marital bed' helps to exclude non-heterosexuals from the idea of intimate relationships, by effectively silencing their experiences of sleep and sleeping arrangements. Normative ideas about male and female (hetero)sexualities are drawn on to undermine women's right to refuse sex within the martial bed. In addition, the term 'sleep-sex' is used to reconceptualise stories of rape, minimising the victim's experiences and absolve the perpetrator from full responsibility for the assault. By exploring these articles we can see both how the representation of the organisation of sleep is produced through heteronormativity, as well as how heteronormativity determines whose accounts of sleeping are prioritised. © Sociological Research Online.

(S)excerpts from a Life Told:sex, gender and learning lisability

This is an article about Sarah’s sexual teenage journey, seen through the lens of her mother, the author. It tackles learning disability, sexual experimentation, education, governance and responsibility. By using an autoethnographical method the article speaks personally to these intimate lived experiences and yet broadly and contextually these issues can give further insight into the difficult social processes that permeate surveillance and control, of sexual activity amongst a particular group of adults (young, learning disabled), by way of legal practice and sex education; family practices and the negotiation of power and control over sexual activity; and sexual citizenship and rights to a sexual identity.

Moving beyond heterosexism? The good, the bad and the indifferent in accounts of others’ reactions to important life events

Latterly the psychology of sexualities has diversified. There has been increased engagement with queer theory and a heightened focus on sexual practices alongside continued interrogation of heteronormativity via analyses of talk-in-interaction. In this article, I offer an argument for juxtaposing the incongruent in order to further interrogate manifestations of heterosexism in lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer (LGBTQ) people’s lives. In this case, accounts of others’ reactions to a happy event and to a sad experience. By drawing on two contrasting data corpuses – 124 people planning or in a civil partnership and 60 women who had experienced pregnancy loss – there is increased potential for understanding variation in ‘normative’ and/or heteronormative interpretations of LGBTQ lives. I suggest that, despite significant legal and structural gains for LGBTQ communities in a number of Western countries in recent years, and lively internal debates within the psychology of sexualities field, critical examination of manifestations of heterosexism should remain a central focus.

Dancing for women:subverting heteronormativity in a lesbian erotic dance space?

This article utilises participant observation, interview and collaborative visual data, collected with women erotic dancers, management and customers, to ascertain how far heteronormativity is subverted in a UK lesbian leisure space, Lippy (the name is a pseudonym), which provides erotic dance for women customers. The potential for a female 'gaze', the 'normativity' of gendered and sexualised bodies, and the notion of a 'women's space' are taken as areas for analysis. Women's engagement with erotic dance is complex, and this article examines the connections between sexual agency and gendered power relations, questioning how far women can exercise autonomous sexual expression in commercial sexual encounters. © The Author(s) 2012.

A 'sexy space' for women? Heterosexual women's experiences of a male strip show venue

The rise of male strip shows marketed towards heterosexual women has called into question the idea that only men can 'gaze' or be 'sexual scrutinizers' in public leisure spaces. This paper details the findings of an ethnographic study of a male strip event 'Cheeky's',1 located in the Midlands, England. Utilising observation, informal interviews and photography, the paper describes the physical environment and the atmosphere of the event, and analyses interview data with female customers. The paper questions what spaces such as Cheeky's mean for female sexualities, sexual roles and desires. The findings are twofold. On the one hand the club was a relatively novel sexual space, as some women spectators experienced it as an 'empowering' space in which they could be 'sexually aggressive'; on the other hand, the character of the club was actively and adeptly manufactured by the Master of Ceremonies (MC), and male dancers, so as to encourage - and even to coercively elicit - extrovert behaviour from women customers. Despite shifting normative gendered expectations of women's sexual behaviour to some extent, ultimately the club structured women's sexual experiences around traditional heterosexist lines. The club did not encourage women's autonomous sexual expression, and many women claimed they had not found it a very 'sexy space'. © 2011 Taylor & Francis.

Co-constructed caring research and intellectual disability:an exploration of friendship, intimacy and being human

For this paper, emotional and socio-political questions lie at the heart of relationships in understanding intellectual disability and what it is to be a human. While the sexual and intimate is more often than not based on a private and personal relationship with the self and (an)other, the sexual and intimate life of intellectually disabled people is more often a ‘public’ affair governed by parents and/or carers, destabilizing what we might consider ethical and caring practices. In the socio-political sphere, as an all-encompassing ‘care space’, social intolerance and aversion to difficult differences are played out, impacting upon the intimate lives of intellectually disabled people. As co-researchers (one intellectually disabled and one ‘non-disabled’), we discuss narratives from a small scale research project and our personal reflections. In sociological research and more specifically within disability research it is clear that we need to keep sex and intimacy on the agenda, yet also find ways of doing research in a meaningful, caring and co-constructed way.