Increasing our Understanding of Women’s Sexuality

Abstract

I have been reading and writing about sexuality in later life for the past 15 years (Wade and DeLamater, 2002: DeLamater and Koepsel 2015). A growing number of papers reporting results from large-scale surveys in the U. S. have appeared since 1999 (AARP 1999; Lindau, et al. 2007; Herbenick, et al. 2010). These papers systematically report results by gender (binary), sometimes highlighting similarities, sometimes differences. Such reports often leave me wondering Bwhat do these results mean?^ What are the psychological, emotional, and relationship realities that underlie, for example, the difference in sexual satisfaction reported by married men and women? If similar questions interest you, read this book. Montemurro addresses a basic question about female sexuality: how dowomen develop a sense of sexual subjectivity, a sense of Bpossessing agency in sexual interactions,^ Bbeing a willing and eager participant in sexual encounters,^ and Bfeeling in control of sexual decision making^ (p. 4). This question has been addressed by several researchers in studies of adolescent women, including Martin (1996), Tolman (2002), and Schalet (2011); Montemurro expands the focus to adult women ages 20 to 68. She posits that this development occurs over time, perhaps a lifetime; hence the subtitle Bsexual evolution.^ She understands that whether a woman has a sense of her subjectivity can be influenced by a variety of events and transitions that may occur in women’s lives – the circumstances surrounding virginity loss, sexual assault, marriage, pregnancy and childbirth, divorce, menopause, extra dyadic relationships. She adopts the life-course perspective to provide a framework that encompasses this diversity, specifically the Gendered Sexuality over the Life Course (GSLC) model (Carpenter and DeLamater 2012). To study the impact of these transitions across the life course, Montemurro purposively sampled an equal number of women from the northeastern U.S. in their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s. She began recruiting by asking women she knew to recommend women of appropriate age; interviewees were asked to recommend other women. She also recruited by posting notices in a variety of settings. She focused on heterosexual women. Participants were diverse in race/ethnicity, self-reported SES, education, and marital and parental status. An Appendix provides detailed information on each of the 95 participants. In-depth face-to-face interviews, averaging one and one-half hours, were conducted with each one. An important, original contribution of the book is the sixstage model of the development of sexual subjectivity that Montemurro presents. The model is based on her careful analysis of the life experiences reported by participants. The stages are: