Sexual Scripts Research Articles

In the Defense of Punks and Monsters: Julia Ducournau and Titane

Abstract: In 2021, Fémis-educated, punk-looking director Julia Ducournau made history when she became the second woman to receive the Palme d'Or for her second film, Titane . A trembling Ducournau thanked the jury for "avoir laissé entrer les monstres." Titane , a cyberpunk/black comedy/fairy tale film, shakes the spectator out of the comfort of mainstream—cisgender, middle-class—culture and cinema and of predictable horror films. This article will first focus on understanding Alexia's character and show that her "monstrosity" is a reaction to the patriarchal order and normative gender roles against which she rebels. We will see how Ducournau stages a "sexual script" outside hetero- and homonormative limits and how she envisions free, fluid love before examining how, using a Christic subtext, albeit in a punk, transgressive manner, she proposes a truly inclusive, caring society.

Sexual Violence Scripts: Comparison of Indonesian Films with United

Sexual Violence Scripts: Comparison of Indonesian Films with United

“But Everything Else, I Learned Online”: School-Based and Internet-Based Sexual Learning Experiences of Heterosexual and LGBQ + Youth

Building upon scholarship on sex education, our research aims to understand how youth with a range of sexual identities have experienced school-based sex education, how they have explored sexual content online, and how they see the two in relation to each other. We thus ask: (1) How do youth with varied sexual identities recall experiencing formal school-based sex education from elementary through high school offerings? (2) How do heterosexual and LGBQ + youth utilize the Internet and social media sites for sexual learning? Through in-depth interviews with college students, we find that heterosexual and LGBQ + youth report that formal sex education was both limited and heteronormative; LGBQ + youth felt particularly unprepared for sexual experiences and health hygiene, and sometimes found ways to translate the information provided for their own needs. Despite some overall similarities in online sexual explorations, experiences of online sexual learning proved quite divergent for youth of different sexual identities. Heterosexual youth were likely to search for information on sexual pleasure and entertainment; in contrast, LGBQ + youth sought information to fill in knowledge gaps about non-conforming sexualities, and often used the digital space for identity discovery, confirmation, and affirmation. For both groups, online explorations interacted with offline ones through a back-and-forth in which youth tested out in one arena what they had learned in the other. These findings highlight the dynamic interaction between formal school curriculum, informal online sexual learning, and sexual scripts, identities and practices.

“Too weak to fight, too scared to scream”: Understanding experiences of sexual coercion of Black female adolescents through digital storytelling

Black female adolescents are less frequently viewed as victims of violence or as agents of resistance. This study analyzed the experiences of sexual coercion of Black female adolescents on the South Side of Chicago through narrative scripts used to create digital stories. Using Sexual Script Theory and applying an intersectional lens, we analyzed a collection of 46 narrative transcripts from Black female youth, living on the South Side of Chicago, five of which specifically focused on the theme of sexual coercion. Under the broader theme of sexual coercion, the following subthemes were identified: (1) broken expectations of romance, (2) sex as a means of seeking attention from a male partner, (3) sex as a means of maintaining a partner, and (4) rape. By better understanding the social context of relationships for Black adolescent girls in heterosexual relationships, we may be able to better design sexual and reproductive health interventions for young women of color.

Men's Narratives of Sexual Intimate Partner Violence in Urban Mwanza, Northwestern Tanzania.

Engaging men has been established as central in addressing intimate partner violence. Yet few studies on intimate partner violence explored men's perspectives on what constitutes sexual violence in relationships only. To explore how men conceptualize sexual violence, we engaged a qualitative approach to unpack men's narratives of sexual IPV. The study was conducted in Mwanza, Tanzania using in-depth interviews with 30 married men. Men shared a broad spectrum of unacceptable behaviors that clearly or potentially connote sexual violence. Some of the acts were deemed to constitute sexual violence when directed to both men and women, while some were perceived as sexual violence when directed to women or men only. Threatened manhood underpinned men's conceptualization of sexual violence against them by their partners. Although a large part of men's narratives of sexual violence towards women seemed to challenge the common sexual scripts existing in patriarchal societies, some of their accounts indicated the persistence of traditional presumptions of masculine sexual entitlement. Our findings uncover additional dimensions of sexual violence that go beyond what is included in the current global frameworks, underscoring the critical need of giving people a voice in their local contexts in defining what sexual intimate partner violence entails for them. This may increase the likelihood of interventions becoming more acceptable and effective when targeting sexual violence, thereby contributing to reduced levels of sexual intimate partner violence.

A New Flight from Womanhood? The Importance of Working Through Experiences Related to Exposure to Pornographic Content in Girls Affected by Gender Dysphoria

Parallel to the advent of social media and the easy access to online pornographic content there is a sharp increase in adolescent females expressing gender dysphoria worldwide. This paper argues that treatment of gender dysphoria in female adolescents must include explicit exploration into their use and exchange of pornographic content, as well as possible online or offline contacts with adults. Possible avenues of how pornographic content may increase the shame and fear of becoming a woman include the acquisition of misogynistic sexual scripts based on false assumptions on sexuality including the normalization of the violation of females as pleasurable for them, peer influence among female friendship groups, the susceptibility of our medical systems to “mass hysteria” phenomena, easier access of adults with sexually abusive intentions to youth through social media, sexual abuse and victim blaming on females, as well as the influence of pornography on mentalization capacities. As the influence of pornography on gender dysphoria in girls is understudied, this paper provides questions for qualitative and quantitative research, case studies and history taking. Especially the lack of an adequate other during exposure may aggravate false assumptions on gender roles and gender inequality seen in mainstream pornography. Girls affected by autism might be at higher risk because of their reduced mentalization capacities. Working through experiences associated with pornographic content and sexually abusive experiences may correct false beliefs about gender inequality and therefore might alleviate gender dysphoria.

Iranian women’s sexual reconstruction through the internet: Informal education and empowerment

The emergence of the internet offered a unique space for Iranian women to inquire about their personal autonomy, including sexual autonomy. While the internet accelerated Iranian women’s emancipation from sexual subordination, critical questions concerning the impact of socio-cultural mores on this relatively new experience remain convoluted. Grounded in critical feminist and sexual script theoretical frameworks, this research investigates some Iranian women’s comprehension and experience of sexual autonomy by closely exploring the educational role of the internet on the discourse of sexual autonomy and its interconnection with the Iranian culture of shame and silence. Through semi-structural in-depth interviews and online ethnography, this research investigates how the internet serves as an informal learning tool that disrupts traditional learning and expedites women’s sexual autonomy in both online and offline spaces. Adopting critical thematic analysis, this study determined that the online realm altered the meaning of sexual subordination and led to a reconstruction that shifted the boundaries of shame and silence around sexuality. Through the interaction and interconnection between online and offline spaces, Iranian women problematize the culture of shame and silence through learning, revisiting their existing knowledge, and then silently acting. Therefore, a cultural reconstruction that is gradually redefining sexual scripts is emerging.

Psychometric Evaluation of Initial Domains on the Comprehensive Assessment of Pornography Use Tool.

Research on pornography use and sexual coercion has provided inconsistent results. One explanation for this is the lack of a valid, reliable, and comprehensive measure of pornography use. This study seeks to address this need by developing a comprehensive pornography use instrument consisting of four domains identified in research: type of pornography used, sexual scripts, habits, and compulsivity. A sample of 324 college men was used. Results of the study yielded factor structures for these domains and evidence of reliability and validity. Findings present the initial development of a pornography use instrument that could improve research in this area and aid practitioners in treatment and supervision decisions.

The rules of mature sex: Sexual scripts and the global challenge of rising STIs

Sexual health continues to be a socially complex problem globally with rising rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) despite extensive government and health marketing initiatives. In particular, STIs are rising at a greater rate in mature consumers than any other age group with the main reason cited as lack of condom use. The rules around condom use are based on sexual scripts or internalised guidelines and thus a key step in developing social marketing initiatives to increase condom use and address this global challenge is identifying the sexual scripts that motivate and inhibit condom use by mature consumers. Using sexual script theory, this research involves interviews with 24 mature single heterosexual Australian consumers to identify the sexual scripts that can be leveraged in health marketing to address the grand challenge of increasing mature consumer participation in protective sexual health behaviours.

Ambiguous Encounters: Young women's expectations and experiences with intoxicated sexual relations in Danish nightlife.

This article is based on 28 in-depth interviews with young women (18–25) about their experiences with intoxicated sexual encounters in Danish nightlife. Little research has examined the role intoxication plays in the processes of consensual and non-consensual sex. Using theories of intoxication and sexual scripts, this article focuses on how alcohol is used and perceived by these young women as a potential way of modifying behaviours and norms in their sexual encounters; how they characterize sexual consent and how they navigate intoxicated behaviour that can result in inappropriate, transgressive or victimizing situations. While the women talk about pleasurable and regrettable experiences, many described situations took on a much more ambiguous, fluid and nuanced role. The study points to the lack of knowledge on how ambiguity may play an active role in managing processes of sexual consent in intoxicated settings, especially for the youngest age groups.

Young adults' perceptions of morality‐based messages from parents about sex: An exploratory study

AbstractObjectiveThe goal of this study was to explore the messages young adults received from their parents about sexual morality.BackgroundResearch on parent–child communication about sexuality has shown that parents are likely to convey moral messages about sex, however, little is known about the content of these messages.MethodYoung adults (N = 350) were surveyed about parent–child communication as part of a larger study (N = 425). This paper focuses on perceptions of messages about sexual morality young adults believe they received from their parents while growing up.ResultsResults indicate parents may unknowingly be providing gendered information reinforcing sexual scripts. Specifically, women are differentially taught about relationship structures (e.g., marriage), abstinence, consent, avoidance of pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections, contraception, and autonomy, while also receiving disproportionately more mixed, unclear messages than men.ConclusionsEmerging adult recollections on parent–child discussions tended to be general in scope and lacked the specificity that could inform sexual knowledge and behaviors.ImplicationsThese thematic messages related to sexual morality can be utilized to inform sexual education and parent education programs related to sexuality, sexual knowledge, and communication. Lack of comprehensive sexual education and parent–child discussions may have implications for health and well‐being.

Mbari and uncle Nicodemus: Male representations in the heterosexual discourse among female undergraduates in Nigeria

This paper examines the various labels ascribed to males in the heterosexual discourse among female undergraduates in Nigeria. Insights from Community of Practice and Sexual Script Theory were used to demonstrate the use of situated linguistic choices to establish the differentials in male sexual behaviours. Data for the study were generated through participant observation and unstructured interviews with the aid of audiotape recordings and field notes. The study involves a representative sample of 22 female undergraduates who served as participants and research assistants. The findings reveal that situated language practices stimulate heterosexual discourses where female undergraduates creatively ascribe labels to the different males’ sexual scripts. The labels include those related to male sexual performance, body size and size of sex organs, financial and marital status, familial and gatekeeping roles, and other routine sexual behaviours shown by men in sexual phases such as advances, arousal and intercourse. The scripts are also combined to re-enact the peculiar sexual narratives by the female students that show emerging sexual orientations. It is believed that the categorisation of such males’ sexual behaviours in the University social contexts, would provide a basis for comparison with the sexual practices of other young adults’ social groups across the globe.

“I Can Tell You Wanna F***”: A Content Analysis of Sexual Communication in Popular Song Lyrics

ABSTRACT Given that exposure to sexual messages in song lyrics can influence sociocultural norms and expectations surrounding consent communication between partners, we sought to understand the types of messages regarding sexual initiation and consent language that are available to media consumers. Through the lens of sexual script theory, we conducted a quantitative content analysis of sexual consent in pop (n = 197), hip-hop (n = 193), and country songs (n = 194) from 2016 to 2019. Differences in these messages were examined across singer gender, music genre, and time (pre- vs. post-#MeToo). Results indicated that references to sexual demands (e.g., “Strip that down”) and sexual preferences (e.g., “I want it slow”) were the most common types of sexual communication, appearing in approximately one-third of the singing parts included in the sample. Sexual suggestions (e.g., “Let’s get nasty”) and sexual requests (e.g., “Can I hit it?”), on the other hand, were the least common. References to inferred consent (e.g., “I can tell you wanna f***”) appeared in approximately one-fifth of the singing parts. Both sexual demands and sexual preferences were more likely to appear in pop compared to hip-hop and country songs; however, these sexual communication messages did not significantly differ by male and female singers. Sexual requests were significantly more likely to appear in pre-#MeToo song lyrics. The messages embedded in popular songs may help to reinforce problematic scripts around sexual consent.

Who Counts as a Sexual Subject? The Impact of Ableist Rhetoric for People with Intellectual Disability in Sweden

IntroductionThe ableist rhetoric around sexuality in disability services and beyond can hinder subjective sexual expression and have a powerful impact on health, self-esteem, and everyday life through internalized ableism, structural marginalization, and interpersonal discrimination. The aim of this study was to explore the ableist rhetoric of sexuality and its impact on sexual scripting for people with intellectual disability.MethodsA thematic analysis was carried out on data generated through ethnographic fieldwork at five sheltered accommodations and semi-structured interviews with ten individuals with intellectual disability.ResultsThe results show that people in Sweden with intellectual disability are desexualized within a moral order that is maintained in post-institutional social care. Through this moral order, which is deeply embedded in an ableist rhetoric about sexual relationships, sexual scripting for disabled people is constrained both inside post-institutional social care initiatives, and in the broader community of “ableist environments.” In response, disabled people employ various strategies of resistance.ConclusionsA rhetoric of positive sexuality should be a guiding principle for successfully supporting the development of sexual agency on each individual’s own term.Policy ImplicationsWe conclude by encouraging the development of initiatives that will empower and support people with intellectual disability to learn about their sexual rights and to find solutions that allow for development of sexual agency and subjectivity.

Sex Communication: The New Consent Education

To address sexual assault on college campuses, many universities have adopted affirmative consent. Despite the adoption of these policies, there has been little research understanding the nuances of sexual consent. Drawing from sexual script theory, this study uses qualitative methodology to explore how college students understand sexual consent. Constant comparison analysis of focus groups revealed six themes relating to students’ attitudes and behaviors pertaining to sexual consent. Study implications are discussed.

Our Hero and That Kind of Woman: Imaginaries of Sexuality, Masculinity and Femininity in the Discussion of the Rape Allegation against Cristiano Ronaldo in Portugal

Kathlyn Mayorga’s rape allegation against Portuguese football star Cristiano Ronaldo was mostly met in his home country with disbelief, prompting a strong wave of support for the national icon. Mayorga was often perceived as a ‘gold digger’. This article explores how traditional gender norms, sex scripts and rape myths underpinned the resignification of the rape allegation into a case of extortion, naturalizing sexual abuse regarding ‘immoral women’. It examines how the intersection of local patriarchal traditions with the neoliberal order produced a morality which normalized the commodification of women’s and men’s bodies as a path to social mobility. It looks at the commodification of Ronaldo’s body, his key to success as a ‘super-body’ whose exceptional sports performance granted him respectability, an exceptional social status and access to women’s sexualized bodies. Then, it examines the construction of Mayorga’s body as a sexualized body with less moral and/or commercial value, operating in an area perceived as indecent (sex as a ‘gold digger’ or sexual transactions as a prostitute) and whose inflicted harm could be compensated through money.

Dealing with the Sexual Component of Women's Life Script Through a Fairy Tale Metaphor

This article discusses the basic components of a life script in relation to the sexual sphere of life and proposes an algorithm for writing a fairy tale that reflects a female sexual script, and also pays attention to the most important points for understanding a sexual script when analyzing a client's fairy tale metaphor. Taking into account the specifics of the topic, the author suggests an approach that allows bypassing the client's resistance: integration of art-therapeutic technigues (fairy tale therapy, work with metaphorical associative cards) and transactional-analytical structure. The article offers reflections on working with the sexual sphere through exploring images, as well as on the formation of a fairy-tale metaphor, and provides an algorithm for writing a fairy tale reflecting a female sexual life script, and also pays attention to the most important points for understanding the sexual life script when analyzing a client's fairy-tale metaphor

Commercial Sex or Romance? Men’s Sexual Scripts in Compensated Dating

ABSTRACT Compensated dating is a contestable phenomenon. While most academic and public discourses have paid considerable attentions to young girls who provide compensated dating, little is known about men who buy it. Drawing from 33 in-depth interviews with male clients of compensated dating in Hong Kong, this empirical study provides a qualitative analysis of their experiences. The findings show that compensated dating is not only a platform where men can fulfill their desires and fantasies of youthfulness, passionate sex, and emotional intimacy, but also a place where they can forge meaningful relationships. Compensated dating relationships are dynamic, fluid, and negotiable, which could transform from bounded commercial/counterfeit ones to unbounded/authentic ones. This paper concludes that compensated dating can be a cultural site that is as meaningful as in other noncommercial contexts.

Hierarchies in heterosexuality: Orgasms, intercourse and sexual scripts

This article, based on a set of 71 interviews conducted in France between 2014 and 2017, examines the basis of contemporary scripts for ‘good’ heterosex and reciprocal pleasure. It shows that, paradoxically, the male discourse on the pre-eminence of female orgasm falls within a persistently gendered order in which male desire prevails. It finds that non-penetrative genital practices continue to be stigmatized and are in general only practiced in conjunction with penile-vaginal intercourse. Interviews show that when people adopt what are still considered ‘inferior’ scripts it is usually as a result of external constraints. This article adds to our knowledge of changes in contemporary heterosexual practices over time but also what remains unchanged, while shedding light on current dynamics in gender relations.

Negotiating body, sex, and self-fashioning in Fújì music

A growing body of literature interrogating the voluptuous rendering of human sexuality in popular culture has focused on sex scripting in Western films and the commodification of women and their representations in popular media. However, exploration of how linguistic metaphors and innuendoes are deployed to affirm or contest expressions of desires that are sacred, sensitive, or taboo in Fuji music has received little scholarly attention. Of what significance is contesting social structure on sexuality to Fuji as a Nigerian popular musical genre? This empirical study explores this question while drawing on an ethnographic and interpretive literary analysis. Drawing from Hakim’s notion of ‘erotic capital’, the analyses and discussion operationalize the sexual scripting framework, Black feminist thought, and African/Black revolutionary art. I argue that sexual narratives and connotations in Fuji performance are often generated as powerful resources to contest sexual sensitivity and push back on silence on sexuality, negotiate and solicit artistic identity, and exact influence on public conversations on sexuality. By and large, this article affirms the engagement of sensual lyrical content as constitutive of revolutionary art and a social transformative site in which the body is negotiated as a catalyst for sexonomics in the contemporary ‘ear-tearing pant-and-bra’ musical evocations.