Communication studies about sex: Implications for relationships, health, culture, and identity. A review

Abstract

This article features a review of communication scholarship about sex from the past two decades (2000-2020). A typographic analysis of relevant research reveals 11 primary topic areas related to how interpersonal sexual communication is commonly researched in communication studies. Six of these topic areas are relationship-oriented in nature: flirting and initiation; pleasure and desire; sexual expectations; relational and sexual satisfaction; communication after sex; and negative aspects of sex and sexuality. Three of the topics are health-oriented in nature: sex education, especially in consideration of how parent-child talk happens in families; negotiation of safe sex practices; and sexual dysfunction. Finally, two of the topics are cultural in nature: social factors and influences; and media influences and representations. Scholarship is also reviewed in terms of theoretical commitments, with most research following sociopsychological or critical traditions but with a noteworthy number also embracing sociocultural or biological paradigms. Based on these observations, five directions are offered for future research: supporting programs of interpersonal sex research; advancing and/or creating methods related to communication sex research; eliminating heteronormativity; considering the practical aspects of sex research; and, perhaps most importantly, theorizing sex as communication.

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“…El sexo está presente en diversos productos socioculturales, entre los que se incluyen los mass media (Manning, 2021). Esta dimensión central de la biografía humana se refleja en estos espacios mediáticos a través de informaciones muy variopintas, desde aquellas que versan sobre la prostitución y la pornografía a otras relacionadas la discriminación o con las diferentes maneras de entender la sexualidad.…”

Dimensions of Sexual Health Conversations among U.S. Black Heterosexual Couples

“…This is in part due to siloes in research and public health that orients sexual health within a solely disease/morbidity-focused, deficit-based, or sexual dysfunction/satisfaction paradigm [2]. This paradigm, although warranted, may disallow other considerations such as the psycho-social attributes of sexual health, and subsequently the role of interpersonal relationships and the importance of interpersonal communication in sexual health promotion processes [3]. These considerations are warranted given that ongoing HIV/STI transmission is overwhelmingly sustained among couples and intimate partners, and subsequently within communities.…”

Couples’ Sexual Communication: Results from a Questionnaire and Conclusions For School-Based Sex Education

“…Intra-couple communication about sexual activity includes, inter alia, flirting and initiation of sexual relationships, negotiation of safe sex practices/contraception, self-disclosure of sexual preferences, wants, turn-ons and -offs, matching up of frequency and type of sex, dayto-day agreement of sexual activity, intra-couple communication during sex, the ritual of inquiring and sharing the emotions and sensations just experienced ('after-sex pillow talk'), and the introduction of novel sexual behaviors. Additionally, sexual communication may include talking about one's sexual values and attitudes, one's porn watching and masturbation habits, sexual dysfunction, or sexual fantasies [3,4].…”