Doing Gender in Sex and Sex Research

Abstract

Gender is central to sexuality, and vice versa, but there are a number of difficulties with the treatment of gender in sex research. Apparently, it is hard to find a balance between two conflicting needs. First, obviously, it is necessary to make distinctions between women and men, for political as well as research-technical and theoretical reasons. A second requirement, at odds with the first one, is the necessity to understand gender and its relation to sexuality and the body as much more complex than simplistically referring to two sets of individuals. This is all the more necessary when one realizes the possible drawbacks of exaggerating the differences between the sexes (in particular when they are biologically explained), because of stereotyping, stigmatizing, and expectancy confirmatory processes. This essay identifies and discusses 10 difficulties in the treatment of gender in sex research, reflects on their origins, and reviews theory and evidence with the aim to (1) consider the relative strength of gender/sex as an explanatory variable compared to other factors and processes explaining differences between men and women on a number of sexual aspects, (2) inform an understanding of gender and its relation to sexuality as an ongoing, open-ended, multi-determined, situated, interactional process, with the body as a third player, and (3) argue in favor of a nuanced, well-balanced treatment of gender in sex research.

Beyond Sexual Orientation: Integrating Gender/Sex and Diverse Sexualities via Sexual Configurations Theory

“…I have argued that solitary and partnered sexualities are separable. I have highlighted the importance of gender/sex sexuality as one, but not the only or major feature of sexuality, incorporating gender/sex without focusing only on its relevance for difference (Bancroft, 2000b;Katz-Wise & Hyde, 2014;Unger, 1979;Vanwesenbeeck, 2009). And, I have disentangled gender and sex from each other and gender/sex itself when these are more typically conflated (e.g., Freud, 1905).…”

“…Individual gender/sex and gender/sex sexuality are separate phenomena (e.g., Storms, 1980), though they can also be interconnected (Vanwesenbeeck, 2009). For example, gender (not sex) has predictive power for lifetime number of sexual partners such that femininity in women and men predicts fewer lifetime partners (Tate, 2011).…”

Male Role Norm Endorsement and Sexism Predict Heterosexual College Men’s Attitudes Toward Casual Sex, Intoxicated Sexual Contact, and Casual Sex

“…However, more work is needed to increase our understanding of gender-related factors and processes that influence sexual behavior (Vanwesenbeeck 2009). Cross-culturally, men report more positive attitudes toward and willingness to engage in casual sex than women (Petersen and Hyde 2010;Schmitt 2005-participants sampled from 48 nations).…”

Sexual Health and Intimate Relationships in Rheumatoid Arthritis

“…However a recent study of patients with RA showed that male gender was associated with a larger negative impact on sexual activity (Helland, Dagfinrud, and Kvien 2008), which indicates that this field needs further exploration. There are of course several other factors influencing sexual health and the perspective of gender on sexual health is complex (Vanwesenbeeck 2009), but most individuals with RA are women and the subject of sexual health needs to be discussed with a gender perspective since there are differences concerning how RA affects the sexual health of women and men. As examples, women often experience that feelings of intimacy are more important than sexual arousal (Basson and Schultz 2007), and women often have more joint pain during sexual activities (van Berlo et al 2007).…”