Sexual improvement as if your health depends on it: An analysis of contemporary sex manuals

Abstract

Adding to a small but growing feminist literature, this article critically examines popular, contemporary American sex manuals from a feminist social constructionist perspective, focusing specifically on how these manuals construct gender and sexual norms. With notable exceptions, the majority of these manuals are geared toward white, heterosexual, middle-class, able-bodied, and cisgendered audiences. We argue that in addition to positioning sexual activity as a biological, essential (albeit gendered) human need, and as the ultimate path to individual fulfillment and empowerment, a new rationale for the importance of sex (and working on sexual improvement) is now prominent in contemporary sex manuals. Reflecting the “healthicization” of sex in the post-Viagra era, authors frame frequent pleasurable sexual activity as an important factor in the maintenance of health and wellness, an argument that gives further weight to the importance of “sex work” as a fundamental aspect of particularly women’s work in heterosexual relationships. These findings are in keeping with a growing body of literature that highlights the rise of the “sex as health” discourse as well as literature examining the growing pressure to master, improve, and work on sex.

The gendered nature of self-help

“…Self-help texts that address the traditionally feminine concerns of the domestic sphere and intimate relations can also be seen to employ a discourse of 'sex differences' to perform ideological work in framing women as inherently flawed and in need of transformation. Gupta and Cacchioni's (2013) analysis of 17 American sex manuals shows the various ways these texts employ a medical discourse to construct women as needing to do extra work (for example, pretending to enjoy or want sex, or undertaking mental and physical preparation for sex because they are 'less responsive' than men and/or more tied to emotion). Such extra work often requires economic capital, so that the 'norms of sexual practice articulated in these manuals can thus serve to undermine their readers, with the potential to create a sense of failure or exclusion for those who do not have the resources to participate or who do not see themselves represented' (Riley, Evans & Robson, 2018, p. 82; see also Barker, Gill & Harvey, 2018).…”

Sense about sex: media, sex advice, education and learning

“…The sex advisor is often constructed as the translator who can explain the mysteries of the 'opposite sex' to the reader (see for example Gray 2003;Corn 2013). Readers, particularly women, are deemed responsible for ensuring that their relationships remain sexual through 'working at it' (see Potts 2002;Gupta and Cacchioni 2013). Happily asexual or celibate relationships are not considered, and there are only occasional tokenistic references to lesbian, gay or bisexual people, or to forms of open non-monogamy (see Barker and Langdridge 2010).…”

Individual and relational contributors to optimal sexual experiences in older men and women

“…It is clear that many individuals desire sex lives that go beyond mere adequacy, as demonstrated by the pervasive emphasis on better sex in popular culture. Magazines and self-help books promise greater, more passionate sexual experiences through novel techniques and the promotion of gendered sexual stereotypes (Gupta & Cacchioni, 2013;M enard & Kleinplatz, 2008). Individuals comparing their sexual experiences to the unrealistic expectations found in much modern North American society often feel inferior or discouraged.…”