| 1. |
- Arnberg, Klara, et al.
(författare)
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Benefits of the in-between : Swedish men’s magazines and sex films 1965–1975
- 2014
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Ingår i: Sexuality & Culture. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1095-5143 .- 1936-4822. ; 18:2, s. 310-330
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This article analyzes a content-based market position that developed during the mid-1960s, situated in-between the pornographic and the accepted. By studying Swedish men’s magazines and sex films from the time period, the argument is made that these media products profited from both the advantages of pornography, i.e., more or less sexual explicit images, and the advantages of the accepted, i.e., common distribution channels, the possibility of having regular advertising and placards and being sold in ordinary kiosks (for magazines) and shown at ordinary cinemas (for films). For some years, this balancing act between the accepted and the pornographic was maintained, and the genre became enormously popular. From the mid-1970s onward, however, the division between pornography and accepted media became more clear-cut. The critique against pornography and the in-between media products intensified, and the uncertainty about pornography’s future role after the legalization in 1971 was followed by new ways of separating the pornographic from the accepted. While there were some differences between the two media formats, such as their degree of internationalization and the importance of advertising, they shared much in terms of content formulas and used the same female actors and models. It is argued that both formal regulations and the informal norms of gender and sexuality at the time and their change throughout the 1970s are key for understanding the development and the disappearance of the in-between genre.
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| 2. |
- Arousell, Jonna, 1985-, et al.
(författare)
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Does Religious Counselling on Abortion Comply with Sweden's 'Women-Friendly' Abortion Policies? : A Qualitative Exploration Among Religious Counsellors
- 2019
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Ingår i: Sexuality & Culture. - : Springer. - 1095-5143 .- 1936-4822. ; 23:4, s. 1230-1249
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The abortion discourse in Sweden is marked by historically liberal ideals about women's inviolable right to make autonomous reproductive decisions. However, to respond to the increase in cultural and religious pluralism building up over several decades, religious organizations have been given opportunities to provide so-called spiritual care in affiliation with Swedish hospitals since the 1980s. In this study we asked: in what ways do religious counsellors, affiliated with Swedish hospitals, construct their ideas on abortion, and how well do their ideas comply with Sweden's 'women-friendly' abortion policies? Through interviews with Protestant, Catholic, Muslim, and Buddhist religious counsellors, we wanted to empirically test the presumption underlying the decisions to grant space to religious actors in Swedish healthcare, i.e., that religious counselling serves to complement existing services. We found that it cannot be expected that religious advice on abortion will always comply with Swedish abortion law and with the women-friendly abortion policy that the Swedish state seeks to impose. When policy-makers open up possibilities for diverse norms on abortion to manifest in close affiliation with healthcare institutions, they must be aware that some religious counsellors argue that only God-and not the woman herself-can decide whether a woman can terminate a pregnancy. We argue that the findings in this study speaks to what researchers have referred to as the "diversity-equality paradox", which highlights the tension between the promotion of religious ideas on abortion on the one hand and the promotion of liberal ideas about women's reproductive freedom on the other.
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| 3. |
- Björkas, Robin, et al.
(författare)
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Sex Dolls in the Swedish Media Discourse : Intimacy, Sexuality, and Technology
- 2021
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Ingår i: Sexuality & Culture. - : Springer. - 1095-5143 .- 1936-4822. ; 25, s. 1227-1248
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Sex dolls are a complex phenomenon with several diverse possible emotional, sexual and therapeutic uses. They can be part of a broad variety of sexual practices, and also function as a sexual aid. However, the media discourse on sex dolls first and foremost concerns how we perceive the relationship between intimacy and technology. A critical discourse analysis of the Swedish media discourse on sex dolls reveals six themes which dominate the discourse: (a) the definition of what a human being is; (b) a discourse on the (technological and existential) future; (c) a social effort; (d) a loveless phenomenon; (e) men's violence against women; and (f) pedophilia. Accordingly, this discourse is very conservative and normative in its view of sexuality, technology, and humanity. Overall, the dominant themes do not provide any space for positive effects of technology on human sexuality, and if they do, it is usually as a substitute for something else.
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| 4. |
- Carlström, Charlotta
(författare)
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BDSM, Interaction Rituals and Open Bodies
- 2017
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Ingår i: Sexuality & Culture. - : Springer. - 1095-5143 .- 1936-4822. ; 22, s. 209-219
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this article, based on ethnographic fieldwork in Bondage and Disci- pline, Dominance and Submission, Sadism and Masochism (BDSM) communities in Sweden, I explore the ritual aspects of BDSM. Drawing on Douglas and Collins’ theories of interaction rituals, I analyse the creation of emotional energy during humiliation practice through connection and intimacy between the participants. The article examines how the ritual aspect of BDSM sessions can be understood as an enabler of expressions and emotional energy. BDSM becomes a free zone in which bodies are allowed to be open in a Bakhtinian sense, that is, transgressive and beyond control.
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| 5. |
- Carlström, Charlotta, et al.
(författare)
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Living Outside Protocol : Polyamorous Orientations, Bodies, and Queer Temporalities
- 2019
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Ingår i: Sexuality & Culture. - : Springer. - 1095-5143 .- 1936-4822. ; 23:4, s. 1315-1331
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study investigates experiences of polyamory in a society where monogamy is the norm. Polyamory is when more than two people are involved in an intimate and/or sexual relationship. The relationships are known to those involved, and everyone has the opportunity to have multiple relationships at the same time. In-depth interviews were completed with 22 persons in Sweden who identify as polyamorous. Drawing on Ahmed’s phenomenological concepts of turning points and lines and Halberstam’s concept of queer time and temporality, the following questions are explored: What turning points can be seen in the informants’ stories? And what consequences are the informants exposed to when heteronormative expectations are not followed? In the theoretical language of Ahmed, living a life within monogamous boundaries would be considered as being “in line”. Going beyond these monogamous heteronormative lines can result in more relational choices by which one has to find out what kind of relationship works best instead of following a ready-made template. The majority of the informants feel forced to conceal their relationship constellations in several situations and contexts. Living a queer life is seen by others in society as not only incomprehensible but also immature and inexperienced. Interactions with healthcare professionals seldom offer any relief from this; instead, the informants’ stories of these encounters can be interpreted as instances of being stopped and blocked, resulting in stress and shame.
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| 6. |
- Cinthio, Hanna
(författare)
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"You go home and tell that to my dad!" : Conflicting Claims and Understandings on Hymen and Virginity
- 2015
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Ingår i: Sexuality & Culture. - : Springer. - 1095-5143 .- 1936-4822. ; 19:1, s. 172-189
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this article I examine different understandings of and claims concerning virginity. Several young women in Sweden suffer from strong patriarchal chastity ideals, even to the extent that some undergo surgery to restore a lost virginity. Swedish sexual politics, believing strongly in the power of evidence based information, have a clearly stated agenda to prevent this by "eradicating the hymen myth" through informative campaigns in schools and by educating professionals who encounter the problem. At the same time, the targeted teenagers themselves seem to hold a multifaceted and contextual view on the matter. They may be fed scientific information in school, and gain anatomically correct knowledge of the hymen, but they also need to maneuver within a different normative field where the hymen plays a symbolic role rather than a factual one. In the article I explore the charged discourse around the hymen, analyze the narratives of teenage informants who tell me of their thoughts and experiences in the matter, and discuss the possible different purposes served by the upholding of the concept. I argue that intellectual, factual knowledge is not necessarily relevant when dealing with emotionally and culturally charged beliefs, and that the ideologically driven agenda of "the truth shall set you free" is not fully in touch with the complex social reality of those who are subjected to the chastity ideals. Attacking misconceptions around the hymen does not necessarily recognize the principal dilemma of the collective asserting power over the individual in matters concerning relationships and sexuality.
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| 7. |
- Eek-Karlsson, Liselotte, 1955-, et al.
(författare)
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Beating Around the Bush – Swedish Schoolgirls’ Coping Strategies and Impact Processes of Sexual Harassment
- 2023
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Ingår i: Sexuality & Culture. - : Springer. - 1095-5143 .- 1936-4822. ; 27, s. 415-434
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aim of this study is to contribute knowledge about Swedish school girls’ perspectives of sexual harassment and their relations to peers when exposed to violence in terms of sexual harassment, both online and offline. The empirical data was collected through pair interviews where 28 girls participated. The theoretical framework was based on coping strategies that people use when facing stressful situations. The transcribed empirical data was read and interpreted based on what appeared to be important and decisive related to the theoretical framework. The found strategies are divided into three main categories, namely, problem-focused behavioural strategies, emotion-focused cognitive strategies, and emotion-focused behavioural strategies. The results show that the girls use different strategies depending on if the harassment occurs online or offline and if the perpetrator is known or unknown. Problem-focused cognitive strategies are used due to the specific context. Emotion-focused cognitive strategies are foremost used if the perpetrator is a known friend.
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| 8. |
- Gradskova, Yulia, 1967-
(författare)
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Personal is Not Political? : The Sexual Self in Russian Talk Shows of the 1990s
- 2020
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Ingår i: Sexuality & Culture. - : Springer. - 1095-5143 .- 1936-4822. ; 24:2, s. 389-407
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The changes in the public discourse on sex and the sexual self in post-Soviet Russia are usually referred to as a “sexual revolution”. However, the fast rejection of freedoms with respect to sexual identities, same-sex relationships and withering of the public discussions about intimacies and sex-education already in the early 2000s requires closer look at discourses of the “sexual revolution” of the 1990s in Russia in order to understand better the character of this rapid change. In this paper I am particularly interested in the discursive dimension and historical implications of the new sexual selves as expressed in the public space in a form of TV-show. The article is analyzing discourses around sexuality and intimacy with focus on two talk-shows broadcasted by the Russian television in the 1990s (“Ya sama” and “Pro eto”) and dealing with gender identities, sexualities and intimacies. I show that articulation of the sexual self as a choice that is relatively free from political and material constraints was an important dimension of the public presentation of sexuality. At the same time differences and deviations from the institutionalized and normalized (hetero)sexuality started to be seen as a subject of “personal choice” and “individual responsibility”. © 2020, The Author(s).
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| 9. |
- Gradskova, Yulia, 1967-, et al.
(författare)
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Post-socialist Revolutions of Intimacy : An Introduction
- 2020
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Ingår i: Sexuality & Culture. - : Springer. - 1095-5143 .- 1936-4822. ; 24:2, s. 359-370
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- During the past decade, the states situated on the territory of the former Soviet Union and in Eastern Europe have made newspaper headlines around the world for topics on gender and sexuality: it seems that each step towards gender equality and inclusive sexual citizenship in the region has been accompanied by counter-actions on different scales. In what way is the present day of appropriate legislation and recent backlash connected to the legacies of regulations of gender relationships, intimacies, and sexualities under state socialism? What role do economic, political, and educational changes that took place in the region in the 1990s play in these developments? And finally, can we speak about certain similarities between discourses on sexuality and intimacy in the “West,” on the one hand, and in post-Soviet and East European countries, on the other? Reflecting on current changes in post-socialist societies, the authors of this special issue give their own answers to these questions.
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| 10. |
- Ingbrant, Renata, 1966-
(författare)
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Michalina Wisłocka’s The Art of Loving and the Legacy of Polish Sexology
- 2020
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Ingår i: Sexuality & Culture. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1095-5143 .- 1936-4822. ; 24:2, s. 371-388
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This article discusses the development of Polish sexology as well as the challenges of sex education in Poland in general and the implications of Michalina Wisłocka’s work within the field of adult sex education in particular, both from a historical perspective and against the background of sociopolitical circumstances and the backlash in the sexual politics of today’s Poland. Michalina Wisłocka (1921–2005) is the author of Sztuka kochania [The Art of Loving] from 1978—the most widely read Polish handbook on sex, sexuality and eroticism. Although there has not been a sexual revolution in Poland, the success of the book may be considered revolutionary as it had an enormous impact on sexual awareness among the Poles at least for two decades after its publication. Nowadays, the book is considered groundbreaking as regards its normalizing effect on the language of sex, despite the omnipresence of gender role stereotypes. Even so, the revival of Wisłocka that has been seen in Poland in recent years is quite remarkable because the book appears traditional and largely outdated from today’s perspective. In the context of the postsocialist retraditionalization of sexual politics in Poland, however, the revived interest in Wisłocka seems less ambiguous since it can be perceived both as a sign of backlash and a sign of renewed demand for sexual knowledge and education.
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