INTRODUÇÃO: O câncer de mama é a neoplasia maligna que mais atinge o sexo feminino, sendo responsável por cerca de 20% dos óbitos por câncer entre as mulheres. Os tratamentos utilizados promovem, de modo geral, alterações na auto-imagem, na imagem corporal, no auto-conceito e na função sexual feminina. Assim, objetiva-se avaliar a presença ou não de disfunções sexuais em mulheres com câncer de mama tratadas cirurgicamente. MÉTODOS: foram avaliadas pelo período de um ano, 52 mulheres entre 50 e 60 anos de idade, divididas em dois grupos: controle, composto por 37 mulheres com tumores benignos de mama e 15 submetidas à mastectomia radical, utilizando o Watts Sexual Function Questionnaire (WSFQ), que avalia os quatro componentes da experiência sexual, incluindo as percepções sobre desejo sexual, interesse, orgasmo e satisfação, específico para avaliar a sexualidade em sujeitos com patologias clínicas, previamente aplicado na população brasileira. A este questionário foram acrescidas questões qualitativas visando a avaliação e observação das reações das pacientes frente ao diagnóstico cirúrgico e as possíveis alterações advindas da mastectomia radical na auto-estima, no humor, na capacidade de planejar o futuro e na manutenção do relacionamento afetivo-sexual. Testes estatísticos para medidas repetidas, análise de correlação entre variáveis e análise exploratória de dados multidimencionais estão entre as técnicas estatísticas utilizadas para avaliar o conjunto de dados. RESULTADOS: As principais variações detectadas ao longo do tempo, foram o desejo sexual, no grupo controle e na excitação no grupo cirúrgico. Avaliando-se o impacto do tempo observou-se uma piora na fase do desejo das pacientes pertencentes ao grupo controle comparado ao grupo de mastectomia radical. Dentre as pacientes submetidas à mastectomia, 37,5% das que realizaram reconstrução mamária tem melhor auto-imagem e exercem sua sexualidade adequadamente. A realização do processo de elaboração do luto foi observada durante as diversas etapas do tratamento do câncer de mama. Observou-se amplitude de variações nos sentimentos / atitudes que a doença causa em cada paciente, não sendo possível uma padronização do comportamento e complementando de forma decisiva na avaliação objetiva realizada através da escoragem WSFQ. CONCLUSÃO: Pacientes submetidas à mastectomia radical apresentaram indícios de transtorno de excitação, quando comparadas à mulheres com tumores benignos de mama nas quais observa-se falta de desejo sexual. / INTRODUCTION: breast cancer is the malign neoplasia what most gets female sex, being responsible for about 20% from cancer\'s death among women. The treatments used to promote alterations on self-image, on body image body, into the self-concept and on the female sexual function. So, we aim to access the presence or not sexual dysfunctions in women with breast cancer submitted to surgery treatment. METHODS: were evaluated by a period of one year, 52 women among 50 and 60 years old, divided in two groups: control, compounded by 37 women with benign breast tumors and 15 submitted to radical mastectomy, using the Watts Sexual Function Questionnaire (WSFQ), that assesses the four components from sexual experience, including the perceptions of sexual desire, interest, orgasm and satisfaction, specific to evaluate sexuality in subjects with clinics pathologies previously applied on Brazilian population. For this questionnaire have been added qualitative questions aimed the appraisal and observation from patients reactions to surgical diagnosis and the possible occurring alterations of radical mastectomy in self-steam, in humor, in the capacity of planning future and at the maintenance of the affective-sexual relationships. Statistic tests about repetitive measures, analysis between correlation variables and analysis of multidimencional exploratory data are among the statistics techniques used to evaluate the data set. RESULTS: the main variations detected in a long of the time, was the sexual desire in control group and in excitation in surgical group. Evaluating the impact of the time observed, considering comparatively both groups, there was a worsening in phase of desire in control group when compared to radical mastectomy group. Among the patients submitted to the mastectomy, 37.5% of that carried out mammary reconstruction has better self -image and exercise its sexuality adequately. The achievement of the trial of elaboration of the mourning process was observed during the diverse phases of the breast cancer treatment. It was seen amplitude of variations in feelings / attitudes that illness causes in each patient, not being possible a stardandization of the behavior and complementary of decisive form in the objective evaluation carried out through the WSFQ score CONCLUSION: Patients submitted to radical mastectomy presented indications of perturbation of excitement, when compared to women with benign breast tumors when were observed lack of sexual deseire.

abstract: Sexual satisfaction has been positively linked to both individual and relational wellbeing (Christopher & Sprecher, 2000; Davison, Bell, LaChina, Holden, & Davis, 2009). Further, sexual communication has demonstrated positive impacts on sexual satisfaction (Byers, 2005); yet, research by MacNeil and Byers (2009) found that most people in romantic relationships do not share their sexual preferences with their partner. According to Tolman (2002), women seem to be especially reluctant to communicate sexually, due to the particular societal restrictions placed on expressions of female sexuality and desire. This study aims to understand how emerging adult women communicate with their sexual partners in order to increase pleasure, what barriers exist to sexual communication for these women, and how gendered social norms are expressed in the process. Based on interviews with 19 women between the ages of 20-29, the findings of this study suggest that emerging women often place more weight on social expectations of appropriate female sexual expression than relational context when choosing whether or not and/or how to sexually self-disclose. Further, the women in this study were at varying stages of renegotiating their internalization of the prioritization of male sexual pleasure over female pleasure. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Communication Studies 2019

Working toward a personal definition of womanhood while progressing with my research in feminist discourse, I frame biographical events alongside the intricate use of language surrounding feminist theory. Experimenting with material specificities that speak to my personal narratives and cultural significance, my work seeks to address the interlacing operations of subjectivity expanding on the intersection of class, gender and race.

This study was designed to further understand passionate friendships in a sample of heterosexual and lesbian, bisexual, and questioning (LBQ) women. Previous research has established that LBQ women engage in same-sex passionate friendships (unusually intense friendships that are similar to romantic relationships but devoid of sexual intimacy), but no systematic classification system has been established to identify these relationships in a general sample of women. A new quantitative measure, the Passionate Friendship Survey, was developed to measure passionate friendship experiences in women across adolescence and young adulthood. Qualitative interviews were also conducted to understand the subjective experience of passionate friendships in heterosexual and LBQ women.

<p>Using a symbolic interactionistic analytical approach, this essay aims to study the socialisation of young women’s sexuality in treatment institutions for young women. Through qualitative interviews with staff members at said institutions, concerning their views on young female sexuality, and how they discuss sexuality with the young women in the institutions, my aim was to identify the socialisation of young women’s sexuality. I have also investigated how the staff experiences their own sex as an important factor in conversations about sexuality with young women, as well as the possible effect sexually mixed or sexually segregated institutions exert upon conversations about sexuality. I have therefore interviewed both male and female staff, as well as staff of both sexually mixed and sexually segregated treatment institutions.</p><p>The results indicate that the staff does talk about sexuality with the young women, but in varying degree and form. Treatment ideology seems to have an impact on the conversations of sexuality. The staff perceives their sex to be of importance for the conversations about sexuality but they also emphasise the importance of trusting relationships. They believe that sexuality as a subject arises more often in sexually mixed treatment institutions than in sexually segregated institutions. The staffs’ view on young female sexuality is not characterized by a discourse of desire, but rather by concern for the young women’s vulnerability, triggered by their own behaviour, as well as doubts about the young women’s own sexual desire.</p>

Using a symbolic interactionistic analytical approach, this essay aims to study the socialisation of young women’s sexuality in treatment institutions for young women. Through qualitative interviews with staff members at said institutions, concerning their views on young female sexuality, and how they discuss sexuality with the young women in the institutions, my aim was to identify the socialisation of young women’s sexuality. I have also investigated how the staff experiences their own sex as an important factor in conversations about sexuality with young women, as well as the possible effect sexually mixed or sexually segregated institutions exert upon conversations about sexuality. I have therefore interviewed both male and female staff, as well as staff of both sexually mixed and sexually segregated treatment institutions. The results indicate that the staff does talk about sexuality with the young women, but in varying degree and form. Treatment ideology seems to have an impact on the conversations of sexuality. The staff perceives their sex to be of importance for the conversations about sexuality but they also emphasise the importance of trusting relationships. They believe that sexuality as a subject arises more often in sexually mixed treatment institutions than in sexually segregated institutions. The staffs’ view on young female sexuality is not characterized by a discourse of desire, but rather by concern for the young women’s vulnerability, triggered by their own behaviour, as well as doubts about the young women’s own sexual desire.

Anledningen till att författarna gjorde denna studie var att bröstcancer är en av de vanligaste cancertyperna som drabbar kvinnor. Diagnosen innebär för de flesta kvinnor att hela eller delar av bröstet opereras bort. För många kvinnor representerar bröstet sexualitet och kvinnlighet. Syftet var att beskriva hur kvinnors sexualitet och sexuella relation förändras efter genomgången kirurgisk bröstcanceroperation och efterföljande behandling. Metoden var en kvalitativ litteraturstudie. Studien resulterade i tre huvudkategorier: (1) en förändrad kropp – en förändrad sexualitet, (2) en förändrad sexualitet – en förändrad sexuell relation, (3) emotionella förändringar i sexualiteten, samt tretton underkategorier. Resultatet visar att kvinnors sexualitet förändras både fysiskt och psykiskt. De flesta upplever en förändrad kroppsbild, minskad sexuell lust och njutning. Samlagen blir ofta smärtsamma vilket gör att många kvinnor drar sig undan sin partner. Många kvinnor upplever svårigheter i att prata om sin förändrade sexualitet med sin partner. Resultatet visar också att sjukvården ibland ger bristfällig information till kvinnor om eventuella biverkningar till följd av en bröstcanceroperation och efterföljande behandling. Då många bröstcancerdrabbade kvinnor upplever sexuella problem bör sjuksköterskor ge bättre information om eventuella biverkningar av behandlingen samt uppmärksamma dessa problem mer. Sjuksköterskor bör även möjliggöra till samtal med kvinnan om hennes funderingar kring sin förändrade sexualitet. / The reason why the authors conducted this study was that breast cancer is one of the most common types of cancer among women. For most women the diagnosis means that the entire or parts of the breast will have to be removed. For most women the breast represents sexuality and femininity. The aim was to describe how female sexuality and sexual relationship change after breast cancer surgery and subsequent treatment. The method was a qualitative litterature review. The study resulted in three main categories: (1) a changed body – a changed sexuality, (2) a changed sexuality – a changed sexual relationship, (3) emotional changes in sexuality, and thirteen subcategories. The result shows that female sexuality changes physically as well as psychically. Most women experience changes in body image, decreased sexual desire and pleasure. Intercourse becomes painful which makes many women withdraw from their partner. Many women experience difficulties in communicating about their changed sexuality with their partner. The result also shows that sometimes health care providers give poor information to women about plausible side effects due to breast cancer surgery and subsequent treatment. Because many women with breast cancer experience sexual problems nurses should give better information about plausible side effects from the treatment and highlight these problems. Nurses should also enable conversations with women regarding their thoughts concerning their changed sexuality.

This thesis explores the oppression of women within the gender institution of patriarchy in Margaret Atwood¡¦s dystopian novel The Handmaid¡¦s Tale, and their resistance to this male-dominated society. As a feminist writer, Atwood is very much concerned about the issue of gender, which she foregrounds in The Handmaid¡¦s Tale. In my analysis, I apply some theories of radical feminists and the French feminist who devote themselves to the study of gender--Kate Millett, Adrienne Rich, Catherine MacKinnon, and H&#x00E9;l&#x00E8;ne Cixous. Millett focuses on women¡¦s subordinated position that leads to women¡¦s oppression in patriarchy. Rich and MacKinnon focus on how women are controlled and oppressed in maternity and sexuality within the patriarchal society of gender inequality. Cixous challenges the validity of gender by pointing out its characteristic fluidity through creating woman¡¦s own writing in order to redefine female selfhood for women¡¦s resistance. The thesis is composed of five chapters. The Introduction presents the background materials about Atwood and The Handmaid¡¦s Tale, the motivation of the thesis, and the resonance between The Handmaid¡¦s Tale and certain feminists¡¦ theories. The first chapter analyzes the formation of the unbalanced power relations between the sexes in which women are subordinated to men through the socialization. Moreover, because of women¡¦s subordination, women are modulated as mothers through socially institutionalized motherhood such as the Wives and the Handmaids in Gilead. The second chapter further analyzes how women are formulated as sexual objects through the experience of sexual objectification within the institution of heterosexuality, such as the mistresses and the prostitutes of Gilead. The third chapter discusses how female orality empowers women to resist their patriarchal society in The Handmaid¡¦s Tale. The protagonist Offred, by ¡§writing her voice¡¨ through storytelling, resists patriarchal oppression, restores her body and self, and transforms herself from a victim in a claustrophobic world of male domination to a heroine of femininity. Moreover, her act of writing by her voice also reflects women¡¦s histories of repression, which should be reconstructed in a culture in which only males are literate. Offred¡¦s oral act of storytelling, to the reader, may also signify her resistance to reconstruct women¡¦s repressed histories. The concluding chapter reiterates the research of The Handmaid¡¦s Tale with a synthesis of Atwood¡¦s and some of the prominent feminists¡¦ points of view, namely Millett¡¦s, Rich¡¦s, MacKinnon¡¦s and Cixous¡¦s, toward the oppression and resistance of women within the institution of gender. This study hopes to explore and thus illuminate the nature, the functioning, the operation of socially constructed male domination, and then proceed to search the possible solution, or the ¡§voice;¡¨ however feeble it is, the author, or the protagonist conceives to defy the oppression imposed on women.

In this study, construction of sexuality has been studied among middle class, educated women who are living considered &#039 / normal&#039 / , in a social structure assumed where sexuality from one side is talked about a lot and from another full of unknowns about perceptions and experiences. Certain conclusions were derived on construction of women sexuality following the interviews performed with twenty nine women whose ages vary from twenties to fifties.

This work explores the portrayal of the female subject in the work of the Spanish Romantic poet. Jos Ì?de Espronceda, This study will analyze the misogynistic representation of women and the denial of female subjectivity.The first chapter discusses the biographical, historical and literary contexts of Esproncedas work. This section will discuss Romantic notions of subjectivity,as well as the ambivalence towards the women during the 19th century. This ambivalence produced a conflict that was reflected in the representation of women as either pure angels or vile demons.The first work that will be discussed is the poem A Jarifa en una orgaÌ?. I will explore how Espronceda vilifies the sexuality of the female protagonist andhow Jarifa is used to reflect the disillusionment of the poet. This section will show how female subjectivity is displaced in favor of the male subject.The second work I will examine is El estudiante de Salamanca.