published_or_final_version / Social Work and Social Administration / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

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Extramarital relationships and women's sexuality are by far some of the most controversial and elusive subjects in our society, and most of the empirical literature and popular opinion about the connection between women and infidelity perceive it as unequivocally taboo. Following the work of feminist researchers who valorize the potential for women's sexual experiences and view heterosexual relationships as a form of oppression, I explore the extramarital relationships between single women and married men. To perform this exploration, I completed two-part, in-depth interviews with eleven single women who had an intimate relationship with a married man. Once the interviews were transcribed verbatim, I completed a four-step voice-centered relational reading and analysis of the interviews in which participants' experiences were summarized into three relationships: with themselves, with the married man, and with the married man's wife. I set aside the themes that emerged from this inquiry and I performed a discourse analysis on the participants' narratives for each of these three relationships. Since the resulting themes from the voice-centered relational analysis overlapped considerably with the dominant discourses that emerged from the discourse analysis, a more in-depth feminist analysis was performed exclusively on the latter. In summary, the most commonly occurring dominant discourses were a struggle with morality, identity development and identity reconstruction; responsibility toward women (the married man's wife); and a negative emotional aftermath following the end of the relationship. Consequently, this analysis also found an occurrence of three types of extramarital relationships: satisfying, distressing/distancing, and emotionally abusive. Each dominant discourse was deconstructed per participant and per interview by using a feminist theoretical lens. / The analysis paved the way for a relational and socio-political examination of single women's experiences of infidelity. The implications of this study are discussed by comparing them to existing investigations, both feminist and traditional, of women's intimate relationships. This study thus aimed to understand the experiences of single women who have had intimate relationships with married men, to empower them as well as the mental health professionals and educators who work with this particular clientele.

Negative effects of oophorectomy (castration, or removal of the ovaries) on a woman's sexual functioning, mood and body image have been documented in previous studies, but these studies did not measure vaginal blood flow and often did not include a non-surgical control group. Five groups of women aged 35 to 55 years were studied, a non-surgical control group (CTL), a hysterectomy-only group (TAH, at least one ovary intact) and three oophorectomy groups: an untreated group (BSO), women on estrogen-replacement therapy (ERT) and women on androgen-estrogen replacement therapy (HRT). The interview/questionnaire assessed mood, body image and sexual functioning (sexual desire, arousal, orgasm, interpersonal sexual activities). In a second session completed by 58 and 129 subjects (45%), a vaginal photoplethysmograph measured vaginal blood flow in response to an erotic stimulus while subjects concurrently monitored subjective arousal. Overall, the BSO and ERT groups had significantly lower self-reported desire and arousal. Body image as measured by a new scale, 'body comfort', was significantly poorer in the BSO group. The hysterectomy groups had more sexual problems than the control group. Further, about a third of the CTL group reported positive changes in body image and sexuality in the previous 5 years. This effect was attenuated in the TAH, HRT and ERT groups and almost absent in the BSO group. No significant group differences were obtained however, on mood, or vaginal blood flow and subjective arousal to an erotic stimulus. Vaginal blood flow and subjective arousal were significantly correlated. The possibility that these findings may be due to differential levels of testosterone in the various groups is discussed.

Five studies examined the possible influence of the sexual double standard on women's contraceptive behavior via sexual attitudes and social norms. In Study 1, longitudinal diary data from a community sample of 62 women showed that women's contraceptive behavior in ongoing sexual relationships was quadratically associated with sexual attitude. Study 2 showed that contraceptive behavior in initial and ongoing sexual encounters differed significantly in a sample of 52 university women. In initial encounters there was a greater reliance on condoms and a greater risk of unprotected intercourse. Studies 3, 4 and 5 used a person perception paradigm to examine women's perceptions of a female contraceptive provider in an initial sexual encounter. In Study 3, 57 women rated a female condom provider in a casual encounter as less nice, less socially acceptable, and her behavior as less appropriate than when her partner provided a condom. However, the target was rated as less wise if she had unprotected intercourse. In Study 4 (N = 249), a pill condition was added and the influence of sexual attitudes was assessed. Relative to when her partner provided a condom, women rated the target as less wise and less nice if she was on the pill, but they rated her as more wise when she provided a condom. Negative sexual attitudes were associated with more negative reactions but generally did not interact with contraceptive condition. In Study 5, 96 women rated the target as a function of who provided a condom (her vs. him) and four properties of the romantic relationship. Providing a condom did not result in negative evaluations in a committed relationship. In a non-committed relationship, when the woman provided a condom she was perceived as less nice but more wise. Furthermore, women used intimacy as a cue for commitment, but did not perceive intimacy alone as adequate justification for intercourse. The results of these five studies suggest that social norms may exist which discourag

Typescript. / Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1974. / Bibliography: leaves 199-210. / xi, 210 leaves ill

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Wang, Guan. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2011. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 169-172). / Abstracts in English and Chinese ; includes Chinese. / Abstract --- p.i / 論文摘要 --- p.i / Declaration of Anonymity and Confidentiality --- p.ii / Chapter Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter Chapter 2 --- The Moralists --- p.25 / Chapter Chapter 3 --- The Mainstreams --- p.73 / Chapter Chapter 4 --- The Radicals --- p.110 / Chapter Chapter 5 --- Conclusion --- p.140 / Chapter Appendix: --- Interview Protocol --- p.167 / References Cited --- p.169

This thesis is an analysis of medical and popular views toward female sexuality in late seventeenth century England (1660-1696), based on the study of learned vernacular medical texts, personal sources and popular literature. In that period, women's subordinate social status to men was largely determined by their 'inferior' biology; "female illnesses" were considered to be a product of women's innate physiological 'weakness' as defined by humoral medical theory, and their reproductive organs were linked to their less restrained (than men's) sexual desires. / This research examines those medical and social ideas that defined the female sex in late seventeenth century England, in conjunction with women's own records of their experiences; it is argued that while their physiology was used to justify their inferior social status, women's degree of self-autonomy in early modern England--particularly in the area of pregnancy and childbirth--was probably far greater than would be thought from an examination of the contemporary printed sources. This thesis also demonstrates how medical and social attitudes toward women mutually reinforced the secondary position of women in that society.

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