This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Gavey, N. Articles by Braun, V. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Interruptus Coitus: Heterosexuals Accounting for Intercourse

University of Auckland

Kathryn McPhillips

University of Auckland

Virginia Braun

University of Auckland

Intercourse remains the definitive heterosexual act, implied by terms such as `having sex', `making love', or even just `doing it'. However, the particular bodily mechanics of intercourse mean it carries considerably higher risks (of disease and unwanted conception for example) than other forms of sex. Because of this, we suggest a need to question the taken-for-grantedness of intercourse in heterosex. Drawing on data from interviews with 15 women and 15 men, we examine discourses and significations which continue to prioritize intercourse over other forms of sex. Intercourse was described as natural and normal, and as signifying intimacy, closeness, and love within heterosexual relationships. Somewhat paradoxically, it was also pragmatically described as easy and non-intimate. The tensions and inconsistencies created by competing discourses and alternative significations may offer a space to destabilize the taken-for-granted normality and naturalness of intercourse. Furthermore, a strategic construction of heterosexual sex around pleasure may help shift intercourse from being the inevitable goal and endpoint of heterosex to being one sexual possibility among many.

Key Words: discourse • heterosexuality • sexual intercourse

Sexualities, Vol. 2, No. 1, 35-68 (1999)
DOI: 10.1177/136346099002001003


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				E. Gilbert, J. M. Ussher, and Y. Hawkins Accounts of disruptions to sexuality following cancer: the perspective of informal carers who are partners of a person with cancer Health (London) , September 1, 2009; 13(5): 523 - 541. [Abstract] [PDF]

				S. Hinchliff, M. Gott, and K. Wylie Holding onto womanhood: a qualitative study of heterosexual women with sexual desire loss Health (London) , July 1, 2009; 13(4): 449 - 465. [Abstract] [PDF]

				M. Lavie-Ajayi and H. Joffe Social Representations of Female Orgasm J Health Psychol, January 1, 2009; 14(1): 98 - 107. [Abstract] [PDF]

				V. Grace, A. Potts, N. Gavey, and T. Vares The Discursive Condition of Viagra Sexualities, July 1, 2006; 9(3): 295 - 314. [Abstract] [PDF]

				P. Lowe Contraception and Heterosex: An Intimate Relationship Sexualities, February 1, 2005; 8(1): 75 - 92. [Abstract] [PDF]

				V. Braun, N. Gavey, and K. McPhillips The `Fair Deal'? Unpacking Accounts of Reciprocity in Heterosex Sexualities, May 1, 2003; 6(2): 237 - 261. [Abstract] [PDF]

				D. Gadd Reading Between the Lines: Subjectivity and Men's Violence Men and Masculinities, April 1, 2003; 5(4): 333 - 354. [Abstract] [PDF]

				N. VITELLONE Condoms and the Making of Sexual Differences in AIDS Heterosexual Culture Body Society, September 1, 2002; 8(3): 71 - 94. [Abstract] [PDF]

				A. Weatherall and A. Priestley A Feminist Discourse Analysis of Sex `Work' Feminism Psychology, August 1, 2001; 11(3): 323 - 340. [Abstract] [PDF]