Publication abstracts

Braun, V. ‘“She’ll be right”? Lay attributions of cause around sexual health in Aotearoa New Zealand’. Social Science & Medicine, 67, 1817-1825,2008.

Abstract: The sexual health statistics around sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in Aotearoa (New Zealand) suggest two things: many STIs are increasing, and our STI rates are high compared to other ‘similar’ countries. What sense do ordinary New Zealander’s make of these figures? Focusing on heterosexual sex, this paper discusses lay accounts that sought to make sense of Aotearoa’s STI statistics. In total, 58 participants (38 women, 20 men) aged 16-36 (mean age 25) took part in 15 focus group discussions related to sexual health. Participants were mostly Pākehā and heterosexual. Data were analysed thematically. The predominant category of explanation was national ‘identity’ accounts. National ‘identity’ explanations invoked a particular New Zealand persona to explain our sexual health statistics. New Zealanders were characterised, sometimes contradictorily, as: binge drinkers; poor communicators; self-sufficient and stoic; conservative yet highly and complacently sexual; and ‘laid back’, which was associated with a lack of personal concern about sexual health risk. The emphasis on national identity shifts responsibility for sexual health from the individual, and suggests agency lies beyond the individual, who is fully embedded in their culture and acts according to its dictates. In terms of sexual health, this suggests a need to consider whether, and if so how, national ‘identity’ might be meaningfully invoked and deployed in sexual health promotion initiatives.

Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77-101.

Abstract: Thematic analysis is a poorly demarcated, rarely-acknowledged, yet widely-used qualitative analytic method within psychology. In this paper, we argue that it offers an accessible and theoretically-flexible approach to analysing qualitative data. We outline what thematic analysis is, locating it in relation to other qualitative analytic methods that search for themes or patterns, and in relation to different epistemological and ontological positions. We then provide clear guidelines to those wanting to start thematic analysis, or conduct it in a more deliberate and rigorous way, and consider potential pitfalls in conducting thematic analysis. Finally, we outline the disadvantages and advantages of thematic analysis. We conclude by advocating thematic analysis as a useful and flexible method for qualitative research in and beyond psychology.

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Braun, V. (2005). In search of (better) sexual pleasure: female genital ‘cosmetic’ surgery. Sexualities, 8(4), 407-424

Abstract: Female genital cosmetic surgery (FGCS) procedures are new, but increasing in popularity. In this article, I examine the role of female sexual pleasure in media (31 magazine items) and surgeon (15 interviews) accounts. FGCS was framed as enhancing female sexual pleasure, or specifically orgasm. I argue that the focus on female sexual pleasure functions to legitimate, and promote, FGCS. Further, it reaffirms normative heterosexuality, and promotes a generic model of bodies and sex. Moreover, in the context of consumer culture, media accounts have the possibility of creating problems, and their solutions, simultaneously.

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Braun, V. ‘“The women are doing it for themselves”: The rhetoric of choice and agency around female genital ‘cosmetic surgery’’. Australian Feminist Studies. In press.

Abstract: A common theme in accounts of ‘designer vagina’ surgery – surgery to aesthetically alter aspects of women’s genitalia – is that surgery is being undertaken for the woman herself, rather than anyone else. In many ways, it is framed as a choice the woman makes of her own accord, with the woman framed as an independent, not culturally-influenced, agent in charge of the process of bodily alteration. This paper provides evidence of this theme, from media and surgeon accounts. Such constructions were a crucial way these procedures were rhetorically represented as opposite to an often unnamed other practice: ‘female genital mutilation’. In this way, genital surgery is legitimated as ‘cosmetic’ rather than ‘mutilation’. The paper includes a theoretical discussion about deployment of the rhetoric of choice and individual agency in discourse around female genital cosmetic surgery, and the implications of this for women’s bodily satisfaction or distress, as well as the surgery.

Braun, V., & Tiefer, L. ‘The ‘designer vagina’ and the pathologisation of female genital diversity: interventions for change’. Radical Psychology. In press.

Abstract: The so called ‘designer vagina’ has become part of everyday popular culture in the west, but its existence and promotion changes the very nature of women’s genitalia. In this paper we provide an analysis of the emergence of female genital cosmetic surgery (FGCS), locating it within other contemporary and historical cultural trends and practices. We demonstrate how women’s genital diversity is undergoing a (re)pathologisation through the discourse and practice of the surgery, with a ‘perfect vulva’ now easily identifiable. Difference and diversity are medicalised, and rendered problematic. We argue that activist intervention is necessary to challenge this medicalisation and pathologisation, and discuss an action taken by a feminist anti-medicalisation group, “The New View Campaign.”

Farvid, P., & Braun, V. ‘‘Most of us guys are raring to go anytime, anyplace, anywhere’: Male and female sexuality in Cosmopolitan and Cleo.’ Sex Roles, 55, 295-310, 2006.

Abstract: Women’s magazines are a popular site for analysis of socio-cultural messages about gender, sex, and sexuality. We analyzed six consecutive issues of Cosmopolitan and Cleo to identify the ways in which they construct and represent male and female sexuality. Overall, male sexuality was prioritised, ‘real’ heterosex was depicted as penetrative, and orgasm was given precedence. Two main accounts of male and female sexuality were identified. Men’s need for (great) sex positioned men as easily aroused and sexually satisfied, but women as needing to develop ‘great’ sexual skills to keep their men from ‘straying.’ Accounts of pleasure, performance, and the male ego represented men as concerned about women’s pleasure, about their own sexual performance and as sensitive about suggested sexual ‘inadequacies.’ We discuss the implications of these constructions for women’s gendered (sexual) subjectivity, sexual practices, and identities. Request a copy of the paper.

Terry, G., & Braun, V. ‘"When I was a bastard": Constructions of maturity in men's accounts of masculinity’. Journal of Gender Studies. In press.

Abstract: Social constructionist work has demonstrated how the performance of heterosexuality for (heterosexual) men is unarguably tied to the construction of their masculine identities. In this paper, we draw on Wetherell & Edley’s (1999) theorisation of ‘imaginary positions’ as it pertains to masculine identity formation, to make sense of 15 New Zealand men’s accounts of sex in long-term heterosexual relationships. Such relationships were constructed as a ‘safe space’ in which to resist a negative (former) imaginary position of the ‘immature self’ and in which to construct a positive (current) position of the ‘loving, enlightened, egalitarian, mature self’. Although this suggests a positive reconstruction of male sexuality in New Zealand (within the context of long-term heterosexual relationships) these positions remain constructed in a manner which relies on traditional masculine notions of independence and autonomy. This emphasises the fluidity of masculinity, and the way in which certain styles become more

Braun, V., Schmidt, J., Gavey, N., & Fenaughty, J. (in press). Sexual coercion among gay and bisexual men in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Journal of Homosexuality.

Abstract: Until recently, sexual coercion among gay men has been regarded as virtually oxymoronic. Discourses of male sexuality as ever-present and driven, and discourses of masculinity that portray men as in control and invulnerable, converge to almost disavow the possibilities that sex could be unwanted by men, or that men could be vulnerable to being pressured into sex against their will. This article reports on interviews with 19 gay and bisexual men about their experiences of forced, coerced, or unwanted sex. We identified four general patterns in these accounts: (1) incidents involving physical force; (2) experiences in which a man’s ability to refuse sex was compromised by intoxication; (3) dynamics where young and inexperienced men were coerced or pressured into unwanted sex; and (4) situations in which men felt obligated to engage in unwanted sex. Specific issues included: barriers to reporting sexual assault; power dynamics in intergenerational sex; and the difficulty of refusing unwanted sex. Importantly, many of the factors identified as driving sexual coercion relate not to gay sexuality per se, but rather to masculine sexuality. Conversely, some of the factors relating to men’s vulnerability to coercion were exacerbated by some features of gay sexual culture; in particular those aspects associated with existing in a marginalized territory within a wider heteronormative context.

Braun, V., Terry, G., Gavey, N., & Fenaughty, J. ‘‘Risk’ and sexual coercion among gay and bisexual men in Aotearoa/New Zealand – key informant accounts’. Culture, Health & Sexuality, 11(2), 111-124, 2009.

Abstract:Research over the past decade on rape and sexual coercion among gay and bisexual men has shown that significant numbers of men report some form of unwanted or coerced sexual experience. Most studies have investigated the prevalence and impact of sexual assault, with little exploration of the nature and meanings of sexual coercion. This paper contributes to understandings of the latter, analysing the notion of ‘risk’ as it appeared in the talk of 23 key informants we interviewed. These informants offered expert perspectives on the issue of sexual coercion and unwanted sex among gay and bisexual men, based on their professional and community experience. Thematic analysis lead us to identify two predominant patterns of talk around risk: a focus on sociocultural contexts as risky for sexual coercion, and a focus on certain types of individuals as vulnerable and ‘at risk’ of sexual coercion. Accounts of individual risk fit with currently dominant prevention models, which work to strengthen individuals’ abilities to avoid or resist coercion. The accounts which emphasised context fit with recent theorising which suggests broader interventions are also necessary to prevent sexual coercion, ones which challenge normative constructions of sexuality and sexual practice.

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Vares, T., & Braun V. (2006). Spreading The Word, But What Word Is That? Viagra and male sexuality in popular culture. Sexualities, 9, 315-332

Abstract:Viagra was released in 1998 and, as Abraham Morgentaler (2003: 1) so aptly wrote, ‘the world has not been the same since’. Representations of Viagra appeared in a variety of popular cultural and media texts and participated in the ‘craze’ known as ‘Viagramania’. Drawing on, and extending the work of Meika Loe (2004) in the United States, we explore some of the changes in depictions of Viagra and masculine sexualities in the New Zealand context under the framings: ‘Viagra-as-Joke’, ‘Legitimate Viagra’ (which includes ‘Romance Drug Viagra’ and ‘Masculinity Pill Viagra’), and ‘Party Pill Viagra’. We suggest that changes in popular portrayals of Viagra from 1998 to the present, as well as a decrease in the range of popular genres/forms in which Viagra appears, contribute to a narrowing in discourses of masculine sexuality in which the emphasis is increasingly on penile performance and enhancement.

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Braun, V., & Wilkinson, S. (2005). Vagina equals woman? On genitals and gendered identity. Women's Studies International Forum, 28 (6), 509-522

Abstract: Gendered identity is often assumed to be predicated on the prior existence of dichotomously sexed bodies: penis equating to maleness and vagina (or the absence of a penis) equating to femaleness. But is it experienced in this way? We analyse talk about the vagina and female gendered identity in focus group (and interview) data collected from 55 women that explores this very issue. Women talked about genitals and identity in four ways: they affirmed a link between having a vagina and being a woman; they explored this link though associated functions (heterosex and reproduction); they questioned the inevitability of the link; and they attempted disruption of the link (although this frequently served only to reinstate the normativity of it). The implications of this analysis for theory and practice are discussed.

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Braun, V., & Wilkinson, S. (2003). The vagina: Liability or asset? POWS Review, 5, 28-42.

Abstract: Social science research on women’s experiences of having a vagina is virtually non-existent. In this paper, we address this gap, and present an analysis of data collected from 55 women talking about the vagina in individual and group interviews. Two overarching themes found in women’s talk – the vagina as liability, and the vagina as asset – are identified and discussed. ‘The vagina as liability’ includes ‘negative’ accounts of the vagina, in which notions of nastiness and dirtiness, anxieties, and vulnerability are evident. ‘The vagina as asset’ section includes more positive accounts of the vagina, where satisfaction, power, and pleasure are articulated. These various meanings of the vagina reported by women themselves map onto culturally available representations of the vagina. We conclude that we need to continue to look for ways to disrupt the negative meanings associated with the vagina, for women’s genital health and sexual wellbeing.

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Braun, V., & Kitzinger, C. (2001). Telling it straight? Dictionary definitions of women's genitals. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 5, 214-232.

Abstract: Feminist concerns about the social representation of sex, sexuality, and sexual organs have included analyses of their representation both in dictionaries and in medical texts. Drawing on feminist and social constructionist work, we analysed entries for ‘clitoris’ and ‘vagina’, using entries for ‘penis’ as a comparison, in 12 medical and 16 English language dictionaries. Both ‘vagina’ and ‘clitoris’ were overwhelmingly defined by their location in a female body, whereas the penis was defined in terms of function. Description of sex/sexuality was frequently omitted from both vaginal and clitoral definitions, and women’s genitals continue to be defined in relation to an implicit penile norm. Three assumptions informed these definitions – that female sexuality is passive (and male sexuality active), the women’s genitals are ‘absence’ (and men’s are ‘presence’), and that genitals are used for heterosexual sex – explicitly coitus. We suggest that these definitions present, as natural biological fact, common-sense sexist and heterosexist assumptions about female and male bodies and sexualities.

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Braun, V., & Kitzinger, C. (2001). 'Snatch', 'hole', or 'honey pot'? Semantic categories and the problem of non-specificity in female genital slang. Journal of Sex Research, 38, 146-158.

Abstract: Two questionnaire studies on female genital slang (FGTs) are presented. Study One explored semantic categories in 317 different FGTs (and 351 different male genital terms [MGTs]) collected from 156 females and 125 males. Data were coded into 17 categories, and tested for sex differences. More FGTs were coded standard slang, euphemism, space, receptacle, abjection, hair, animal, or money. More MGTs were coded personification, gender identity, edibility, danger, or nonsense. Study Two used 49 FGTs to investigate the extent to which slang provides a consistent specific vocabulary for female genitals. The 251 respondents commented on five terms each. Respondents absolutely agreed on meaning for only 4% of terms. The implications of both findings for women’s genital experiences and sexuality are discussed.

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Braun, V., & Kitzinger, C. (2001). The perfectible vagina: Size matters. Culture Health & Sexuality, 3, 263-277.

Abstract: With the construction of women’s genitals as problematic, the “private” female body becomes a site for potential improvement. Socio-cultural accounts of vaginal size construct a tight (but not too tight) vagina as desirable, and a “loose” vagina as undesirable. The importance of size is evident in contexts as diverse as slang, comedy, and surgical practices to tighten the vagina. After identifying the desirability of tightness (in the west), we analyse talk collected from women in individual and group interviews, and in undergraduate tutorials on intersex. In women’s talk, we found a curious pattern: women identified the cultural desirability of a tight vagina, and noted negative uses to which this is put (such as positioning women with “loose” vaginas as promiscuous). However, when women articulated personal concerns about vaginal size, it was almost always about being too tight. We argue that constructions around size are problematic because they create another site of bodily concern for women, and are used to control and abuse women. We suggest that they also reflect a disregard of women’s sexual pleasure, and a lack of familiarity with the functions of the vagina.

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Braun, V. & Wilkinson, S. (2001). Socio-cultural representations of the vagina. Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology, 19, 17-32.

Abstract: Although the vagina is a rare topic in the social science literature, numerous socio-cultural representations of the vagina can be found throughout western societies. Such representations offer a range of cultural resources for making sense of the vagina and its functions, and have implications for women’s health and wellbeing. In this paper, we identify and overview seven persistent negative representations of the vagina: the vagina as inferior to the penis; the vagina as absence; the vagina as (passive) receptacle for the penis; the vagina as sexually inadequate; the vagina as disgusting; the vagina as vulnerable and abused; and the vagina as dangerous. In the last sections, we argue that in order to promote women’s sexual and reproductive health, it is necessary to challenge such negative representations, and we offer some alternative – and much more positive – representations of the vagina.

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Braun, V., Gavey, N., & McPhillips, K. (2003). The “fair deal”? Unpacking accounts of reciprocity in heterosex. Sexualities, 6(2), 237-261.

Abstract: Reciprocity is a basic premise of egalitarian relationships, and is typically depicted as a ‘good thing’ within heterosexual sex and relationships. Here we examine a discourse of reciprocity – articulated as orgasm for both partners – evident in accounts of heterosex collected from 15 heterosexual women and 15 men. We argue that notions of reciprocity are not necessarily as liberatory as they might seem, as they do not occur in a social or sexual vacuum. In conjunction with other dominant sexual meanings, a discourse of reciprocity produces entitlements and obligations which can render ‘choice’ in heterosex problematic, particularly for women.

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McPhillips, K., Braun, V., & Gavey, N. (2001). Defining (hetero) sex: How imperative is the 'coital imperative'? Women's Studies International Forum, 24, 229-240.

Abstract: It has been claimed that a “coital imperative” exists in (at least) Western cultures, which renders intercourse as the quintessence of heterosexual sex. Moreover, this imperative is taken for granted as the most normal and natural form of heterosex. We interrogate definitions of sex in the talk of 15 women and 15 men to ask “how imperative is the coital imperative?” We identify some of the ways in which intercourse is prioritized, over and above other sexual practices, as “real” sex. However, we also draw attention to tensions and fissures in participants’ talk about what sex is. We suggest that these features of the talk about sex and intercourse reveal that alternative discursive spaces do exist (albeit in a limited and less accessible form) through which the hegemony of the coital imperative can be challenged. We conclude that there are strong justifications for promoting noncoital sex as one option for safer heterosex.

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Gavey, N., McPhillips, K., & Braun, V. (1999). Interruptus coitus: Heterosexuals accounting for intercourse. Sexualities, 2, 35-68.

Abstract: 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.

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Braun, V. & Gavey, N. (1999). "Bad girls" and "good girls"? Sexuality and cervical cancer. Women's Studies International Forum, 22, 203-213.

Abstract: The relationship between sex and cervical cancer has sometimes been used to position women who develop cervical cancer as promiscuous and, therefore, sexually bad. This article explores sexual discourses informing cervical cancer prevention policy. We contend that a good girl/bad girl discourse influenced the particular direction of policy development. This historically pervasive discourse positions women who have sex outside certain ‘acceptable’ heterosexual relationships as, at best, promiscuous, and, at worst, as ‘whores’. When this discourse is prominent, publicising the association between sexuality and cervical cancer may deter women from being screened. New Zealand’s cervical cancer prevention policy has therefore downplayed the relationship between sexual behaviour and cervical cancer. We question whether or not it is in women’s best interests for policy to submit to, rather than directly challenge, such sexist discourses. Unarticulated norms around heterosexual intercourse and heterosexuality were also found to inform cervical cancer prevention policy.

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Braun, V. & Gavey, N. (1999). "With the best of reasons": Cervical cancer prevention policy and the suppression of sexual risk factor information. Social Science & Medicine, 48, 1463-1474.

Abstract: Cervical cancer is a very common but largely preventable cancer. Despite considerable medical knowledge of risk and even causal factors, possible social-behavioural strategies for the primary prevention of cervical cancer have rarely been explored as a viable addition to cervical screening. We examine key policy documents and interview 18 key informants on cervical cancer prevention in New Zealand. Using a discourse analytic approach we identify and discuss two discourses (which we have labelled ‘protectionism’ and ‘right to know’) which inform positions on whether or not women should be provided with information regarding sexual risk factors for cervical cancer. Cervical cancer prevention policy in New Zealand, which largely reflects a protectionist discourse, suppresses sexual risk factor information and focuses exclusively on cervical screening. The right to know discourse informs an alternative position, which contends that women have a right to be informed about risk factors. We discuss these positions in relation to questions about women's rights, the principle of informed choice, and attempts to judge what is in women's ‘best interests.’

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Braun, V. & Gavey, N. (1998). Exploring the possibility of sexual-behavioural primary prevention interventions for cervical cancer. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 22, 353-359.

Abstract: Consistent causal and risk factors for cervical cancer indicate that primary prevention may be beneficial for cervical cancer prevention. However, social or behavioural primary prevention strategies are seldom discussed in the prevention literature. This paper uses thematic analyses of interviews with key informants involved with cervical cancer prevention policy development in New Zealand to explore the possibility of sexual-behavioural primary prevention. While many informants perceived primary prevention to be important, others were cautiously accepting or opposed to it. Many concerns were raised that highlighting a preventable (sexually transmitted) causal factor might lead to blame and stigma around cervical cancer, and reduce participation in cervical screening. Much of the support for primary prevention was dependent on it being conducted (indirectly) in the context of young people’s sexual health education. Positions on primary prevention appeared to be informed by common presumptions about what happens in the 'real world' and the commonality of human papillomavirus in the general population. We contend that the possible health benefits from sexual-behavioural strategies for cervical cancer primary prevention need further exploration.

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Gavey, N. & Braun, V. (1997). Ethics and the publication of clinical case material. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 28, 399-404.

Abstract:The clinical case study is valued as a means of developing practice-related knowledge and educating professional psychologists. Current psychological codes of ethics are ambiguous regarding the application of basic ethical principles, such as informed consent, to the publication of clinical case material for scholarly and educational purposes. Discussion is currently needed to clarify principles related to the ethical use of such material. In contributing to this process, the authors (a) discuss some of the complex issues involved and (b) present data on the views and practices of 64 respondents to an international survey of authors who have written articles containing clinical case material.

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