SEX, ORGANS AND AUDIOTAPE - A DISCOURSE ANALYTIC APPROACH TO TALKING ABOUT HETEROSEXUAL SEX AND RELATIONSHIPS

This article examines talk about sex and heterosexual relationships, based on a study of 12 women and 13 men who participated in semi-structured interviews, in order to identify the 'discourses' of sexuality which inform talk about heterosexual sex. One theme in talk about heterosexuality can be understood through the 'pseudo-reciprocal gift discourse' women are described as 'giving' themselves to men, whereas men 'give' women orgasms, reproducing dominant norms of male activity and female passivity, - and thereby reinforcing the oppression of women. Men talk more graphically about sex than women -we suggest the resources of meaning concerning sex suit men's interest rather than women's, and reflect men's dominance in a (hetro)sexist society.