different dimensions of communication, results also showed that the overall quality of communication (openness with one’s partner and feelings of emotional safety) was significantly more influential than sexual self-disclosure or frequency of communication alone. These findings may shed light on women’s tendency to stress the importance of communication while putting it into practice, which can be much more difficult given sexual scripts and misconceptions about attitudes of the opposite sex telling women to be passive. Despite this clear difficulty for women to express themselves, Mallory’s findings are a hopeful sign that communication can be effective in increasing sexual satisfaction.
The Masters et al.’s (2013) study on how people interact with traditional sexual scripts also found communication to be a key factor in healthy and satisfying sexual relationships. Results showed that couples who veered the farthest from traditional sexual scripts, especially those who were consciously breaking norms, frequently expressed real effort to conduct their sexual relationships in an equal manner. Some of the conforming women, in regards to equal pleasure, informed consent, and consequent sexual satisfaction, were unquestioning about the inevitability of disappointment due to their sex. Another important insight Masters et al. (2013) draw from their findings pertains to the high conformity groups and how they contribute the most to perpetuating traditional sexual scripts on the societal level.
Sexual scripts are embedded into cultures that are ultimately made up of individuals who persist in a cycle that can be hard to break. However, “disjunctures” (Masters et al. ) – or the real attitudes and/or behaviors that do not match up to what they themselves acknowledge to be the norm – in a person’s interpersonal and intrapsychic life, is where change in sexual scripts are most likely to occur. With individual and societal contributions to traditional sexual scripts being two sides of the same coin, positive media representation of sexual women and education that emphasizes sexual pleasure as much as it emphasizes sexual risks, should help to liberate women at those sites of disjuncture where they can adopt more confidence and foster a greater sense of agency over their own sexual pleasure. << BACK
