Conflicting contraceptive norms for men: equal responsibility versus women's bodily autonomy

Culture, Health & Sexuality
Laurie James-HawkinsChristie Sennott

Abstract

Most research investigating how men and women in heterosexual relationships negotiate contraceptive use focuses on the women's point of view. Using a sample of 44 interviews with men attending a western US university, this study examines norms governing men's participation in contraceptive use and pregnancy prevention and their responses to those norms. The paper demonstrates how competing norms around sexual health decision-making and women's bodily autonomy contribute to unintended outcomes that undermine young people's quest for egalitarian sexual relationships. While men largely agree that responsibility for sexual health decision-making should be shared with women, they also believe that women should have power over their own bodies and sexual health. However, the coexistence of these two competing norms - which call for both equal responsibility in decision-making and women's bodily autonomy - results in a disconnect between men saying that sexual health decision-making should be equal, but not always participating equally. Thus, men largely give contraceptive decision-making power over to women, putting the burden of pregnancy prevention onto women and letting men off the hook. It is concluded that men's negotiation of t...Continue Reading

References

Feb 29, 2000·Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy·D Civic
Feb 3, 2009·Contraception·Rebecca D MerkhKay Armstrong
Feb 20, 2010·Culture, Health & Sexuality·Tina R RaineCynthia C Harper
Mar 23, 2012·Advances in Life Course Research·Christie Sennott, Stefanie Mollborn
Apr 3, 2012·Contraception·Marion W CarterLinda Hock-Long
Apr 6, 2013·Review of General Psychology : Journal of Division 1, of the American Psychological Association·Justin R GarciaAnn M Merriwether
Sep 4, 2014·Qualitative Health Research·Laurie James-Hawkins, Christie Sennott
Nov 13, 2014·Qualitative Health Research·Stefanie Mollborn, Christie Sennott
Jul 19, 2015·American Journal of Men's Health·Rachel L WrightDavid K Turok

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Citations

Apr 27, 2019·Journal of Medical Ethics·Arianne Shahvisi, Fionnuala Finnerty
Oct 4, 2019·Culture, Health & Sexuality·Katherine Lacasse, Theresa E Jackson
May 7, 2020·Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health·Stephanie ArteagaAnu Manchikanti Gómez
Dec 4, 2021·The European Journal of Contraception & Reproductive Health Care : the Official Journal of the European Society of Contraception·Stephanie MeierAndrea L DeMaria

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Methods Mentioned

BETA
contraception

Software Mentioned

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NVivo

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