The discursive construction of low-risk to sexually transmitted diseases between women who are sexually active with women

Abstract

This paper uses a discursive analytical method to explore dominant discourses concerning the sexual health of women who have sex with women. In-depth interviews were conducted with a cross-cultural sample of women from England and Brazil. Sex between women was discursively constructed as 'safe', and women who have sex with women were seen as being at low to negligible risk of contracting/transmitting sexually transmitted infections. Analysis identified two discourses underlying these constructions: a binaries discourse which focused on dichotomies of gender, sexuality and risk; and a sexual double-standard discourse, which focused on the positioning of sex between women as safe and the use of barrier methods of protection as indicative of not engaging in or fully enjoying the sexual act.