"I don't sit and think about men and become aroused" : a study on the development of female heterosexuality in Swedisch women

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“I don’t sit and think about men and become aroused”

A study on the development of female heterosexuality in Swedish women

Malin Hidestrand 11263032

Thesis Supervisor: Marie-Louise Janssen Second supervisor: Margriet van Heesch

University of Amsterdam

Master Sociology: Gender, sexuality and society Spring of 2017

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2 Thank you,

To all the women who participated.

To all the women that have shaped my life.

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Abstract

The aim with this thesis is to create a deeper understanding of the different aspects that compose female heterosexuality among Swedish women and provide insight to how female heterosexuality is constructed in Sweden through first hand narratives from Swedish women in different stages of their lives. The research questions are “What are the key components that make up a heterosexual identity among a group of Swedish women and how are they created?”, “How has Swedish sexual- and gender politics developed over the past 70 years and can this have affected female sexuality among Swedish women today?”. How sexual fluidity is incorporated into female heterosexuality is also researched. In depth interviews were conducted with six Swedish women, three born in the 1940’s – 1960’s and three born in the 1980’s to 1990’s. The results have been analyzed through the concepts of heteronormativity, sexual scripts and sexual fluidity and show that heterosexuality is an identity that is created through cultural heteronorms and is more of a mental experience than a physical attraction. The most important factors when it came to heterosexual experiences were instead intimacy, comfort and safety. All women except one had experienced an interest towards other women, making this sample more sexually fluid than in many previous studies. For the women that had had same sex experiences, these were seen as purely sexual expressions and not romantic one’s, unlike heterosexual experiences, and in many cases confirmed the heteroromantic. The availability of information regarding sexual health in Sweden has been the strongest contributing societal factor in shaping the way women view their gender and sexuality.

Key words: Heterosexuality, Heteronormativity, Female sexuality, Women, Sweden, Sexual politics, Gender politics, Sexual fluidity.

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1. Introduction

In a newly released survey Sweden was ranked as the best country in the world for women, scoring the highest points for gender equality, due to, among other factors, anti-sexism laws and shared parental leave (Haynie, 2017). Sweden has since long been a country that takes pride in being modern and forward thinking regarding equality of gender, sexuality and sex (Kaufman, Bernhardt & Goldscheider, 2016: Rydström, 2004). Indeed, growing up as a woman in Sweden this was what I myself was told and am still being told when I question something. However modern Sweden to this day claims to be, there have been and still are many governmental restrictions to sexual freedom such as the prohibition of certain gay spaces, laws against prostitution and regulations of pornographic content (Lalos, 2000: Rydström, 2004). This duality of Swedish sexual – and gender politics deserves to be explored as it can help create an understanding as to how the people of Sweden, and in this case specifically the women, have come to earn a reputation as sexually liberated and equal and how the duality may affect the creation of a sexual identity as a woman in Sweden today.

Since the Kinsey report on female sexuality was published in Sweden, first in 1968 (Kinsey, Pomeroy, Martin & Gebhard, 1953) and it was assumed that men and women functioned much in the same way when it came to sexuality a lot has changed. In recent years, instead of assuming that men and women’s sexual desires are similar, researchers have begun to treat female sexuality as standing apart from male sexuality. One cornerstone of this differentiation is female sexual fluidity regarding sexual orientation (Diamond, 2008). Research in the field shows that women are more likely to show sexual fluidity in sexual preferences than men. Especially self-proclaimed heterosexual women seem to, in many cases, become sexually aroused not by gender but rather the level of sexual activity (Chivers, Seto & Blanchard, 2007). Women are also more likely to consume lesbian and gay porn than men (Beltramini & Romito, 2011) and fantasize about same sex sexual encounters (Ross, Daneback & Månsson, 2012). Although women are frequently sexualized in mainstream media female voices on their own sexuality and desires are still rarely given space in Sweden motivating research with firsthand accounts of women’s sexuality. Since heterosexual women show a high sexual fluidity the complexities of female heterosexuality will be explored in this thesis.

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I aim with this thesis to create a deeper understanding of the different aspects that compose female heterosexuality among Swedish women and provide insight to how female heterosexuality is constructed in Sweden through first hand narratives from Swedish women in different stages of their lives.

1.1 Research questions

 What are the key components that make up a heterosexual identity among a group of Swedish women and how are they created?

- How is sexual fluidity incorporated into female heterosexuality?

 How has Swedish sexual- and gender politics developed over the past 70 years and can this have affected female sexuality among Swedish women today?

1.2 The concept of sexuality

To try to define what sexuality is would be a complicated feat. Indeed sexuality today may be more complex than ever, or as sociologist Jeffrey Weeks (2002) puts it; “it has become a moral and political battlefield” (Weeks, 2002:6). For this very reason, one of the very questions that is researched in this thesis relies on women’s own individual perceptions of what constitutes their sexuality. If you take the usual approach of looking the word up in a dictionary Merriam-Webster (2017) will tell you that sexuality is “the quality or state of being sexual”. The Oxford dictionary broadens the concept by offering several different definitions such as the capacity for sexual feelings, sexual orientation and sexual activity (Oxford dictionaries, 2017).

Initially, when I started on this thesis I was inclined to agree with the Merriam-Webster’s (2017) definition. However, when conducting the research this was not the definition that everyone had. During the interviews when I asked women questions regarding sexuality, some answered in a way that made me understand that they saw the word as synonymous with

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sexual orientation, in their cases meaning gender preference. Obviously it meant something different than it did for me. A broad definition of sexuality is therefore needed in order to encompass the individual voices of the women in this study. One such definition was used by The World Health Organization (2006) in preparation of their international studies on sexual health:

“Sexuality is a central aspect of being human throughout life and encompasses sex, gender identities and roles, sexual orientation, eroticism, pleasure, intimacy and reproduction. Sexuality is experienced and expressed in thoughts, fantasies, desires, beliefs, attitudes, values, behaviors, practices, roles and relationships. While sexuality can include all of these dimensions, not all of them are always experienced or expressed. Sexuality is influenced by the interaction of biological, psychological, social, economic, political, cultural, ethical, legal, historical, religious and spiritual factors.”

(WHO, 2006:5)

Viewing sexuality as a central aspect is important to understand the purpose of this study. I work from a preconception of sexuality as something that does affect every individual in different ways. For example, a person who considers themselves asexual may still feel a pressure from the rest of society to be sexually active. In this study, however, the focus is on Swedish heterosexual women, why all the women participating in this study have experienced sexual attraction mainly towards men. Most of the aspects brought forth by the WHO (2006), such as gender identities and roles, sexual orientation, eroticism, pleasure, intimacy, fantasies, desires, beliefs, attitudes, values, behaviors, practices, roles and relationships, are explored in the result section of this thesis through a sociological perspective. Another important aspect brought forth by the women in this study, seems to be a discourse of romance, whether you separate it from sex or not.

Amy Burge (2017) at the center for women’s studies at the University of York writes that women historically and to this day, more so than men, are within a discourse of romance that dictates the norms surrounding women and sex and therefore their sexuality. This means that women, in order to have sex that is “good” or approved, by both men and women, should have it out of love and in a romantic way (Burge, 2017). This gendered aspect of sexuality is

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indeed seen in this study where women either cannot separate sex from romance and love, or do so and have shameful feelings about it, or cannot see the pleasure of sex when the romance fades. Romance is in this study, as can be seen in the result section, related to heterosexuality, making it an important factor in the creation of these women’s sexualities.

Weeks (2002) also writes about history and the impact it still has on sexuality to this day. Sexuality therefore becomes dependent on the historical events before us and the accumulated personal experiences of the individual. To try to understand the sexuality of the women that have been interviewed in this thesis, therefore means that it is relevant to look at the development of Swedish sexual politics and how it may have affected the women, whether it was restricting or liberating. According to Weeks (2002) instead of seeking a new way of viewing modern sexuality, or new norms regarding it, we should seek to live with an inclusive view on sexuality. It is my hope that this thesis does not cast any judgement on how the women in it choose to express their sexuality.

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2. Theoretical framework

In this section I will present the different theoretical approaches and concepts that will be used in analyzing the results and are related to the first research question “How do swedish

heterosexual women understand the creation of their sexuality and how is sexual fluidity incorporated into female heterosexuality?”. These are the concept of heterosexuality and heteronormativity, the theory of sexual scripts and the concept of sexual fluidity.

2.1 Heterosexuality and heteronormativity

To be able to understand female heterosexuality it makes sense to view it from the concept of heteronormativity. Norms refer to something that is considered exemplary, e.g., a certain kind of behavior in a particular context. The norms we create uphold the ideals within a society or group in a certain time. Most people are often unaware of the norm structures that surround us as they themselves are bearers of the norms and help to maintain them (Lundin et al., 2015). It is only when one does not fit into the norm that one realizes that it actually exists. Heteronormativity is one of the most common norms maintained in most societies (RFSL Ungdom, 2008). It maintains the binary idea that there are two gender categories; men and women, but also the idea that men and women are each other's opposites, that they are naturally attracted to each other, complement each other and are expected to have gender specific behaviors, being heterosexual (Lundin et al., 2015; RFSL Ungdom, 2008). It is also related to the cisnorm which builds on the assumption that humans identify with and stereotypically behave in accordance with their biological sex (Lundin et al., 2015). Norms are related to the concepts of power and discrimination, as a norm-breaking behavior, such as not behaving in a fashion that is typical for your born sex, may lead to social sanctions (RFSL Ungdom, 2008).

Heteronormativity is created according to West and Zimmerman (1987) on an interpersonal level. They coined the concept of doing gender as a way to explain how gender and heteronormativity is produced and enforced. Gender, unlike sex, is a social construction and is measured by the individual behaving in more or less masculine or feminine ways and whether or not that is in accordance with the social expectations, norms, of their born sex. Gender is therefore created in everyday interactions and people who fail to follow the norm, or ”do”

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their gender, may experience social sanctions (West & Zimmerman, 1987). Butler (1990) later developed on the concept. The binary gender system is, according to Butler, cultural as it is perceived as a natural biological fact that there are only two genders. This “fact” is then accepted and acted out in our everyday lives. This is the basis for the heterosexual norm in society. By assuming that gender roles are natural and biologically significant, gender typical behavior and femininity and masculinity, is accepted and reproduced. This is referred to as the heterosexual matrix (Butler, 1990).

As mentioned, a heteronormative society is based around a binary gender view, where women and men are seen differently. According to American social psychologists Suzanne J. Kessler and Wendy McKenna (1978) we constantly make gender attributions when we meet people. This attributions or assumptions are made from cultural views on what is considered male or female. In their research Kessler and McKenna (1978) found that people are automatically coded as male until a female attribute is detected. This means that in a heteronormative society men are seen as the norm and women have to make an effort to been seen as “other” in order to not be misgendered. There is therefore less effort to be a man than to be a woman and women have more gendered markers that need to be “added”. Being a woman in this society entails wearing certain feminine pieces of clothing, a feminine haircut, make up etc.… It seems to be that we really are living in a man’s world.

Berlant and Warner (1998) also write about the concept of heteronormativity and further argue that it exists on a structural level that privileges heterosexuality and heterosexual practices. Heterosexuality is hegemonic and has a profound impact on every aspect of our lives, not only sexual practices:

A whole field of social relations becomes intelligible as heterosexuality, and this privatized sexual culture bestows on its sexual practices a tacit sense of rightness and normalcy. This sense of rightness - embedded in things and not just in sex - is what we call heteronormativity. Heteronormativity is more than ideology, or prejudice, or phobia against gays and lesbians; it is produced in almost every aspect of the forms and arrangements of social life.

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Heterosexuality extends far beyond the bedroom and affects and restricts in areas such as politics, business, taxation, death, possession of objects etc. (Berlant & Warner, 1998:554). In Sweden, same-sex marriage became legalized in 2009. By many this is seen as a way of regulating people’s sexuality. Before 2009, homosexual couples could obtain a partnership status to have almost the same legal rights as married heterosexual couples. The reasoning behind this proposition when it was brought forth in the early 1990’s was that homosexual people living in marriage like context would be less promiscuous which would prevent the spreading of Hiv (Holmberg, 1993). Though marriage was earlier reserved for man and woman, homosexual couples were encouraged to behave like heterosexual people as this has been seen as the preferred way of living, even in Sweden. On the other hand, because they could not get the same marital status, homosexual couples could not adopt a child. In the Swedish investigation on this, heteronormativity is brought up. Since it is a societal norm, there was a concern that children growing up in a “homosexual home environment” would experience identity problems and feelings of being abnormal (SOU 1984:63). It is clear through this example that it has been seen as easier to adapt to the heteronorm than to change the norm itself.

2.2 The theory of sexual scripts

To further understand female sexuality I will use the theory of sexual scripts in my analysis. William Simon and John H. Gagnon (1984) established the theory of sexual scripts on the basis that human sexuality is not a constant. Sexuality was approached as a behavior that is both responsive to changes and individual. A certain type of behavior cannot occur without scripting and is dependent on different symbols or cues to be able to come forth. The creation of sexual scripts occurs on three levels: cultural, interpersonal and intrapsychic. This means that scripts are created from what is culturally appropriate behavior at certain times, by trying to resolve discrepancies between what is appropriate and desired through personal experiences and the creation of personal fantasies. Culturally the individual may create certain scripts based on, for example, what is seen in the media or the religious context that they are in. What is culturally appropriate may therefore differ between different groups of people and norms may overlap. On the interpersonal level it is through interaction that we create scripts, for example when we compromise our sexual desires with our partner’s during intercourse. The intrapsychic level, our personal fantasies may be influenced by both the other levels

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(Carpenter, 2010). Some sexual fantasies may also be created from abstaining from those scenarios in real life. According to the theory of sexual scripts sexuality is not important in itself but can gain meaning either when it is seen as significant by society or by the individual as a result of personal experiences (Simon & Gagnon, 1984). This would mean, for example, that a person who considers themselves asexual may still view sexuality or a lack thereof as important in a society that values it as such or that being sexually assaulted may give sexuality importance and change sexual scripts on an intrapersonal level.

As an individual you are constantly observing yourself and try to perform self-control in order to get desired responses from others (Simon & Gagnon, 1984). You are therefore aware both of yourself and of the other. Perhaps nowhere is this more present than in the sexual act where most people feel a need to please their sexual partner(s). Sexual scripts function to make the self allow the individual to act on certain desires and to try to acquire access to certain desired experiences. Sexual scripting is however highly affected by societal norms and is bound to the collective notions of proper sexual activities. Few desires are ever acted upon outwardly but are instead acted within in the form of fantasies. A lot of our sexual acts are therefore compromises (Simon & Gagnon, 1984). Because of the different levels where sexual scripts may be created, throughout our life course new scripts can appear based on the scripts that we have previously followed. American sociologist Laura M. Carpenter (2010) writes that “social class, sexual identity, and race/ethnicity—intersecting with gender—likewise shape life trajectories by conferring opportunities and constraints and by influencing preferences for sexual scripts” (Carpenter, 2010:162). Living as a woman in a heteronormative western context, such as Sweden, will have an effect on the sexual scripts that the individual creates. I an American study of heterosexual college students sexual scripts on campus, where, 540 students participated, the results showed that gender roles persist over all different types of sexual scripts and actions that occurred on campus, such as dating and “hooking up”. The man was most often seen as taking the initiative to more actions, this was however a stronger view among men suggesting that men are more aware of the pressure to take initiative than women. In sexual encounters women overall saw themselves as controlling about half of the actions while men saw themselves as controlling most of them, viewing the woman as less proactive, which the researchers believes may explain some male sexual entitlement in heterosexual relationships (Eaton, Rose, Interligi, Fernandez & McHugh, 2006). The fact that these gendered scripts persisted over different ethnicities could suggest that cultural sexual scripts that are gender specific may be stronger than scripts based on other factors.

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Regarding gendered scripts and women’s sexuality Simon and Gagnon (1984) use their theory to explain that women have not been sexualized based on their own desires but rather men’s. Female sexuality is therefore seen from a male point of view and anything else might be seen as a threat to both men and women as it is norm breaking. Sexual scripts are gendered and affected by the heteronorm, as mentioned above. Within heteronormative cultures, women and men are expected to behave in specific ways, usually as the opposite of one another. In many western cultures the gender norms tells us that men are sexual beings while women are not. The general population have scripts of male and female behavior and sexuality (Plummer, 2002).

2.3 Female sexual fluidity

Lisa Diamond (2008) defines sexual fluidity as a “situation-dependent flexibility in women’s sexual responsiveness” (Diamond, 2008:3). This means that regardless of their sexual orientation (hetero-, homosexual etc.) some women may, under certain circumstances, feel sexual desire to someone of a gender they commonly do not feel attraction to. For a woman considering herself as heterosexual, this would mean feeling sexually attracted to another woman. Women’s sexual or emotional desires may vary through different stages of their lives, between situations they are in or relationships that they have, and therefore becomes context based (Diamond, 2008).

As with much research, studies on human sexuality have previously mostly been conducted on men and much about female sexuality is not understood yet. The first full-blown study on female sexuality, The Kinsey report in Sexual Behavior in the Human Female, was published in 1953. It had been conducted on 6000 women and it the authors were in agreement that female and male sexuality functioned similarly (Kinsey, Pomeroy, Martin & Gebhard, 1953). In recent years however, instead of assuming that men and women’s sexual desires would function much in the same way researchers have begun to treat female sexuality as different from male sexuality and some claim more complex. One cornerstone of this differentiation is female sexual fluidity regarding sexual orientation (Diamond, 2008). Diamond (2008) views fluidity as an added component to what constructs female sexuality and does not link it to orientation, meaning that fluidity may affect a woman’s desires,

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behavior and fantasies throughout her life and in some cases manifest itself or not. Considering oneself as a heterosexual woman will surely have an effect on one’s desires but fluidity adds the possibility of same-sex desires, given the context (Diamond, 2008). According to Diamond (2008) around half of the female population will experience fluidity in sexual desires. These numbers are based on a study conducted on 100 women. Another study showed that out of 228 exclusively heterosexual female college students, 67 % had questioned their sexuality at some point. This can be compared to previous studies conducted on men where around 50 % had questioned their sexuality. Most of the straight female participants however, described same sex attraction or experiences as being different from straight experiences, separating it from romance or having it reaffirm their heterosexuality. The women who did not experience these feelings would go on to form a different sexual identity as not exclusively heterosexual (Morgan & Thompson, 2011).

In a swedish study men (n = 652) and women (n = 1250) answered a web questionnaire on sex and sexuality. The numbers showed that while men tended to be more sexually fixed, women were more fluid. Half of the female respondents compared to ⅙ of male showed fluidity, especially in their sexual fantasies (Ross, Daneback & Månsson, 2012), confirming Diamond’s (2008) numbers. Indeed when swedish sexologist Katerina Janouch asked heterosexual women to send her their favorite sexual fantasies, the most common one was sex with another woman (Janouch, 2009). A Canadian study with self-proclaimed gay and straight male and female participants (N = 91) showed similar results. The participants were exposed to pornography with various contents. Their sexual responses were measured on a self-assessment scale of level of sexual arousal and physically via recordings of their genital response. Men overall responded sexually to the gender of the actors in the viewed material, regardless of their sexual orientation. Likewise lesbian women had a higher sexual response to explicit material showing women. Heterosexual women however expressed the same level of sexual response to both male and female subjects. The conclusion was that heterosexual women responded more to the level of sexual activity than gender showing high sexual fluidity (Chivers, Seto & Blanchard, 2007). These later studies do not coincide with the earlier Kinsey report that found that men had a higher rating when it came to being equally heterosexual and homosexual than women (Kinsey et al., 1953). Although this study had a higher number than any of the other studies mentioned above it is not as relevant in time as the others. Indeed having same-sex attraction in the US in the 50’s is probably different from than nowadays.

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In an American study on the sexual identities of 38 women who were patrons in a sex stores only 15 women defined themselves as heterosexual, despite most of the women being in heterosexual relationships. The other women displayed a variety of sexual orientations. Many women also defined themselves as non-hetero despite not ever having any sexual contact with another woman. This data suggests that views on female sexuality is changing as women who are open to exploring their sexuality do not define themselves by their current relationship and the gender of their partner but rather go by their internal sexual desires and see the self as a sexual agent. As norms regarding female sexuality change women will become more and more able to define themselves and the visibility of queer categories may lead to a higher sexual fluidity among women (Better, 2014). Indeed, more women would be able to find themselves in previously unexplored territory that may take them on a new path in their sexual life.

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4. Methodology

In this methodology section of this thesis I will present the methods used to reach the aim of the study with regards to the design cycle and ethical aspects that needs to be considered when conducting a study on a topic that may be perceived as sensitive to the participants. The sampling process, gaining access to interviewees, conducting the interviews, transcribing, coding and analyzing as well as issues of validity, reliability, generalizability and ethical considerations are described below.

3.1 Research design

The study is based on qualitative research methods as the empiricism consists of face to face interviews with swedish women. The result of the study has been extracted from individual in depth - interviews with these women on the topic of sex, sexuality and sexual orientation in their own lives and in Sweden as a whole and through research on Swedish sexual- and gender poltics. An analysis of the empirical data through the chosen theoretical approaches and assumptions of this thesis was thereafter made to reach the aim of this thesis and answer the research questions of what the key components are that make up a heterosexual identity among a group of Swedish women and how they are created and how sexual fluidity is incorporated in female heterosexuality. These are presented in the second part of the Results section of this thesis (See 4.2). To better understand and be able to analyze female sexuality in Sweden, the history of swedish sexual- and gender politics is presented before that (See 4.1) and interwoven with some stories from the women themselves (Kvale & Brinkmann, 2009). The complete analysis and discussion that answers how the development of Swedish sexual- and gender politics can have affected female sexuality among Swedish women can be found in the Analysis and discussion chapter (See 5). This study has a both a deductive and an inductive approach The results of the studies has been reached partly from building on previous research and assumptions about sexuality, such as the concept of fluidity (Hennink, Hutter & Bailey, 2011). The inductive aspect consists of uncovering all different aspects that may compose the participant’s heterosexuality in order to present a rich portrayal of reality (Sohlberg & Sohlberg, 2013). Due to the study’s limited and non-random selection, assumptions made from the study will not be statically generalizable but can be considered as one way of understanding the topic.

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18 3.2 Sampling and access

The original purpose of the study was to conduct in-depth interviews with 9 women of 3 generations, mainly of 20 - 30 years, 40 - 60 years and 65+ years, 3 from each category. However due to limited access to women that were willing to participate in interviews the final outcome was a total of 6 in depth interviews, 3 with women born in the 80’s and 90’s and three with women born in the 40’s and 60’s. These belonged to two different age categories and were therefore born in different eras of sexual politics in Sweden and are in different stages of their lives, both of which could have had an impact on how these women talk about their sexuality.

Access to women to interview was made through the use of my personal network and the connections that they had in Sweden, making the sampling process based on convenience. Choosing this method I had first hand contact with the interviewees and thereby cutting out any second hand communicating through third hand parties or gatekeepers and the only permission I would need was from the interviewees themselves. During the time that I spent in Sweden to conduct interviews I did post adds with descriptions of my study (Hammersley & Atkinson, 2007) on different social media platforms in relevant groups to try to get in contact with participants as I realized the difficulty of finding interviewees to talk about sex. I did also try to sample by snowball recruitment, i.e. asking my interviewees if they knew someone that might also want to participate, assuming that they would have people in their social network that fit the criteria for the study (Hennink, Hutter & Bailey, 2011). Both of these sampling methods did however not pay of why I had to adjust the amount of interviews for the study. When snowballing one cannot fully control the sampling process and I had to rely on the word of others and trust that they did indeed ask. My difficulties in gaining access to the population may say something about the researched topic (Hammersley & Atkinson, 2007). It seems that it is indeed difficult to talk about female sexuality.

The sampling was made through a non-random selection as the selection was based on age, gender, sexuality and time spent in Sweden (Hennink, Hutter & Bailey, 2011). To be able to analyze, compare the data and answer the research question the sample was limited to women who grew up in Sweden, therefore excluding anyone who immigrated later in life as one’s sexuality may be affected by circumstances in other countries. Regarding gender and

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sexuality, the criteria were that one defined as female, gender assigned at birth therefore did matter, and that one considers oneself to be heterosexual. Other factors such as class or race were not taken into account in the sampling process as the effects of those factors were not studied in this thesis although they may have affected the responses from different interviewees.

In this thesis the interviewed women will be referred to as Berit, Brigitte, Belinda, Cajsa, Christine and Cornelia. The women with B-names were born in the 1940’s – 1960’s. The women with C-names were born in the 1980’s – 1990’s. As mentioned above, an A-generation of older women was planned as a sample group but could not be reached.

3.3 Interview guide

The intent was to make the interviews issue-focused since the purpose of them was to get personal narratives of the women’s experiences (Weiss, 1994). The interviews were semi-structured as I made use of an interview-guide (see Appendix Interview guide) with some common themes and questions belonging to each of those themes with the intent to at least start the interviews of. Since I was looking for rich subjective narratives on the topics of sex and sexuality in Sweden for women I wanted to be weary of not going completely off topic (Bryman, 2012). The topics of upbringing and context, sexual orientation, pleasure (sex and masturbation) and gender equality were deduced from previous research and assumptions of female heterosexuality and my own previous knowledge and experiences of the Swedish society. The questions were formulated to be as open as possible to allow the interviewees to answer as descriptive and unaffected as possible (Bryman, 2012). The interview guide was created with the intent of easing the interviewees into the interview. The first questions therefore regarded their upbringing where they could speak freely about whatever they chose to bring up. Later on they addressed their opinion on certain sensitive topics such as sexual orientation to move on to personal experiences. The purpose of this was to make sure that by the time the topic of sexual practices were brought up both interviewee and interviewer would feel comfortable and rapport had been established.

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20 3.4 Conducting the interviews

The choice of performing in-depth interviews was derived from the formulation of the research questions. Since I wanted to identify and analyze individual experiences and perceptions around the common topic of sexuality this method seemed more suited for the purpose than other qualitative methods such as focus group discussions (Hennink, Hutter & Bailey, 2011:53). By conducting in-depth interviews I hoped to capture the individual voices and stories of these women (Hennink, Hutter & Bailey, 2011:110). Although there are advantages to conducting focus group interviews when researching the topic of sex such as establishing an environment where participants may feel safe to share their experiences among each other (Frith, 2000:275) in-depth interviews can retrieve more information about individual’s lives and the context in which certain experiences take place (Hennink, Hutter & Bailey, 2011:53). This would make it easier to compare certain individual experiences with different time periods in Sweden.

In total six interviews were performed, 3 with women born in the 80’s and 90’s and three with women born in the 40’s and 60’s. The interviews lasted between 47 to 99 minutes with a medium duration of 73 minutes. I let the interviewee’s pick the place of the interview. This way the interviewees might feel more comfortable as I would not hold a strong power position over them regarding the context of the interview (Andajani-Sutjahjo, Bennett, & Manderson, 2006). As a result two interviews were held in the interviewee’s home. three were held at my residence and one interview was conducted at a café. All of these sites may have affected the answers somewhat. For example a public setting such as the café takes away some anonymity from the interviewee as other people in that public space may overhear the interview and the interviewee may therefore choose not to answer certain questions that are seen as personal (Ibid). This may however be only a slight oversight as the participants were instructed to choose a place where they would feel most comfortable.

Before the interviews the participants were informed multiple times about the study, the voluntary aspect of the interview and that their identities would be kept anonymous in the thesis. They were also informed that they could interrupt the interview at any time or choose not to answer specific questions if they did not feel comfortable with it. The participants were also given the option to sign a confidentiality agreement (see appendix Confidentiality agreement) that they would keep the only copy of to maintain their anonymity. With the

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consent of the interviewee the interviews were recorded on a dictaphone as well as on a mobile device as a backup. The interviewees were informed that the recordings would be deleted after they had been transcribed. The interviews were recorded in order to reproduce the results of the interviews as detailed and true as possible (Bryman, 2012). After the interviews the participants were given the opportunity to ask questions regarding the study or raise any concerns that they might have had. A further development on the ethical considerations taken during the research cycle can be found below (See 3.10).

Talking about sex and sexuality may be viewed by some as a sensitive topic and it is of relevance to be aware of this during an interview as to not make the interviewee uncomfortable and so that they do not feel forced to answer (Andajani-Sutjahjo, Bennett & Manderson, 2006). In order to make the interviewees feel safe and at the same time obtain detailed information it is according to Hennink, Hutter and Bailey (2011) important to, apart from having a semi-structured interview guide (see 3.3 above), establish rapport, asking open questions as sympathetically as possible and to use probing techniques to motivate the interviewees to talk (Ibid). As I had used my personal network to gain access to the interviewees I knew most of them personally before conducting the interviews which means that there was already some level of trust between us and it was not necessary to focus on establishing rapport more than informing about the ways that their identity would be protected. One of the interviewees I had never met before. This person seemed very open and comfortable with the interview but I did use some techniques to strengthen the rapport such as sharing my own stories with her that sometimes were similar to hers, making the interview perhaps more of a discussion at some points (Andajani-Sutjahjo, Bennett & Manderson, 2006; Hennink, Hutter and Bailey, 2011). I tried to make sure not to ask closed questions but more open ones as I sought rich responses from the interviewees. I did however bite my tongue a few times as I noticed that I formulated some questions more closed than I had intended. Luckily enough most respondents continued to answer the why and how of the question themselves. In cases where this was not the case I did probe for more descriptive answers by asking questions such as “Can you tell me more about that?”. I made sure not to let any personal opinions I may have had affect the way I asked any questions. To encourage the interviewees I used common social interaction techniques such as nodding, humming responsively and having a relaxed body language (Bryman, 2012; Hennink, Hutter and Bailey, 2011). Although some sensitive experiences were discussed no participant seemed to become upset or wanted to disrupt the interview.

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As I had a semi structured interview guide and did not want to steer the interviews too much but get personal descriptions of subjective experiences no interview were the same. Although all the questions from the interview guide were covered some interviews covered some topics more depending on the direction that the interviewee wanted to go (Bryman, 2012:470). I ended the interview by asking if the interviewees wanted to add anything to the interview or if they had any questions for me. Most times we would converse after the recording had stopped if the interviewee felt like it to make the transition from the subject easier (Hennink, Hutter and Bailey, 2011; Kvale & Brinkmann, 2009).

3.5 Transcribing

The interviews were transcribed as soon as possible. The transcriptions are word for word recounts of what the interviewees said, including my own questions as they were asked. This way nothing that the interviewees have said has been “lost in translation”. After transcribing I listened to the recordings once again as I read the transcriptions to minimize any mistakes in the text (Bryman, 2012). Any pauses, sounds and laughs that were made during the interviews have been transcribed as well. In the Results section of this thesis (see 4) some of these expressions were removed if they were not considered necessary in interpreting the meaning of the quote and make it easier for the reader. This was also done in order to preserve the anonymity of the participants as some expression may be used to determine the identity of the participants. For the same reason any personal names or places mentioned have in this thesis been made fictitious (Kvale & Brinkmann, 2009).

3.6 Coding

In order to produce quotes relevant for the analysis of the topic of this thesis I coded the transcribed interviews by linking and categorizing several keywords, codes, to quotes in the transcriptions as I went over the texts (Kvale & Brinkmann, 2009). In total 20 different codes were discovered; biology, childhood, environment, fantasies, first contact with the opposite sex, first knowledge of sex, first sexual experiences, gender equality, heterosexuality and heteronormativity, masturbation, political, pornography, reasons for sex, same sex experiences, sense of self, sex then, sex now, sexuality and the future. The coding was not

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necessarily done only through the mention of some keywords but also through what meaning could be derived and categorized from what the interviewee was saying (Kvale & Brinkmann, 2009). For example a quote about how women and men behave in certain situations based on the interviewee’s experiences would be coded as “men, women and stereotypes” and “heterosexuality and heteronormativity” without the mentioning of norms or heterosexuality but based on my prior knowledge of heterosexuality as presented in the theoretical framework (See 2.1). Of course this derivation of meaning from the quotes has been done by me the author without a second opinion which may affect the analysis of that meaning.

The interviews were coded using a the analysis hardware Atlas.ti. The coding of the data was deductive as I in creating the interview guide brought up and worked from some assumptions from previous research about female sexuality and also inductive as my aim is to uncover all different aspects that may compose these women's heterosexuality (Hennink, Hutter & Bailey, 2011).

3.6 Analyzing statements - finding the meaning

In this thesis I aim to interpret the meaning of what is said by the interviewed women. Interpreting meaning requires one to go beyond the manifest meaning of what is said and instead go deeper to find a more critical interpretation. This way new information can emerge to reveal structures and meaning that are not apparent initially (Kvale & Brinkmann, 2009; Scholz, 2015). The data is analyzed through the he hermeneutic way of producing knowledge. In this tradition knowledge is context-bound and depends on the perspective from which one chooses to interpret the information. In this case the context for female heterosexuality in the Swedish society in which the women grew up in and the perspectives are the chosen theoretical framework. As I have chosen the theories the interpretation of data is also dependent on my own preconception of the analyzed topic (Widerberg, 2002). In this case my own knowledge of female swedish heterosexuality stems partially from my own experiences as a heterosexual woman born in Sweden in the late 80’s and partially from previous research on the topic.

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Practically this means that for the Result section of this thesis (See 4) the hermeneutic method will be applied to analyze the chosen quotes and the vague collective meaning or as a whole, then separately to then put the pieces back together. In the hermeneutic tradition of using this hermeneutic circle as a method for analysis one cannot understand the whole text unless one understands the individual parts of it and vice versa (Kvale & Brinkmann, 2009). The codes as presented above have therefore been organized into bigger themes that have emerged during the interviews and are presented that way in the result section. When applying the theoretical framework to these themes and comparing them to the different contexts of Swedish sexual politics a deeper understanding and meaning can be uncovered regarding heterosexuality among Swedish women.

In the postmodern tradition of interpreting and understanding knowledge there is indeed a lack of subjectivity with this method just as producing data through interviews will not result in objective data, as is the qualitative way. There can therefore exist a multitude of ways to interpret the data and it is of great importance to explain my own standpoint and prerequisite knowledge as a researcher so that you, the reader, will be able to understand the process of producing knowledge and drawing conclusions. The meaning that is derived in this thesis is in this case not based on what the interviewee is trying to say but rather why they say it.

3.7 Validity

To be able to achieve as high validity and credibility as possible for this study the coherence between the theoretical framework, previous research and the methods have been considered when formulating the aim and research questions as well as the interview guide. This in order to make sure that I have been asking the right questions to be able to fulfill the aim (Kvale & Brinkmann, 2009). I have also tried to apply a critical view throughout the thesis regarding my choices of theoretical framework, methodology and analytical tools (Ibid).

While one cannot know whether or not the interviewees are being completely truthful one can try to minimize the risk of falsified statements. As mentioned above, to try to not manipulate the responses from the interviewees, and thereby create a false depiction of the respondent’s realities, I attempted to not ask leading questions and to give the respondents enough time to think without rushing to another question or being bothered by silence. Of course when going

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back in time and talking about one’s childhood it is impossible to remember every detail of certain events and they can even be altered later on the fit the gaps in our memories to have stories make more sense. To try to avoid any form of social compliance I did not force anyone to answer a question they could not remember the answer for and did not make any judgements of my own regarding the topics that were covered. This did however not stop me from adapting and complying as I did sometimes phrase certain questions differently depending on such factors as the age of the interviewee, my relationship to them and whether I thought they would be comfortable enough with me pursuing certain topics further (Weiss, 2004).

When presenting the results the quotes have not been edited to the point where the meaning is lost but merely to the extent that anything of minor importance has been changed or removed to preserve the anonymity of the interviewees (Kvale & Brinkmann, 2009).

3.8 Reliability

Although some researchers would argue that reliability does not have a relevance to qualitative research Kvale and Brinkmann (2009) argue that when it comes to using interviews as a method to produce knowledge it can be important to address reliability which is why I want to bring it up here. Indeed it is difficult in qualitative practices to measure whether or not the results can be reproduced (Kvale & Brinkmann, 2009). For this study there is no way at this time to know whether or not that is the case since I have conducted the study alone. To increase the intersubjective reliability would mean to have other interviewers, transcribers and analysts come to the same conclusions as I have. Trying to adopt an even more subjective interview style to increase reliability could have been one way to go about it. This could however minimize the creative freedom that may increase rapport between interviewer and interviewee that requires the interviewer to be adaptable (Kvale & Brinkmann, 2009: 264). As I did not want to compromise on that or the context where the interviews took place, which were chosen by the interviewees for their comfort, I did try to make sure that I used the same tools to record the interviews and transcribed them all in a quiet and controlled environment to ensure the quality of the data.

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Due to the limited amount of participants in this study the results cannot be said to be statistically generalizable for the whole population (Kvale & Brinkmann, 2009). As one of the purposes of in-depth interviews is to retrieve subjective narratives (Hennink, Hutter & Bailey, 2011) and with the use of a hermeneutic method of analysis (Widerberg, 2002) it would be impossible to generalize the results as the stories as told in this thesis are not objective or analyzed objectively.

3.10 Ethical considerations

When conducting qualitative research and interviewing people, especially about sensitive topics where rapport should hopefully occur, ethics need to play a part throughout the research process. Talking about one’s sexual past could, for instance, bring up painful memories and traumas (Hennink, Hutter & Bailey, 2011). Firstly the question of who could possibly benefit from this study needs to be considered. The main benefit of this study is academic as it can benefit with knowledge about women’s sexuality in Sweden and how it has changed over time. My perception is that most of the women that I interviewed seemed to enjoy the interview as they got an opportunity to reflect upon their own sexuality and verbalize that which had never been verbalized before. Some even came to new realizations about themselves which can be said to have benefited them. If one is to be a bit bombastic my hope is also that putting women’s actual experiences in print could lead to some sort of social change where women are more allowed than before to express their sexualities without prejudice (Hennink, Hutter & Bailey, 2011). To have an ethical perspective one however needs to consider if these prospects, these goals, can justify the means of getting there. The ethical perspective taken when conducting this study cannot be said to be ethical absolutism but more resembles ethical situationism. Although no invasive method was used and informed and written consent was present the varying degrees of closeness I had with the interviewees, based on the fact that I knew some better than others, blurs the ethical lines. I have instead relied on adapting to the situation for what is appropriate and focused on not causing serious harm to any of the participants. The question of whether or not my methods have been justified is therefore up to debate and depends on the results, the aftermath and the reader (Hammersley & Atkinson, 2007).

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Regarding access to interviewees there were some issues to consider. As mentioned above no methods of deception were used to coerce anyone to partake in the study. Before the interviews the interviewees were informed of the purpose of the study and their part in it. As the researched population is not organized in any way no other permission needed to be had other than from the interviewees themselves (Hennink, Hutter & Bailey, 2011). Letting the interviewees know the purpose of the study and how the information that they gave would be used would not compromise the responses as it might when performing observations (Hammersley & Atkinson, 2007). No physical harm befell the interviewees and no visible emotional harm could be seen during or after the interviews took place. The anonymity of the interviewees has been kept to such as large extent as possible without compromising the results as to not expose the interviewees to any eventual shame or embarrassment one may feel when talking about private and sensitive issues (Hennink, Hutter & Bailey, 2011). The anonymity also ensures that no social harm or reprimands will affect the interviewees after this thesis is published (Hammersley & Atkinson, 2007).

As I used my personal network to gain access to interviewees there were no third party individuals that may have used their influence to force anyone to partake in the study (Hennink, Hutter & Bailey, 2011). Regardless of this, informed consent was still obtained before the interviews and written consent forms are held by the interviewees to protect them. All interviewees were informed of their rights and that participation was completely voluntary (Hennink, Hutter & Bailey, 2011). They were also informed that they did not have to answer particular questions if they felt uncomfortable and could end the interview if they chose to. The interviewees were also given an opportunity before and after interviews to discuss any potential questions regarding the study (Kvale & Brinkmann, 2009).

To further ensure the confidentiality and anonymity of the interviewees all quoted names and places have been changed and the names used in this thesis for the interviewees are not their real names. The recorded interviews were only used when transcribing and processing the data and have since been destroyed (Kvale & Brinkmann, 2009). Although the hermeneutic method of analysis is dependent on subjective knowledge (Kvale & Brinkmann, 2009) it does also open up for an open minded way to view the data since different readings of it can lead to different results (Ödman, 2007). My reading of the data is made without any personal judgement.

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4. Results

The result chapter of this thesis is presented in two parts; Sexual politics in Sweden through the ages and Swedish female sexuality. Both of these chapters have subcategories. The first part is presented in different time periods while the second part sexuality, masturbation, same sex experiences and heterosexuality.

4.1 Sexual politics in Sweden through the ages

Though Sweden today is seen as a modern, forward thinking and sexually liberated country, current views on sexuality and gender in Sweden did not come without struggle. In this chapter describe the important events that influenced sexual politics in Sweden and lead us to the point in time where we are today.

4.1.1 The 1950’s and the 1960’s

Since the 1930’s when Sweden moved towards becoming a more secularized society the debate on sexual health has been on the table culminating in the 1960’s (Lennerhed, 2014). Just as in many other western countries teenage culture emerged in Sweden during the 1950’s, leading many to move to the bigger cities in the country, such as Stockholm, where young people could lead a different type of life than they were expected to lead in the countryside. The migration lead to a shortage of housing why high rise buildings were constructed for the first time, fitting many people into small spaces. Swedish industry is booming with new companies such as the furniture store IKEA emerging. Leisurely consumption, or shopping, becomes an everyday occurrence in Swedish people’s lives. At this point in time women are still mostly homemakers. Being a stay-at home wife might have been influenced by the patriotic lifestyle of American nuclear family after the Second World War (Rydström, 2012:80). Since Sweden did not partake in the war there had not yet been an economic reason for women to enter the work forces. On the other hand people were becoming more politically involved and aware of injustices in the society (Andersson & Sjödahl, 2003).

In 1955 sexual education finally became a mandatory subject in all schools in Sweden following discussions on sex and sexuality that emerged after the Kinsey-report was

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published in 1949, only one year after it came out in the USA (Rydström, 2012). Many Swedish sexologists agreed with Kinsey’s thoughts on sexuality as being varying and sexual deviance only existing as a result of society's prejudices (Palm, 2003). Interestingly enough it was not until 1968, 15 year after it was published in America, that the second part of the Kinsey report about female sexuality was published in Sweden (Palm, 2003). This suggests that at the time female sexuality was not as interesting to Swedish citizens as male sexuality.

In the 1950’s the Swedish view on sexuality included no sex before marriage. The fact that the Kinsey Report showed that most people in the US had their sexual debut before this point and with the emerging teenage culture and condoms being sold in pharmacies since 1952 (Andersson & Sjödahl, 2003) it became clear to Swedish politicians that young people in Sweden were having sex. The solution was thought to lie in the school system where children were now being taught to practice sex safely should they choose to not abstain from it, though abstinence was the only option officially recommended by the schools (Palm, 2003).

Though homosexuality was decriminalized in Sweden in 1944 it was still not accepted. With the Kinsey-report revealing that same sex encounters were much more common than previously thought homophobia grew in many societies all over the world, so too in Sweden. Unlike countries such as the US where homosexuality and communism were commonly connected, Sweden took a different approach. Homosexuality was seen as a threat against democracy and homophobia was commonly practiced within the working class communities who would accuse the upper classes of practicing homophilia. Naturally this lead most homosexual people to not reveal their sexual orientation. Many did not come out until generations later when it felt safer to be gay (Rydström, 2012). Berit remembers not knowing what homosexuality was until well into her adult life. With the lack of visibility of gay people when she grew up she thought that they simply did not exist.

Meanwhile, the notion of “The Swedish sin” came into play during the 1950’s through the spreading of Swedish cinema containing scenes of nudity depicted against Swedish nature (Lennerhed, 2014). The picture of Sweden as being a promised land of sexual freedom quickly spread worldwide as Swedish filmmakers, such as Ingmar Bergman, and sexually explicit movies gained popularity and international news outlets took an interest in sexual practices and legislation in Sweden (Hale, 2003). This combined with a mandatory sexual

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education in schools made Sweden seem radical to many other western countries that were both fascinated and disgusted (Gustafsson, 1964).

As Sweden enters the 60’s the economy is rapidly growing stronger and immigration increased due to a lack of workers in Sweden. This leads to the construction of cheap apartments all over the country called Miljonprogrammet (The million program) (Andersson & Sjödahl, 2003). In the early 60’s Sweden still had a binary way of viewing sexuality. Sexual arousal and lust in boys was seen as something biological and natural while women supposedly were more focused on the romantic aspects (Stridsberg, 2003). Swedish liberalists heterosexual youths and students are often credited with starting the sex liberalism movement in Sweden during the 1960’s and organisations for the information of sexual health such as the RFSU were established. The fight for sexual freedom ran parallel with the feminist movement who fought for the introduction of birth control in 1964 (Lennerhed, 2014). At this time many are starting to question the concept of the core family, capitalism and consumption. Feminist Eva Moberg (1961) who was supportive of the liberal party for a while writes in a debate article that women are held captive in the prison of family constellation by the argument that it is seen as the natural place for women to be. She demands equal rights for women and men (Moberg, 1961). The thought that women were not sexual beings was also heavily questioned and contested by Swedish authors such as Kerstin Thorvall and Kristina Ahlmark who promoted sex without love. In their opinion Sweden suffered from a moral panic that forced women to hide their sexuality (Arnberg, 2012: Stridsberg, 2003).

Berit, who had had no sexual education in school and had children at an early age, began her adult life as a stay at home mom said the following about her years as a home maker:

“I was totally alone for seven years with the kids. Ah and he worked and worked and worked and I was not allowed to work. By him. Women then knew nothing about bills or anything like that. And it almost became like he had three children instead of two. I got nowhere. His mother lived very close but she was never a babysitter, not once. So I was basically alone with the kids until we divorced. And that was also a little... no holiday or anything. Just being home home home.”

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In Belinda’s household there were very clear gender roles. She had a mother who was at home and a father who worked on the road and many days was not present at all. She describes it as “she did everything and he did nothing”. Brigitte also remembers the different gender roles of the time but says that it looked different in her household:

“There were clear gender roles, but in one way, I think that they were still before their time. Well, for example, mom did not want to be a housewife. She did not want to be a housewife. She was... I think she had children because you were supposed to. It looked nice, a core family, one plus one and a Volvo and a dog. But she really wanted to work. And I do not really think, I do not think she found confirmation in her parenting as much as she found in her career role. And dad was so unbelievably in love with mom so he let her do as she wanted. So that... she was not a home maker, we had a nanny.”

Brigitte

In the modern history of Sweden only two major surveys have been conducted on the sexual habits of Swedish people, one in 1967 and one in 1996 (Lalos, 2000). As a result of the 1967 survey the school's’ official policy regarding sex changed. Abstinence was no longer advocated and several different contraceptives were recommended if one chose to have sex.

Sexually explicit movies about sexuality and gender equality such as I am curious (yellow) (1967) gained popularity and international news outlets took an interest in sexual practices and legislation in Sweden (Hale, 2003). As media became a bigger source of information to people it was decided that properly produced informational films about sex should be made by swedish sexologist. In 1969 the film Kärlekens språk (The language of love), which included real scenes of heterosexual love making and discussions about sex and sexuality, was shown in Swedish cinemas. Films like these were also made for schools regarding the topics of intercourse, contraception, STD’s and sexual disabilities. Though they were banned by the Swedish school board many were shared in private between the students (Palm, 2003). As young people, feminist authors and filmmakers demanded a freer view on sexuality they wanted to erase the current taboos of sexual pleasure, homosexuality and free abortion. The liberal youth part (FPU) considered pornography as a tool for self-expression and freedom of

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speech and expression. Even though access to the labor market was more of a concern at the time for swedish feminists, most supported free pornography (Mallik, 2003).

4.1.2 The 1970’s and the 1980’s

“We have talked long enough about the emancipation of women, of the problem of woman’s role in society. But in order that women shall be emancipated from their antiqued role the men must also be emancipated. Thus, it is the human beings we shall emancipate.”

Olof Palme (1970:1)

The words above are from a speech held by Sweden's former prime minister Olof Palme at the Women’s national democratic club in Washington D.C. in 1970. Palme (1970) goes on to talk about how men must take more responsibilities at home in order for women to have more opportunities outside of the home and how this would benefit society greatly. Indeed the fight for gender equality continued into the 1970’s mainly focusing on access to the labor market (Isaksson, 2012). This lead to several political reforms such as the introduction of parental insurance and the extension of public daycare (Andersson & Sjödahl, 2003). This meant that women, more so than before, were able to work instead of staying home with the children. The economy is however starting to dwindle in the 70’s and the public sector is growing stronger as a means to keep people working (Andersson & Sjödahl, 2003). This of course also meant that women for the first time had to work, not just because they wanted to. The consequence of entering the labor market was however that women most often received to lower paying jobs (Mathis, 2003). At this point in time Berit had divorced her husband and did start working. She entered a heavy work industry that dominated by men. She was one of two women in her work place.

The 70’s had a strong focus on child care and pedagogy. Many children's books were political and sometimes even taught sexual education through illustrations. The focus on the child however upheld the view on gender and gender expressions being essential. Sexual educations books still only showed heterosexual relations with the purpose of reproduction and “mom and dad” still had their roles to play. Freedom of expression, anti-war movements and free love was important issues to the political left. Many formed collectives where several families

"I don't sit and think about men and become aroused" : a study on the development of female heterosexuality in Swedisch women