Women and Sexuality

Paper Summary:

This paper presents a research proposal to study the subject of women, disability and sexuality and how society responds to women who are noticeably physically disabled and also those whose disabilities are not observable.The paper questions how women suffering noticeable and unobserved disabilities express themselves sexually and whether stereotypical images of "the ideal woman" impact a woman's disability beyond the physicality of that disability. In researching the topic and seeking answers to these questions the paper relies upon existing studies and research to reach conclusions and an understanding of the subject matter.

Outline:
Introduction
The Ideal Woman
Women and Reproductive Disabilities: The Inside Perspective
Physically Observable Disability and Women's Sexuality
Expressions of Women's Sexuality When Disabled
Summary

From the Paper:

""Tocqueville's observations of the typical American male's behavior in the face of the wilderness provide a suggestive frame for an account of his observations of the typical sexual relations between an American man and his wife. "Everywhere extreme civilization and nature abandoned to herself find themselves together, and as it were, face to face." Tocqueville was sensitive to his natural surroundings. In spite of his soul's penetration "by a sort of religious terror" he "couldn't keep from admiring the supreme horror of the place," the wilderness. On one occasion he and his companion were softened into a rare state of consciousness, beyond the will to express it. "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Barker-Benfield, G. J. (2000). The Horrors of the Half-Known Life: Male Attitudes toward Women and Sexuality in Nineteenth-Century America. New York: Routledge. Retrieved February 2, 2008, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=108011402
• Bellerose, S. B., & Binik, Y. M. (1993). Body Image and Sexuality in Oophorectomized Women. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 22(5), 435+. Retrieved February 2, 2008, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5000224494
• DeFries, Z., Friedman, R. C., & Corn, R. (Eds.). (1985). Sexuality: New Perspectives. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. Retrieved February 2, 2008, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=51035002
• Frank, G. (2000). Venus on Wheels: Two Decades of Dialogue on Disability, Biography, and Being Female in America. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. Retrieved February 2, 2008, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=105657671
• Mckay, A. (2001). Understanding of Sexuality and Reproductive Health among Women with and without Physical Disabilities. 65+. Retrieved February 2, 2008, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5001051763

More papers on Women and Sexuality:

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• Argumentative Essay # 97322 : "Disabilities and Sexuality"

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