“I think ‘rough sex’ as a term is incorrectly used to describe sexual violence or non-consent or rape” : Examining constructions of ‘rough sex’

Abstract

Despite the growing visibility of ‘rough sex’ in popular culture, social media, news outlets and legal defence cases, the definition or construction of ‘rough sex’ remains unclear. We know little about how ‘rough sex’ is constructed, conceptualised, and understood by people. Additionally, we have even less awareness of the figurative grey area where sexual violence may occur under the guise of heteronormative ‘rough sex’. This thesis analyses data from two related studies: Study 1 was an online survey with 432 anonymous New Zealanders, conducted to investigate how ‘rough sex’ is viewed, what it is considered to include, and participants’ personal experiences of ‘rough sex’, and Study 2 involved semi-structured interviews with 18 women about their experiences of unwanted rough sex, the impacts of their experiences, and their thoughts on the normalisation of the practice. In this thesis, I present three analytic chapters. The first two chapters draw on survey data from Study 1 and examine the patterns in respondents’ shared understanding of- and constructions of ‘rough sex’ through the identification of interpretative repertoires. The first analytic chapter focuses on two parallel interpretative repertoires based around the normalisation and the dangers of ‘rough sex’. The second analytic chapter focuses on interpretative repertoires that depict ‘rough sex’ either as a socially coerced or an individually chosen sexual practice. The third analytic chapter draws on data from both studies 1 and 2, and focuses on the role of pornography in ‘rough sex’. This chapter consists of two sections: the first section identifies and examines interpretative repertoires related to pornography and the second section uses a combination of a descriptive and discursive analytic approach, and locates patterns in women’s experiences of unwanted ‘rough sex’ related to pornography. I discuss the implications of these constructions and how the mainstreaming of the term and normalisation of the practice poses a number of issues related to women’s experiences of unwanted ‘rough sex’, and the impacts of pornography’s depictions of ‘rough sex’. I address these issues against the dominant discourses related to heteronormative ‘rough sex’, gender, and sexuality.