| Sexuality for women has been problematized and stigmatized, but is rarely examined as a normal and natural part of life. This study begins to examine women's relationship to pleasure, sexual identity, as well as the embodied experience of sexuality. The research that follows seeks to uncover and examine women's sexuality and sexual choices through an analysis of women's experience in the sexual goods marketplace. Framed with theories of the body as well as Giddens Pure Relationships, the data shed light on our understandings of women's sexuality and pleasure as well as their bodies and relationships. By using qualitative methods to observe shoppers in sex stores and interviewing thirty-nine store patrons, staff, and owners, an analysis of sex stores, women's sexuality, sexual identity, and sexual relationships develops. Three types of sex stores, traditional, romance, and feminist, contribute in different ways to women's understanding of pleasure and sexuality. Traditional sex stores provide sexual goods in an environment that many describe as uncomfortable, unsafe, or seedy. Feminist sex stores began to emerge in 1974 to counter this discomfort and to provide a safe place for people of all genders and sexualities to shop for sexual goods and enhance their education about sexuality and pleasure. Romance sex stores are a newer category that falls somewhere in the middle; these stores are focused on providing a safe, comfortable, and welcoming environment for women. Data examining women's experiences in sex stores and with their own pleasure are presented here. In addition to looking at where women shop and how their purchases fit into their sex lives, this analysis also looks at how women shop for sexual goods and what happens when usually private desires are purchased and talked about in public places. Women's pleasure and sexuality are also explored, focusing on pleasure, relationships, bodies, gender and attraction, and sexual identities. The data shed light on women's need for comfort and safety around sexuality, new models of relationships, and the changing language and categories we use to classify and understand sexual behavior, desire, and experiences. |
