Current Research

Resilient Sexuality & Sexual Privilege

When studying human sexuality, the concept of resilience is nothing new. It has been well-documented that in terms of experiencing sexual trauma, someone with more protective factors in their life is more likely to recover and be able to resume a somewhat unimpaired sexual agency after what they perceive is a traumatic event.

Online forums, web searches, and social media are peppered with queries from confused adolescents and adults wondering if their recent experience was "normal", about feedback they received from one partner, how certain body parts compare and what is desirable across the board. So I began to wonder...

What makes one person more tolerant of negative sexual experiences and therefore more capable of seeking out future experiences without allowing their past to act as a deterrent? As the title suggests, it is resilience but what contributes to sexual resilience across the lifespan? In certain cultures? Is it exposure to age-approriate topics about sexual health? Is sex education too focused on harm-reduction (reducing the rate of teen pregnancy and STIs) and not focused enough on encouraging considerations of seeking pleasure, educating on consent, or how to spot unhealthy relationships? What factors contribute to feelings of safety, or conversely, the low tolerance for new sexual experiences and how that may contribute to a negative sexual health narrative over time?