How do Iranian women with sexual problems conceptualize sexuality? A qualitative research

Abstract

Background & Aim: For diagnosis, prevention and treatment of female sexual problems, it is crucial to understand the ways women conceptualize their sexuality. The aim of current qualitative study was to explore the participant’s perceptions and understanding of sexuality.
Methods & Materials: In this qualitative study, fifteen married women aged 21-42 interviewed face to face as they referred to the selected outpatient clinics to receive care and treatment for their sexual problems. The kind of their sexual problems has been confirmed through interview, Brief Index of Sexual Function-Women (BISF-W) and Female Sexual Distress- Revised (FSD-R) questionnaire before conducting in-depth semi-structured interviews.
Results: The obtained theme from content analysis indicated that women conceptualize sexuality as “any interaction between man and woman that leads to pleasure and tranquility”. This main theme comprises two categories that include emotional intimacy and sexual intimacy. All the women claimed that emotional intimacy behaviors were the most and the majority of them believed that coital behaviors were the least enjoyable aspects of their sexuality. Women rarely refer to spontaneous sexual desire or fantasy and they believed that pleasure was more important than orgasm in their sexual life. Participants didn’t mention to oral and anal sex, and self-stimulation in their statements.
Conclusion: The findings of this research are support previous studies that showed for women emotional closeness is the main aspect of sexuality and it is the prerequisite to a fulfilling sex life. In the other hands, this study show that women’s description of sexual norms is different in some aspects from that in women of western context, therefore clinicians should consider participant’s definitions and pay attention to the socio-cultural aspects of sexuality.