Equality: Implications for sexual intimacy in marriage

Abstract

Abstract Changing ideas and expectations about marriage are examined, in particular the notion that modern marriage is a partnership of equals. With specific reference to a longitudinal study of 130 husbands and wives, the relationship between equality and intimacy is explored. Men and women perceived sex in very different ways, yet these differences were rarely acknowledged and it is argued that the negotiation and compromise necessary to achieve genuine reciprocity in sexual relations are inhibited when these differences are not identified and articulated.