Top 20 Pleasure Positive Articles

With the growing body of evidence and advocacy on sex-positive and pleasure-based approaches to sexual health and rights, we are not alone in the community of Pleasure! Here are the top 20 influential articles from journals presenting a broader picture of the power of pleasure.

Allen, Louisa & Carmody, Moira, 2012

“Pleasure Has No Passport”: Re-Visiting the Potential of Pleasure in Sexuality Education. Sex Education: Sexuality, Society and Learning, 12(4), pp.455–468.

Boyce et al., 2007.

Putting sexuality (back) into HIV/AIDS: Issues, theory and practice 1. Global Public Health, 2(1), pp.1–34.

Higgins, J. & Hirsch, J., 2007.

The Pleasure Deficit: Revisiting the “Sexuality Connection” in Reproductive Health. International Family Planning Perspectives, 33(3), pp.133–9.

Hirst, J., 2013.

‘It’s got to be about enjoying yourself’: young people, sexual pleasure, and sex and relationships education, Sex Education, 13(4), pp.423-436.

Horne, Sharon, 2006.

The Female Sexual Subjectivity Inventory: Development and Validation of a Multidimensional Inventory for Late Adolescents and Emerging Adults. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 30(2), pp.125–139.

Ingham, R., 2005.

‘We didn’t cover that at school’: education against pleasure or education for pleasure?, Sex Education, 5(4),pp. 375-388.

Philpott, A., Knerr, W. & Boydell, V., 2006.

Pleasure and Prevention: When Good Sex Is Safer Sex. Reproductive Health Matters, 14(28), pp.23–31.

Arrington-Sanders, R. et al., 2015.

The Role of Sexually Explicit Material in the Sexual Development of Same-Sex-Attracted Black Adolescent Males. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 44(3), pp.597–608.

Fine, M., 1988.

Sexuality, schooling, and adolescent females: The missing discourse of desire. Harvard educational review. 58(1), pp. 29-54.

Higgins, J.A. & Hirsch, J.S., 2008.

Pleasure, power, and inequality: incorporating sexuality into research on contraceptive use. American journal of public health, 98(10), pp.1803–13.

Holland et al., 1990.

Sex, gender and power: young women’s sexuality in the shadow of AIDS. Sociology of Health & Illness, 12(3), pp.336–350.

Hoppe, T., 2011.

Circuits of power, circuits of pleasure: Sexual scripting in gay men’s bottom narratives. Sexualities, 14(2), pp.193–217.

Khan,S.I., Hudson-Rodd, N., Saggers, S., Bhuiyan, M.I.& Bhuiya,A., 2004.

Safer sex or pleasurable sex? Rethinking condom use in the AIDS era. Sexual Health. 1, pp.217-225.

Scott-Sheldon, L. & Johnson, A., 2006.

Eroticizing Creates Safer Sex: A Research Synthesis. Journal of Primary Prevention, 27(6), pp.619–640.

Bagnol, B. & Mariano, E., 2008.

Vaginal practices: eroticism and implications for women’s health and condom use in Mozambique. Culture, Health & Sexuality, 10(6), pp.573–585.

Fine, Michelle, 2006.

Sexuality Education and Desire: Still Missing after All These Years. Harvard Educational Review, 76(3), pp.297–339.

Higgins, J.A., Hoffman, S., Graham, C.A. & Sanders, S.A., 2008.

Relationships between condoms, hormonal methods, and sexual pleasure and satisfaction: an exploratory analysis from the Women’s Well-Being and Sexuality Study. Sex Health, 5(4), pp.321–330.

Holland, J., Ramazanoglu, C., Scott, S., Sharpe, S. & Thomson, R., 1992.

Risk, power and the possibility of pleasure: Young women and safer sex, AIDS Care, 4:3, 273-283.

Hull, T.H., 2008.

Sexual Pleasure and Wellbeing. International Journal of Sexual Health, 20(1-2), pp.133–145.

Marrazzo, J.M., Coffey, P. & Bingham, A., 2005.

Sexual Practices, Risk Perception and Knowledge Of Sexually Transmitted Disease Risk Among Lesbian and Bisexual Women. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 37(1), pp.6–12.