Abstract: Attitudes among couples about women’s solo masturbation are not well understood. The primary aim of this study was to assess (dis)similarities in attitudes between partners about women’s solo masturbation and associations of each partner’s attitudes with women’s and their partners’ sexual satisfaction. One hundred and four mixed-sex couples (M = 27.43 years), recruited through social networking websites and Prolific (an online research participant platform), completed an online survey about demographics, their experiences of solo masturbation, and validated measures of attitudes about women’s masturbation and sexual satisfaction. Dyadic data were analyzed using correlational methods and the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model. Women and their partners reported similar and positive attitudes about women’s solo masturbation. For women, reports of positive attitudes toward women’s solo masturbation were associated with both their own and their partner’s sexual satisfaction; there were no associations for men. The role of solo masturbation within romantic relationships is complex but our results support the idea that women’s masturbation is now less stigmatized than commonly thought. Normalizing and including masturbation in the sexual script for individuals in relationships may help maximize their, and their partners,’ sexual satisfaction.

Abstract: Satisfying romantic relationships often feature high levels of nurturance and eroticism. Consensually non-monogamous (CNM) individuals may experience these with additional partners, potentially reducing the need for both to be present in a primary relationship to achieve satisfaction. We assessed how nurturance and eroticism relate to relationship satisfaction in single-partnered (n = 289) and multi-partnered (n = 335) individuals. We also compared relationship behavior (single vs multiple current partners) and identity (monogamous, n = 217 vs CNM, n = 399). Compared to multi-partnered individuals’ reports of their primary relationship, single-partnered individuals reported similar satisfaction and nurturance, and higher eroticism. Across single- and multi-partnered individuals, nurturance and eroticism were positively associated with relationship satisfaction, with no upper level interactions. Instead, interactions emerged when assessing relationship identity. Among monogamous individuals, nurturance and eroticism also did not interact, meaning the positive association of one was consistent across levels of the other. For CNM-identified individuals, however, nurturance and eroticism interacted; nurturance was more strongly linked to satisfaction when eroticism was low, while eroticism was only linked to satisfaction when nurturance was low. When nurturance was high, there was no association between eroticism and satisfaction. Longer relationship durations were linked to lower eroticism and higher nurturance, regardless of partner number or age. Findings suggest that nurturance and eroticism contribute to satisfaction differently for monogamous and CNM individuals, with CNM individuals fostering highly satisfying relationships even when eroticism is low. This study provides a nuanced understanding of how these factors contribute to satisfaction across diverse relationship forms.

Abstract: Drawing on third-wave feminist and Bakhtinian literary theories, this article argues that the feminist possibility of young adult romance novels largely lies in the extent to which the authors’ narrative choices encourage readers to grapple with questions related to love, pleasure, and relationships, rather than in parsing the author’s intended or unintended feminist (or anti-feminist) messages. This article examines the techniques diverse authors of young adult romances use to open up heteroglossic spaces in their texts. Specifically, it examines how these authors of young adult romances invite readers to consciously attend to the ways that love and relationships might operate in their lives. In particular, the analysis explores the feminist possibilities of love triangles and the use of dialogue to raise reader questions about their own beliefs about the nature of love. These dialogic craft choices are contrasted with more authoritative ways of approaching issues of love and pleasure in fiction to argue that romance is at its most liberatory when it poses questions rather than provides answers.