Women’s ideas of masculinity and femininity, notions of sexual and reproductive risks and sexual negotiation practices are poorly understood. Yet understanding how individuals construct gender and sexuality is key to making sense of how they perform in relation to these issues. Using qualitative data gathered through in-depth interviews with women in Accra, Ghana, this paper explores narratives of masculinity and femininity and sexual risk negotiation practices among women. While women framed ‘proper’ masculinity in terms of stereotypical reproductive norms, they also acknowledged the fluidity and multiplicity of masculinities. Femininity was more uniformly characterised in terms of physical attractiveness and beauty, responsibility and reproduction. These features, especially those related to adherence to morally and socially appropriate sexual norms (e.g., menstrual and bodily hygiene, unplanned pregnancy etc.), influenced women’s approach to sexual negotiation. Work aiming to support women to negotiate sex safely needs to pay attention to their notions of gender and practices of sexual negotiation.
Sexuality is not constructed similarly in all cultures and contexts. In many African contexts, for example, women display extensive sexual negotiation skills and are often sexually expressive. Although socially constructed power relations, including those that are culturally sanctioned, affect the terms on which women engage in sexual relationships, research shows that women engage in self-reflecting sexual choices. Hence, sexual agency is an important element of the way in which women manage dominant masculinities and their sexual and reproductive health (SRH)-risk negotiation strategies. This paper has examined the construction of masculine and feminine identities linked to the modern-day sexuality of women in urban Ghana, and highlights women’s sexual negotiation practices. The women sampled defined women and men in a variety of ways. Their constructions of ‘proper’ masculinity ranged from stereotypical reproductive norms to fluidity and multiplicity in masculinities.
To conclude, women’s understanding of the SRH risks that they face are closely linked to notions of gender. Although the women’s agency was expressed within the confines of masculinist ideology, women in this study reported negotiating sex according to self-reflecting sexual choices. Nevertheless, deconstruction of the rigid categorisation associated with male-female gender identities that stresses masculinity ideals in Ghana remains both urgent and critical.
[adapted from author]