"Screw Health": Representations of sex as a Health-Promoting activity in medical and popular Literature

Journal of Medical Humanities

Volumn 32, Issue 2, 2011, Pages 127-140

  Gupta, Kristina ^a  

^a EMORY UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

Health promotion; Representation; Sexuality

Indexed keywords

ARTICLE; ATTITUDE TO HEALTH; CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY; FEMALE; HEALTH BEHAVIOR; HEALTH EDUCATION; HEALTH PROMOTION; HUMAN; LIFE EXPECTANCY; MALE; MASS MEDIUM; NEOPLASM; PERCEPTION; PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECT; SEXUALITY; SOCIAL MARKETING; SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY;

CULTURE; FEMALE; HEALTH BEHAVIOR; HEALTH EDUCATION; HEALTH KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDES, PRACTICE; HEALTH PROMOTION; HUMANS; LIFE EXPECTANCY; MALE; MASS MEDIA; NEOPLASMS; PREJUDICE; SEXUALITY; SOCIAL MARKETING; SOCIAL PERCEPTION;

EID: 79956152097     PISSN: 10413545     EISSN: 15733645     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1007/s10912-010-9129-x     Document Type: Article

References (49)

1. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines health promotion as "the process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve, their health" (WHO website).
2. A Clarke et al., "Biomedicalization: Technoscientifc Transformations of Health, Illness and U.S. Biomedicine," American Sociological Review 68, No. 2 (April 2003): 171-172.
3. R.D. Egan and G. Hawkes, "Childhood Sexuality, Normalization and the Social Hygiene Movement in the Anglophone West, 1900-1935," Soc Hist Med 23, No. 1 (April 1, 2010): 56-78.
4. Egan, 56-78.
5. Office of the Surgeon General (OSG), "The Surgeon General's Call to Action to Promote Sexual Health and Responsible Sexual Behavior," (2001), http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/sexualhealth/. Accessed August 4, 2010.
6. J.M. Irvine, Talk About Sex (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2004).
7. Irvine, 25. Emphasis added.
8. World Health Organization, Defining Sexual Health: Report of a Technical Consultation on Sexual Health (2002), http://www.who.int/reproductivehealth/topics/gender_rights/defining_sexual_health/en/index.html. Accessed August 4, 2010.
9. C.J. Charnetski and F.X. Brennan, "Sexual frequency and salivary immunoglobulin A (IgA)," Psychological Reports 94, No. 3 (June 2004): 839-844.
10. S. Jio, "8 Surprising Health Benefits of Sex," WomansDay.com, 4 January 2010, http://www.womansday.com/Articles/Health/8-Surprising-Health-Benefits-of-Sex.html. Accessed August 4, 2010.
11. Irvine, 25.
12. Planned Parenthood and Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality, "The Health Benefits of Sexual Expression," Katharine Dexter McCormick Library (April 2003): 1.
13. S. Ebrahim, et al., "Sexual intercourse and risk of ischaemic stroke and coronary heart disease: the Caerphilly study," Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 56, No. 2 (February 2002): 102.
14. P. Weiss, "An Orgasm a Day Keeps the Doctor Away," Men's Journal, 3 April 2009, http://www.mensjournal.com/3-orgasms. Accessed August 4, 2010.
15. A. Farnham, "Is Sex Necessary?" Forbes, 8 October 2003, http://www.forbes.com/2003/10/08/cz_af_1008health.html. Accessed August 4, 2010.
16. B. Alexander, "Not just good, but good for you. Mounting evidence suggests sex helps keep us healthy," msnbc.com, 1 July 2009, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5263250/. Accessed August 4, 2010.
17. D. Subrahmanyam, "Studies: sex linked to health," Yale Daily News, 13 February 2008, http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/scitech-news/2008/02/13/studies-sex-linked-to-health/. Accessed August 4, 2010.
18. S.A. Hall, et al., "Sexual Activity, Erectile Dysfunction, and Incident Cardiovascular Events," The American Journal of Cardiology 105, No. 2 (15 January 2010). 196
19. G.D. Smith, S. Frankel, and J. Yarnell, "Sex and death: are they related? Findings from the Caerphilly cohort study," BMJ 315, No. 7123 (20 December 1997): 1641-1644.
20. See Smith.
21. "Brazilians told to have more sexual intercourse to avoid illness," The Telegraph (UK, 27 April 2010), http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/brazil/7637074/Brazilians-told-to-have-moresexual-intercourse-to-avoid-illness.html. Accessed August 4, 2010.
22. C. Haran, "Good Vibrations: Uncovering the Health Benefits of Sex," 2005, http://nydailynews.healthology.com/sexual-health/sexual-health-information/article1201.htm. Accessed August 4, 2010.
23. For example, see C. Larmer, "10 surprising reasons sex is good for you," The Daily Telegraph (Australia, 27 November 2009), http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/lifestyle/body-soul/surprising-reasons-sex-is-goodfor-you/story-e6frf01r-1225804635974. Accessed August 4, 2010.
24. S. Byrne, "For the weekend: How about some sexual healing?," Consumer Report's Health Blog, 12 February 2010, http://blogs.consumerreports.org/health/2010/02/valentines-day-health-how-about-somesexual-healing-sex-is-good-for-your-health-sex-survey.html. Accessed August 4, 2010.
25. T. Ehrenfeld, "Six Reasons to Have Sex Every Week: Studies show that regular sex (with all due precautions taken) provides a host of surprising health benefits," Newsweek Web, 10 December 2007, http://www.newsweek.com/id/74575. Accessed August 4, 2010. Emphasis added
26. A. Magee, "Sex is good for you: For fighting cancer to the common cold it's just what the doctor ordered (and men benefit most!)," Daily Mail (London, 11 February 2009), http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1140388/Sex-good-For-fighting-cancer-common-cold-just-doctor-ordered-men-benefitmost.html. Accessed August 4, 2010
27. See Ehrenfeld.
28. NHS, "How sex and love can benefit health and wellbeing," NHS choices, 14 February 2010, http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Goodsex/Pages/ValentinesDay.aspx. Accessed August 4, 2010.
29. T. Cacchioni. "Heterosexuality and 'the Labour of Love': A Contribution to Recent Debates on Female Sexual Dysfunction." Sexualities 10, No. 3 (1 July 2007): 306.
30. Cacchioni, 316.
31. Brody has authored a number of articles arguing for the superiority of vaginal-penile intercourse; for example
32. see S. Brody, "Blood pressure reactivity to stress is better for people who recently had penilevaginal intercourse than for people who had other or no sexual activity," Biological Psychology, 71, No. 2 (2006): 214-222.
33. Brody also argues that the "ability" of women to experience vaginal orgasm is associated with greater psychosexual maturity; for example
34. see S. Brody and R.M. Costa, "Vaginal orgasm is associated with less use of immature psychological defense mechanisms," The Journal of Sexual Medicine 5, No. 5 (May 2008): 1167-1176.
35. S. Brody, "The Relative Health Benefits of Different Sexual Activities," Journal of Sexual Medicine 7, No. 4 (2010): 1336.
36. E. Cohen, "New Year's resolution: Have more sex," CNN, 7 January 2010, http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/01/07/sex.health.benefits/index.html. Accessed August 4, 2010.
37. For example, see C.A. Koelman et al., "Correlation between oral sex and a low incidence of preeclampsia: a role for soluble HLA in seminal fluid?" Journal of Reproductive Immunology 46, No. 2 (March 2000): 155-166.
38. See Cohen
39. See Ehrenfeld.
40. C.T. Hall, "A genuine feel-good story: Sex may help prevent prostate cancer," SF Gate, 7 April 2004, http://articles.sfgate.com/2004-04-07/news/17424030_1_prostate-cancer-sexual-activity-cancer-deaths. Accessed August 4, 2010.
41. See Farnham.
42. See Alexander.
43. See Magee.
44. See Alexander.
45. See Farnham.
46. See Farnham
47. See Larmer.
48. See Magee.
49. D. Martin, "Pupils told they have a 'right' to a good sex life: That's the advice for youngsters from the NHS," The Daily Mail (London), 12 July 2009, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1199132/NHSrecommends-pupils-orgasm-day-reduce-risk-heart-attack-stroke.html. Accessed August 4, 2010