Research

The following is a partial list of sexuality-related research being undertaken by Australian researchers. If you are aware of other research not listed here, please send an email describing the research to:

Please note that the inclusion of a given research project and/or researcher in the below list should in no way be taken as implying endorsement by that research project and/or researcher of the aims, activities, opinions and/or publications of Pleasure Activism Australia and/or its members and representatives.

Current research

• Bisexual Research Study

  Janet Watson

  "Are you interested in participating in a research project exploring the issue of gender and bisexuality? For my PhD project I am seeking participants who during their lives have sexually related to more than one gender on some significant level, whether it is emotional, physical, erotic or romantic. You don’t have to identify as a bisexual person to participate: you may consider yourself as heterosexual, homosexual, gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, intersex, queer or choose to be labelled differently or not at all. My research aims to foster greater understanding and knowledge within the broader community and provide a much needed resource for bisexually desiring or behaving persons. This project has been approved by Deakin University Human Research Ethics Committee (EC 170-2008). If you are 18 years and over and interested in finding out more about this project please contact Janet Watson on ph: 03 9244 6782, fax: 03 9251 7176, mob: 0403 8188891 or email me at jbwatson@deakin.edu.au"

• Do I belong? Sense of Belonging and Mental Health Among Younger and Older Australians.

  Dr Suzanne McLaren and Mr Simon Morris, University of Ballarat

  "You are invited to participate in this important research, conducted by Dr Suzanne McLaren and Mr Simon Morris at the University of Ballarat. We want to know if you feel you belong in the broader community, and to what extent that you feel you belong within the gay male/lesbian community. We hope to discover if there is a relationship between belonging at these levels and adult mental health. We are particularly intersted in how this relationship may vary between older and younger Australians.

  "Simply go to http://www.ballarat.edu.au/belongingresearch to complete a short questionnaire online. You will need to enter the username 'subject' and the password 'agrees' to log in. Please let all your your friends and associates know who might like to participate. We need your help to spread the word.

  "Many thanks."

• A Further Examination of Sexual Jealousy in Gay Male Open Relationships

  Jayson Rom

  This study is "looking for gay men or gay male couples 18 years or older that are currently involved in an open relationship. Participation in this research project will require participation in an audio taped semi structured interview asking about aspects of the individual and their relationship. Overall participation in this project should take approximately 60 minutes.

  "The current study will seek to explore why sexual jealousy may be absent in gay male open relationships, and/or how sexual jealousy, if present, is managed and reduced in these relationships."

  If any persons are interested in participating in the study or are seeking additional information about the study, they can contact Jayson Rom by email at:

  

  or

  

• Intimate strangers

  SBS

  "This MA15+ documentary is a positive and insightful look at the lifestyles, relationships and attitudes of a group of people who regularly visit an adult club in Brisbane.

  "We challenge the common perception that the scene is immoral or irresponsible. The individuals who participate in the lifestyle put forward their point of view on the subject and share some of their experiences.

  "The rushes contain interviews with two couples, one committed trio (2 girls and a guy), three single ladies, a single male, couples club manager, friends and family of one of the couples, a taxi driver who frequently collects and delivers patrons of the club and an academic who comments positively on the lifestyle.

  "There are several themes covered in the interviews:

  • Stories about sexual experiences.
  • Relationships (how people feel about each other).
  • Keys to successful swinging.
  • Jealousy and possessiveness issues.
  • About the clubs.
  • People at the clubs (what are they like).
  • Public perceptions of swinging/sexuality.
  • Do people know what you do?
  • Right to sexual freedoms.

  "We are searching for personal collections of home movies covering the activities of swingers from pre 1980's. Personal home movies would be used at the discretion of the owner (faces blanked out - if requested etc...). The footage would be used to illustrate that swinging is by no means a new thing in Australia. We have spent the past six months filming at an adult couples club in Brisbane in collaboration with the owners and patrons. The owners would be more than happy to confirm our genuine intentions if necessary.

  "If you can help us in this regard, please contact us at:

  

  "Any assistance would be greatly appreciated and full credit will be given. Thanks."

• Polyamorous Documentary Research

  Michael Cavanagh

  "This documentary will be looking deeply into alternative relationship structures throughout history and in modern-day society, paying particular attention to polyamorous relationships.

  "It will attempt to give the viewers an understanding of open relationships, looking into the social and political aspects of relationship archetypes in modern society, whilst also providing viewers with a first-hand insight into the motivations and experiences of an open relationship lifestyle.

  "I am currently looking for a range of interviewees to contribute to this project:

  • "Polyamorous families;
  • "Researchers on open relationships of any description;
  • "Individuals or couples willing to talk about their experiences with open relationships;
  • "Anybody that has something to say about either monogamous or non-monogamous relationships.

  "If you have something to contribute this project, your involvement would be greatly appreciated. I think this project will aid the development of understanding into alternative relationships and help shed some myths about open relationship in general."

  If you're interested in participating, please email Michael at:

  

Earlier research

• Australian Longitudinal Study of Health and Relationships (ALSHR)

  "The [ALSHR] Research Team is led by Associate Professor Anthony Smith, Professor Marian Pitts, and Dr Julia Shelley from the Australian Research Centre in Sex Health & Society at La Trobe University, and Dr Juliet Richters from the National Centre in HIV Social Research at the University of NSW. Mr Jason Ferris, the Research Officer for the study, is also based at the Australian Research Centre in Sex Health & Society."

  The ALSHR is "a national study of men's and women's health and relationships; and as a longitudinal study it is the first of its kind in Australia. The main aim of the study is to follow a nationally representative group of Australians over their lifetime documenting both the natural history and patterns of health and relationships. Among other areas, the study will explore issues of reproductive and sexual health behaviours and attitudes, relationship formation and changes, health status and behaviour, and family demographics." Further information, including contact details, is available at the study's home page.

• Bisexuality and sex education in Australian high schools

  Ruth Martin, B.Soc.Sci., University of Newcastle

  "The research aims to understand the experiences and representations of bisexuality for young people. It will explore the experiences and perceptions of young people, who now identify as bisexual, in regard to the sex education they received in their adolescence and schooling. It will also explore the representations of bisexuality in sex education materials in government high schools in New South Wales over the last decade." For further information, contact:

  

• HIV Futures 4

  Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society

  "The HIV Futures Surveys are self completed, mail-back, anonymous, national, non-clinical, omnibus, surveys conducted every 2 years. The first survey was conducted in 1997 with a sample of 925 people living with HIV/AIDS. Subsequent surveys were conducted in Australia in 1999 (921 respondents), 2001 (894 respondents), and 2003 (1059 respondents). HIV Futures New Zealand was conducted in 2001 with a sample size of 226 (25% of the PLWHA population of New Zealand). The survey had six major content areas: health and treatments, sex and relationships, accommodation, employment, community involvement and finances." Further information, including a copy of the HIV Futures 4 report, is available at the program's home page.

• In the Raw: 'Home-Made' Porn and Reality Genres

  Dr. Ruth Barcan

  "This paper is an exploration of the growing taste for amateur or 'reality' pornography, situating it within the larger context of the rise of reality genres more generally. It sees such a preference as one possible response to the onslaught of images of perfection and the cult of the body beautiful, and thus as a mode of resistance to consumer culture. A 'taste for the ordinary' must be understood not only as an erotic preference but also as a part of complex shifts in the very idea of ordinariness. This paper draws on interviews with people working in the image industries, including a maker of homemade porn, to explore the paradoxes of this interest in the mundane."

• The Porn Report

  Alan McKee, Kath Albury, Catharine Lumby

  The Porn Report represents the findings of the "Understanding Pornography in Australia" project.

  "The Porn Report debunks . . . misconceptions about porn consumers, producers and the industry at large.

  "In this first book-length account on pornography in Australia, Alan McKee, Kath Albury and Catharine Lumby present a comprehensive never-before-seen picture of the adult-content industries and its consumers.

  "If you've ever wondered what's in Australia's bestselling 50 porn videos and DVDs; what's behind amateur or do-it-yourself porn; and how porn is produced and distributed, The Porn Report will not only answer your questions, but also surprise you."

• Women who have relinquished or changed their sexual identity

  Dr Kirsten McLean

  To obtain copies of any of the publications arising from this project, please contact:

  Dr Kirsten McLean
  Lecturer in Sociology
  School of Political & Social Inquiry
  Monash University
  Email:

• Young Queers Getting Together: Moving Beyond Isolation and Loneliness

  Dr. Greg Curran

  "Over the last decade, education-focused research/studies on young queers (or same-sex attracted young people) have highlighted the many problems or difficulties they face growing up in a homophobic, heterosexist society. Strategies to address these issues (proposed in numerous research articles and reports) have largely focused on the school setting. I argue that these strategies are limited by heterosexual norms, which regulate and contain in advance what is possible (for queers) within the formal school system. I examine the ways in which these heterosexual norms work to constrain the queer subject in education-focused research and studies on young queers.

  "Within this field of study, young queers have largely been characterized as victims: of homophobic abuse and harassment, and neglect by families and schools. They’re said to be lonely and isolated, ‘at risk’ of attempted suicide, unsafe sex, drug and alcohol abuse, and homelessness. I argue that these representations convey a negative portrait of young queers – as wounded subjects. I illustrate how the emphasis on the wounded queer subject can work against the interests of young queers. In particular, it obscures those queer perspectives involving agency: first, queer cultures and communities; second, the knowledge and experiences of those who have gained confidence in their queerness, who have queer social and sexual lives. These (agentic) queers can offer us ways of understanding how young queers move beyond isolation and loneliness.

  "This study highlights the importance, for many young queers, of having opportunities and spaces where they can connect with each other. Socialization and sexualization among young queers involves a certain openness – being and doing queer – a practice which is unintelligible within most education-focused research/studies on young queers. This is illustrated and explored through comparative analysis of queer subjectivities in two differentiated spheres: on the one hand – education-focused research and studies relating to the school context, and on the other – gay/lesbian/queer studies and literature relating to queer social and sexual contexts. The key contexts and themes examined here are: early sexual experience and beats, queer cultures and communities, and queer youth support and social groups."