Koechlin, Aurore

The gynecological consultation, a paradoxical instance in the socialisation of young women to sexuality - 2022.


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In this paper, we examine the role of gynecological consultations in the socialisation of young women to sexuality, starting from a paradox: while sexuality is part of the competencies of medical gynecology, it is apparently only rarely discussed. Sexuality is not so much erased as reconfigured. The gynecological consultation mainly socialises women to a medical vision of sexuality, which must be contracepted and whose potential consequences (unplanned pregnancies, STIs) must constantly be prevented and punctually checked. When sexuality is addressed more directly through sexology, even though it is rare, the discourse adopted by health professionals is based on lay representations. In both cases, what is striking is that sexuality is addressed through norms, but they are not of the same nature – medical and professional norms in the case of contraception and prevention, and lay norms in the case of sexology. But whatever the nature of these norms, they ultimately reinforce the dominant norms of gender and sexuality in society.