The article presents the results of the first national study on the intimate lifestyles of university students in Slovenia, focusing on the analysis of the social conditions in wich the first heterosexual intercourse (FHI) is placed in. After taking account of relevant theories on social changes in the sphere of intimacy and sexsuality in late modernity (Giddens, Bauman), the authors argue that it is largely the social forms of sexsuality and not the content that have changed significantly. The article concentrates on two research questions: first, whether the experience of the FHI is closer to Gidden's concept of a pure relationship or to Bauman's pure sexsual encounter and whether the type of social relationship in wich the FHI was embedded is linked to its content (especially the motives and feelings accompaying it); and second, whether the social relationship in which students experienced their FHI is indeed free from social constraints (e.g. gender, social status and religiosity). Data confirm strong link between the type of relationship in which FHI happened and the modalities of this sexual experience. FHIs embedded in committed relationships (CRs) differ from those occurring in uncommitted relationship (URs) although the differences had various strengths.
COBISS.SI-ID: 33474909
Based on qualitative empirical data from two studies on Internet dating in Slovenia, this paper discusses the social contexts of the Internet dating of heterosexual men and women and homosexual men. Special attention is given to different aspects of the commodification and rationalisation of dating in the process of forming potential (romantic) partnerships. First, we discuss our respondents' reasons for using the Internet to get in touch with potential (romantic) partners. Second, we focus on the demands and strategies of targeted marketing in personal profile writing and, finally, on the process of selecting potential partners. Our study shows that the primary understanding of Internet dating among people who engage in it is its economic nature. Together with targeted marketing and the predetermined criteria for choosing interesting others, Internet dating can thus be understood as a market that encourages rationalisation and commodification in the process of forming intimate relationships.
COBISS.SI-ID: 33307741
The article deals with the comparison of the characteristics, experiences and perceptions of everyday life of gays and lesbians living in rural and urban areas of Slovenia. We focus on the following thematic aspects: (1) coming out; (2) intimate partnerships; (3) the access and the use of gay infrastructure; (4) violence against gays and lesbians. The article also addresses and discusses the urban/rural divide as a Western construct that might not be completely applicable to other social and cultural contexts. Taking Slovenia as an example, this article questions theself-evidence of rural/urban divide as an analytical concept. On the basis of our research we conclude that this concept requires continuous revisions and re-interpretations in a concrete social and cultural context(s). The characteristics of gay and lesbian everyday life either in rural or in urban context in Slovenia lead to the conclusion that even within a specific social and cultural context, the concept of urban/rural divide should be used carefully, taking into account complexities of everyday lives and various factors that influence them.
COBISS.SI-ID: 32494685
The article deals with the process of the “secularization” of the Roman Catholic Church and its attempts to secure exclusionary patriarchal and traditional values and interpretations in the context of issues pertaining to sexual citizenship. Taking two case studies as examples – the recent Family Code debate in Slovenia and the Health Education in Croatia – it shows how the Church and its satellite civil society organizations increasingly refrain from using “biblical discourse”, substituting it with what appears as a rational, scientific discourse molded into reassuring and populist common-sense statements. In such a way, the Church is secularizing its discourse in order to “clericalize” society. Furthermore, it is successfully reinventing the issues of family and marriage as an ideological battleground of contemporary cultural wars in post-socialist societies.
COBISS.SI-ID: 1033069
Background: The article presents the results of the first sociological study in Slovenia on sexual behaviour of internet daters, with a particular focus on health-related aspects of sexual behaviour. Methods: The sample consists of people who use (have used) Internet dating services. Snow-ball sampling was done through e-mail alerts and by posting banners on Internet dating sites. The data were collected in January and February 2007. The final sample consists of 1349 respondents. Results: The majority of our respondents had either no (44.2%) or few (1 to 5 - 48%) sexual contacts with persons they got to know over the internet. Depending on their sexual orientation, 15 to 40% of men had sex on the first date compared to 7 to 18% of women. One third of heterosexual men and women did not use a condom during their first sexual intercourse with the last person met online. Homosexual men are far more likely to use condoms, as only 17% stated that they did not use a condom, in comparison with heterosexual and bisexual men. Conclusions: Results of the survey show that the time that passes between first on-line contact and first sexual intercourse represents an important indicator of potentially risky sexual behaviour as far as sexual health is concerned. Our data show that this is the case especially for bisexual males. Data on condom use show that the "AIDS era" left a strong impact on the population of homosexual men, who far more often use a condom in comparison with heterosexual and bisexual respondents.
COBISS.SI-ID: 32208733