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 addresses the latest developments in political science in terms of how sexuality is increasingly becoming a prominent political issue, which bridges the public/private divide. This is especially true of the LGBTQ rights and, more broadly, sexual citizenship issues. While sexual rights are being increasingly recognized, they have also been abused for exclusion of the Others: sexual and nationalistic agendas are combined to promote imperialistic agendas, exclude ethnic and/or religious minorities or combat immigration. The article addresses how these developements fit into contemporary politics and how it can be studied.
COBISS.SI-ID: 1067629