Annotated Bibliography

Vangelisti, Anita L., and John A. Daly. "Gender Differences In Standards For Romantic Relationships." Personal Relationships 4.3 (1997): 203-219. PsycINFO. Web. 19 Mar. 2014.

This source is a study on standards in relationships. It compares men and women’s expectations and evaluates the degree to which they are met. The study found that men and women seem to place the same importance on different elements in a relationship, but women are less likely than to express that their standards are met by their partner. The article discusses some of the reasons behind this. It says that it may be due to the fact that women are naturally raised to place more importance on relationships because they are normalized to be codependent, while a man is raised to be independent. Therefore, a woman is more focused on relationship standards and meeting them. This article shows that men and women do experience relationships differently which confirms my question. I’d like to read more to see if there’s anything to dispute this, or to give me further reasoning for the differences in experiences between men and women.

Herzog, A. Regula, Jerald G. Bachman, and Ann Arbor. Inst. for Social Research. Michigan Univ. "Sex Role Attitudes Among High School Seniors: Views About Work And Family Roles. Final Report." (1981): ERIC. Web. 19 Mar. 2014.

This article is a study which interviewed high school seniors on relationships between men and women. This article interested me because I wanted to know young people’s responses to questions about their own future. This was a large study, but the part that related to my topic had some interesting findings. It found that the boys and girls agreed on gender equality in the workforce and such, but reverted back to traditional views on domestic responsibility. Most students believe that men should be the primary bread-winners and women should take on household responsibilities. These findings are more of a general answer to my question.

DAHL, DARREN W., JAIDEEP SENGUPTA, and KATHLEEN D. VOHS. "Sex In Advertising: Gender Differences And The Role Of Relationship Commitment." Journal Of Consumer Research 36.2 (2009): 215-231. Business Source Complete. Web. 19 Mar. 2014.

This article helped me to understand the differences in sexual motivations for men and women and the reasons for these differences. The author explains that there is an evolutionary and a socialization component to these differences. In the evolutionary approach, it is found that since women must devote more of themselves to raising and nurturing of children, they take sex more seriously. They are particular in finding partners who they believe will benefit them long-term for the sake of offspring. This is why women don’t often sleep around with many guys. On the other hand, men don’t have as much invested in the nurturing of offspring in the biological and evolutionary sense, so they often seize any opportunities to have sex.  The socialization aspect explains that the two sex’s experiences effect their views on sex. It is more frowned upon in society for girls to engage in any sexual activities than it is for men. Also it is socialized by experience for girls to relate sex to emotional involvement and relationships.

Jaramillo-Sierra, Ana L., and Katherine R. Allen. "Who Pays After The First Date? Young Men’S Discourses Of The Male-Provider Role." Psychology Of Men & Masculinity 14.4 (2013): 389-399. PsycARTICLES. Web. 20 Mar. 2014.

This article described the man’s point of view on dating. It describes 4 different categories of men’s thinking when it comes to paying for dates and then for everything thereafter the dating phase. Most men believed the man should pay for the dates. The 3 main reasons behind this were “to give a good impression, to show how much they care, and to do what is socially acceptable”. After the dating phase, men had a range of views when it came to paying, from paying for everything and spoiling their significant other, to completely withdrawing from paying for anything. I thought getting this male point of view was an interesting addition to my question but I’d like to hopefully find this same discussion from women’s point of view. Would women want men to pay for them, or do they want to be more independent?

Armstrong, Elizabeth A., Paula England, and Alison C. K. Fogarty. "Accounting For Women’S Orgasm And Sexual Enjoyment In College Hookups And Relationships." American Sociological Review 77.3 (2012): 435-462. SocINDEX with Full Text. Web. 20 Mar. 2014.

This article explained the differences in women’s sexual pleasure and orgasm in casual sex versus sex in a relationship. It was found that women more often are pleasured in relationships than in casual sex. Men were interviewed and admitted that in casual sex, the woman’s pleasure was not of their concern while in a relationship both sex’s wanted to pleasure their partner. The article further discussed the double standard that is a woman’s right to be pleasured in a relationship but not in casual sex. Since men aren’t interested in pleasuring their partner in casual sex, women are not reaching orgasm and are only pleasuring the man. It is more difficult for a woman to reach orgasm simply from intercourse and no other sexual activities. In casual sex, the man hasn’t had much time to even try to become acquainted with his partner’s body as to pleasure her. This may be why women don’t often seek to engage in sex outside of a relationship. This was a great addition to answer my question.

McGinty, Kristen, David Knox, and Marty E. Zusman. "Friends With Benefits: Women Want "Friends," Men Want "Benefits.." College Student Journal 41.4 (2007): 1128-1131. SPORTDiscus with Full Text. Web. 20 Mar. 2014.

This article was a study of college student’s involvement in “friends with benefits” relationships. It compared the differences in how men and women viewed the relationship. It was found that the women mostly viewed the relationship as a mostly friends relationship. They were found to be more invested emotionally than men, who viewed the relationship as mostly sex. It is assumed that the reasons for these view differences come from evolutionary and social effects. It explained similar reasons to the other article I read. This was just what I was looking for to help answer my question. I think most people assume this is how men and women feel in these types of casual sexual relationships, and this study shows that it is true.

Green, Katie J., and Mark T. Morman. "The Perceived Benefits Of The Friends With Benefits Relationship." Human Communication 14.4 (2011): 327-346. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 20 Mar. 2014.

This article examined the actual “benefits” of a “friends with benefits relationship”. The article discussed how men’s sex drive is more fixed and indifferent due to evolution, while women’s sex drive can easily be altered or changed by social constructions and experience. It claimed that women were less favorable of FWB relationships than men. Due to men’s greater sex drive, women in FWB relationships are forced to adapt. Women were found to place significance on the meaning of sex as opposed to men who viewed it as simply sex. It was also found that the benefits were different for men and women. Women wanted protection, men wanted sex. Both, however, gained the experience with no strings attached in order to gain information for choosing future long-term partners. This article helped expand the answer from the last article into further detail and even a different view on the topic of FWB.