Urban women's gender scripts: Implications for HIV prevention

Women's and men's gender roles and expectations regarding romantic and sexual encounters have been shifting, and the need to develop HIV preventive strategies has underscored the importance of understanding the contextual dynamics related to sexuality. Urban women's gender scripts were investigated as part of a comprehensive study that evaluated the efficacy of a theory-driven HIV/STI prevention programme. One hundred and thirty ethnically diverse women living in New York City participated in this study. Qualitative analysis was conducted of scripts generated as part of a semi-structured interview. Women's gender scripts were examined via descriptive narratives of their ideal romantic encounters. Results indicate that (a) both traditional and non-traditional gender scripts are evident in women's narratives; (b) distinct flirtation and sexual phases have similar and differing elements that assist in the initiation, progression, and ending of each phase; (c) type of communication used varied by the phase with verbal communication being more prevalent in the flirtation phase, and non-verbal communication used more often in the sexual phase; and (d) safer sex is not included in most women's gender script narratives. The findings have implications for HIV prevention and suggest the need to 're-write' present scripts, expand the repertoire and intent of safer sex messages, and incorporate cues to pre-sexual and sexual romantic encounters that could facilitate safer sex discussion and participation.