Women's Sexual Empowerment Across the Lifespan

Abstract

Sexual empowerment is an ill-defined construct, often described in discrete parts as subjective (power to) or functional (power over). A continuous multidimensional model has been proposed by Zo Peterson (2010) that bridges this divide, but lacks empirical support. This study assessed women’s perceptions of and experiences with sexual empowerment across the lifespan to evaluate Peterson’s model. An online sample of heterosexual women ages 18 – 70 was recruited to complete a questionnaire composed of power to and power over measures, and the results were compared across four age cohort groups. No significant differences were found in responses across age cohort groups. Correlations between measures call the categorization of measures into question, and a need for more accurate tools is discussed. Women responded most favorably to the continuous multidimensional definition of sexual empowerment, even though results from other measures did not support it.