“Take It Easy, I’ll Tell You if There’s Something Wrong”: Young Cisgender Heterosexual Men and Sexual Communication During Casual Sex in Australia

Introduction: Calls for consent and masculinity workshops in Australian schools aim to address sexual violence by cisgender heterosexual men. However, little research explores how these men understand and practise sexual consent in the face of these calls. This study investigates how young men in Australia navigate consent in casual encounters.

Methods: Thirty semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with young men living in Australia between May and September in 2021. Participants were asked about their dating and sexual practices, as well as their understanding and navigation of verbal and body language in relation to sexual communication and consent. The findings were analysed using interpretive phenomenological analysis techniques.

Results: Findings note tensions between contradictory expectations within sexual encounters. This includes (1) determining genuine or coerced interest, (2) their awareness of women’s body language but desiring verbal communication, and (3) their awareness of their own body language but perceiving this as not being assertive enough.

Conclusions: Men are acutely aware of the body language and verbal cues indicating sexual interest, enjoyment, and rejection for consent. They navigate complex relationships, managing new expectations concerning women’s bodily autonomy and traditional gendered norms in sex and intimacy.

Policy Implications: New concerns regarding the place of ambiguity and exploration within young men and women’s sexual encounters are emerging from critiques of sexual consent education. Policy and practice should pay greater attention to embedding skills for navigating these ambiguities rather than assuming people as fully knowing beings.