• Wynn, L.L., James Trussell, and Angel Foster. “Would You Say You Had Unprotected Sex if...? Language Used to Describe Sexual Health in E-mails to a Reproductive HealthWebsite.” Under review .

With James Trussell I conducted a study of 5 years of e-mails submitted to an emergency contraception website. We found that the language writers used to express themselves are revealing of the ways that women conceptualize contraceptive and sexual health experiences. For example, many writers referred to sex with a hormonal contraceptive but not a barrier contraceptive as “unprotected sex,” even in the context of concern over pregnancy risk. This suggests that the language of AIDS-prevention campaigns has changed how women think about contraception. A close examination of the language in a 1-year subset of these e-mails examines the ways writers communicate about their bodies, their health, and their sexual encounters, and the myths and misconceptions that people have about sexuality, contraception, and reproductive health.

In collaboration with two medical doctors at the University of Rochester, Justine Wu and Teresa Gipson, another language study focused on oral narratives of women communicating their sexual experiences when requesting EC prescriptions. One finding was that the theme of “good sex” versus “bad sex” dominated women’s narratives. Women experience moral tension as they attempt to reconcile societal expectations of appropriate sexual behavior (being “prepared,” “safe,” and “smart”) and the realities of everyday sexual encounters (often “unprepared and spontaneous,” “not safe” and “not smart”).