Sexes, Volume 7, Issue 3 (September 2026) – 7 articles

(1) Background: Beliefs about love may influence relationship functioning, attitudes toward commitment, and relationship quality. The aim of the study was to examine the relationships between stable and unstable beliefs about love, relationship functioning, attitudes toward marriage and cohabitation, life values, and relationship quality. (2) Methods: The study involved 51 participants who completed an anonymous online questionnaire developed for the purposes of the research. Exploratory factor analysis and correlational analyses were performed, followed by regression analysis. (3) Results: Exploratory analyses suggested two preliminary dimensions of beliefs about love: stable and unstable vision of love. Stable love beliefs were associated with greater relationship commitment, constructive conflict resolution, fidelity, support toward a partner, and higher relationship quality. They were also related to more positive attitudes toward marriage and stronger family-oriented values. In contrast, unstable love beliefs were associated mainly with greater acceptance of non-committed relationships and the belief that love ends when sexual desire fades, but they were not significantly related to relationship quality. Regression analysis showed that only the stable vision of love was independently associated with relationship quality. (4) Conclusions: The findings suggest that relationship quality may depend more on stable and commitment-based beliefs about love than on the absence of unstable beliefs. Full article

In this article, I argue that the sexualities of Black rural women in post-apartheid South Africa are shaped by the enduring legacies of colonialism and apartheid. Drawing on African feminist, Black feminist, and decolonial scholarship, I conceptualise sex and sexuality not only as a socio-cultural domain, but as a deeply contested terrain of power through which race, gender, and heteronormative citizenship are constituted, regulated, and lived. Focusing on women’s narratives from Mpumalanga and drawing on an intergenerational focus group discussion comprising 20 young and older women conducted within narrative inquiry, I illuminate how intimate life is forged through the intricate entanglements of desire, material exchange, respectability, coercion, dependency, and survival. I further contend that the post-apartheid order, despite its formal commitment to sexual and gender rights, has not dismantled the racialised, gendered and heteropatriarchal conditions that continue to restrict Black women’s bodily autonomy and intimate negotiations. My analysis also demonstrates that sexuality becomes most legible through dominant heterosexual and cisgender scripts, while queer and non-normative intimacies remain obscured by moral, linguistic, and social constraints. By centring a reflexive narrative methodology, I advance a decolonial feminist account of how coloniality continues to inhabit embodiment, desire, and the fragile, intimate textures of women’s everyday lives. Full article

Ischemic priapism, the most prevalent subtype, constitutes over 95% of all priapism cases, with an estimated annual incidence of 5.34 per 100,000 men in the United States. Characterized by impaired venous outflow and reduced cavernosal blood flow, it is commonly confirmed through cavernous blood gas (CBG) analysis. Notably, ischemic priapism occurs in approximately 33% of men with sickle cell disease (SCD). Standard pharmacological management includes penile aspiration combined with intracavernosal injection (ICI) of sympathomimetic agents such as phenylephrine and etilefrine. These therapies encounter several challenges, including ineffectiveness, off-target effects, and possible complications such as pain, penile fibrosis, and deformities. This highlights the need for novel treatment options. Although pharmacological treatments and surgical procedures are available, there is still a significant demand for novel therapies due to the complexities associated with ischemic priapism and its underlying pathophysiology. This review aims to evaluate the potential of novel therapies as modalities for managing ischemic priapism. By utilizing various treatment modalities, it is possible to achieve localized and targeted action, enhanced safety, minimal off-target effects, and improved patient compliance. Furthermore, this review will explore the potential integration of new drug delivery systems for the management of ischemic priapism. Full article

Background: Education and employment are widely promoted as pathways to reducing intimate partner violence (IPV) through enhanced economic independence and bargaining power. However, evidence from settings characterised by entrenched gender inequalities suggests that these structural factors may not uniformly translate into protection. This study examines whether education and employment are associated with women’s experiences of IPV in South Africa. Methods: This study utilised nationally representative data from the South Africa Demographic and Health Survey (N = 2354). Education and employment were used as structural proxies for women’s socioeconomic positioning. Survey-adjusted logistic regression models were employed to estimate associations between these factors and lifetime IPV, controlling for key sociodemographic characteristics. Given the cross-sectional design and the use of lifetime IPV alongside contemporaneous measures of education and employment, findings are interpreted as associative rather than causal. Results: Education and employment were not significantly associated with women’s likelihood of experiencing IPV. Women with these characteristics were not less likely to report emotional, physical, or sexual violence compared to those without them. IPV prevalence was higher among women aged 25–34, those with secondary education, and those in lower wealth households. Marital status emerged as a strong correlate, with separated and divorced women facing substantially higher odds of IPV. Discussion: The absence of a significant association suggests that education and employment alone may be insufficient to reduce IPV risk in contexts where gender norms and relational power imbalances remain entrenched. These findings may also reflect the limitations of using structural indicators as proxies for empowerment, as such measures do not capture decision-making power, control over resources, or intra-household dynamics. Conclusions: Interventions to reduce IPV should extend beyond improving women’s access to education and employment to address relational, normative, and structural drivers of violence. Multidimensional approaches that incorporate gender-transformative strategies and strengthen women’s substantive agency are likely to be more effective. Full article

Romantic relationships are central to adult life, yet contemporary social, cultural, and technological transformations have reshaped how individuals navigate intimacy. This study examines how Greek millennials conceptualize short- and long-term romantic relationships, situating partner preferences and relational strategies at the intersection of evolutionary predispositions, cultural scripts, and digital mediation. Using a qualitative design grounded in social constructionism, ten heterosexual Greek millennials aged 27–42 were recruited via convenience and snowball sampling. Semi-structured interviews explored traits prioritized in partners, self-presentation strategies, and the influence of social and digital contexts. Reflexive thematic analysis identified three main themes: (1) Gendered Moral Economies of Long-Term Partnership, (2) Negotiating Social Scripts in a Digitally Mediated and Disillusioned Context, and (3) Conditional Commitment and the Stratification of Intimacy. The findings indicate that while some partner preferences align with Sexual Strategies Theory, they are heavily mediated by patriarchal norms, digital performativity, personal experiences of trauma, and age-related reflexivity. Short-term relationships were valued for pleasure and autonomy yet morally differentiated from long-term commitments. Overall, the study highlights the dynamic, contextually embedded, and reflexively constructed nature of contemporary romantic strategies among Greek millennials, offering insights for evolutionary, sociocultural, and digital perspectives on intimacy. Full article

Background and Objectives: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a major public health concern, with nearly one in three women experiencing rape, physical assault, stalking, emotional manipulation, or a combination of these behaviors in their lifetime. As an often neglected cause of injury worldwide, IPV is underreported and not well recognized by healthcare professionals. Employment has been identified as a key factor in women’s successful disentanglement from IPV. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the factors that influenced women who had experienced IPV, established a career path, and successfully disentangled from IPV. Materials and Methods: Women who experienced IPV were recruited from a local university. Results: Ten female participants completed open-ended interviews (mean age = 47, SD = 10.25). Five main themes emerged as the most important in disentangling from their abusive situation: tipping point, grit, religion, children, and education/career. The main theme or step in the process that led to disentanglement was the tipping point. Once the tipping point had been reached, participants moved toward disentanglement. Conclusions: Disentanglement from IPV was enhanced for women who reached a tipping point of abuse. Full article

Refugees identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersexual (LGBTQI) may experience discrimination not only prior to and during flight but also within the host country, including stigmatisation by other refugees. Such experiences can severely affect mental health, making LGBTQI refugees a particularly vulnerable group. To date, however, quantitative data on homonegativity within refugee populations remain scarce. In this cross-sectional survey, 70 adult refugees in Germany reported interpreter preferences across three everyday settings. Homonegativity was operationalised as the consistent rejection of an LGBTQI-identifying interpreter across all settings. Sixteen participants (22.9%) showed consistent rejection. This proportion exceeds estimates of negative attitudes towards homosexuals reported for the German general population. Consistent rejection was associated with higher religiosity and was more common among participants who identified as Muslim, with higher rates among refugees from Syria compared with those from Afghanistan. No significant associations were found for age, gender, or length of stay. While the majority of participants did not reject LGBTQI-identifying interpreters, a substantial minority did so consistently. These findings underscore the importance of considering subgroup-specific preferences in interpreter assignment practices and indicate potential risks of discrimination against LGBTQI refugees within shared accommodation settings. Full article