Abstract
Although cross-cultural influences on human behavior have been the
subject of many scholarly works, few studies have focused on the life
experiences of women from hyphenated cultural identities and how these
experiences inform a woman’s view of herself as a sexual being. In
particular, the influence of cross-cultural experiences on women with
combined Western and Eastern culture references, such as Israeli-Iranian
women, is poorly understood. This study analyzed four interviews with
second-generation Israeli-Iranian women who described how their sexual
self-concepts evolved as a result of living between both cultures, in
the “space of the hyphen.” I used the Listening Guide methodology to
inform the interviews and the data analysis, which revealed the
influence of family power, patriarchal social practices and the women’s
desire to distinguish themselves from cultural norms. This paper is
presented as a case study. It introduces multilayered views and
processes associated with each woman’s outlook of her evolving sexual
self-concept. I found that each woman’s sexual self-concept took into
account her behaviors, cognitions and emotions that were developed
during each life stage and also that it informed her sexual
subjectivity. I briefly discuss the implications that the findings have
for how the combination of Western and Eastern cultures influenced the
women’s lives. I also discuss how the findings may assist academics,
clinicians, policy makers and healthcare professionals in developing
innovative interventions in which gender roles and sexual self-concept
are addressed.