Consensual Unwanted Sex and Body Dissatisfaction Among Cisgender Heterosexual Women and Queer Women/Gender Expansive Individuals

People (especially women) often consent to unwanted sexual activity (especially with men). Reasons for consenting to unwanted sex include facilitating desired and avoiding undesired outcomes, and both positive and negative outcomes are common. Much of this research has focused on cisgender women’s experiences consenting to unwanted sex with cisgender men and associated relationship and emotional outcomes. Building on existing work, we examined how consenting to unwanted sex was associated with body-related harms among samples of cisgender heterosexual (cis/het) women (N = 491) and Queer women and gender expansive individuals (N = 529). Using survey data, we examined whether self-objectification explained the relationship between consensual unwanted sex (yes/no) and body dissatisfaction, and whether sexual/gender identity moderated those relationships. We also explored reasons for consenting to unwanted sex and how those reasons were associated with self-objectification and body dissatisfaction. Results found 70% of participants had ever consented to unwanted sex, and that consenting to unwanted sex was more common among Queer women/gender expansive individuals than cis/het women. There was a significant indirect effect of consensual unwanted sex on body dissatisfaction via self-objectification for both cis/het and Queer participants. Moreover, the frequency of different reasons for consenting to unwanted sex were similar for cis/het women and Queer women and gender expansive individuals. Only avoidance reasons were associated with greater self-objectification and body dissatisfaction. Overall, consenting to unwanted sex was associated with body-related harms, and such harms were experienced by both cis/het women and Queer women/gender expansive individuals.