Australian Media Representations of Sexual and Intimate Relationships within the Coronavirus pandemic

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted people’s sexual and intimate relationship practices, including via ongoing social distancing measures, snap lockdowns, and travel disruptions as we are experiencing in Australia. The media is a significant contributor to our understanding and production of interactions in everyday life, including sexual and intimate relationship practices. However, little is known about how sexual and intimate relationships are being represented in mass media during the pandemic. In this study, we aimed to examine this within an Australian context using an exploratory qualitative approach. Newspaper articles were collected through keyword searches in Australia and New Zealand Newsstream, and Newsbank databases, from November 2020 (when all initial lockdowns in Australia were lifted) to April 2021. The articles were analysed using thematic analysis, a form of pattern-based analysis, to answer the research question “how are sexual and intimate relationships discussed in the Australian media, during the COVID-19 pandemic”. Five themes were generated through analysis: 1. Relationships are work; 2. Relationships are heteronormative; 3. A new normal emerging; 4. Relationships are a risk; and 5. Pandemic impacts on relationships. The findings will provide insight into how media representations of sexual and intimate relationships have been shaped by the pandemic and whether these representations have changed. This will contribute to wider efforts to explore and understand how people are experiencing and negotiating sexual and intimate relationships within the context of the pandemic.