Transcripts of Unfulfillment: A Study of Sexual Dysfunction and Dissatisfaction among Malay-Muslim Women in Malaysia

Abstract

The prevalence of female sexual dysfunction (FSD), or in everyday notion, sexual dissatisfaction, among Malay women remains high, denoting that there are several influences shaping their experience of sex within marriage. This qualitative study identified the perceived effects of social factors in the development of sexual dysfunction among Malay women. Engaging a phenomenological framework, 26 in-depth face-to-face interviews were conducted among married women from Peninsular Malaysia, based on their self-reporting of FSD symptoms. All sessions were audio-recorded and the data were transcribed verbatim and managed in the ATLAS.ti software before being analysed. The three themes that emerged—‘sex is taboo and culturally unacceptable’, ‘self-ignorance about sex’, and ‘lack of husband’s role in mutual sexual enjoyment’—suggest some influence of Islamic teachings and cultural conduct, as in Adat, on sexuality in society. However, a lack of knowledge and nonadherence to positive values and teachings around sexual satisfaction between men and women, as espoused through the Islamic religion, have affected woman’s sexual functions and coupling relationship even more significantly. The results of this qualitative study show that a formal, culturally sensitive, and comprehensive sex education programme incorporating both medical and Islamic knowledge may work to effectively reduce FSD.