Gender, agency and the sexual self: A theoretical model for social work
Keywords:
sexuality, gender, agency, social workAbstract
The enduring agency and structure debate has in recent years become newly—and variously—fused via sociological theories of the self. Such scholarly work has entailed theorising that differing degrees of agency are embedded within practices, which in turn, constitute social structure. Such projects successfully unite these dichotomous concepts. However when the debate is applied to gender, notions of victimhood and survivorship proliferate. I argue that the application of sexual scripting theory to understanding the late- modern gendered, sexual self helps to move beyond the polarising structure/ agency debate. Understanding participants’ gendered experiences through the lens of sexual scripting theory highlights the ongoing and day-to-day experiences of gendered inequality in contemporary life. Emerging from data, this theorising moves beyond individual victimisation and points instead to a broader sociocultural sexuality characterised by embedded inequality and injustice. Understanding this in social work opens up new possibilities for theorising about diversity, sexuality and social work education.
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