Maxwell, C; Aggleton, P; (2012) Bodies and Agentic Practice in Young Women's Sexual and Intimate Relationships. Sociology , 46 (2) pp. 306-321. 10.1177/0038038511419192.

Preview

Text Maxwell & Aggleton agentic bodies paper FINAL copy.pdf Download (477kB) | Preview

Abstract

This article contributes to theorizations of agency through a focus on how understandings of power within young women’s sexual and intimate relationships connect with their descriptions of feeling, reacting and sensuous bodies, to suggest why and how agentic practice takes place. Drawing on the narratives of 54 young women aged 16–18 years in one secondary school in England, findings concur with other literature which suggests that sensations experienced on or within the body can instigate (agentic) practice. Significantly, however, both physical and verbal practices are drawn on during agentic moments. Young women who discursively position themselves as ‘powerful’ integrate their bodies within such an understanding, using this integration to shore up the possibilities for agentic practice. Moving away from an understanding of practice as ‘accommodating’ and/or ‘resisting’ norms and inequalities, this article identifies four strategies described by the young women (assertive, refusing, proactive and interrogative) for facilitating more sustained agency.

Download activity - last month

Export as XMLCSVJSON

Download activity - last 12 months

Export as CSVXMLJSON

Downloads by country - last 12 months

Export as JSONCSVXML

Archive Staff Only

View Item