The Emergence of Sexualization as a Social Problem: 1981-2010

Duschinsky, Robbie (2013) The Emergence of Sexualization as a Social Problem: 1981-2010. Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society, 20 (1). pp. 137-156. ISSN 1072-4745

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/sp/jxs016

Abstract

The article explores the history of how “sexualization” has come to be recognized as a social problem in the United States and Britain. It traces the “discursive coalition” which occurred between a number of conservative and feminist commentators, who for quite different reasons wished to justify measures to protect and regulate the practices of young women. A significant strand of feminist media narratives on sexualization have addressed young women as minors, threatened by contamination, and have proposed measures to regulate and nurture female sexuality and desire. In doing so, they have unintentionally offered support to right-wing discourses, which have used the issue to demand regulation of female sexuality and the dismantling of welfare state protections for adults. Underpinning this coalition has been an inadequate account of the sexual and commercial choice of young women, as either simply present or absent. In turn, this account has been organized by an image of young women themselves as either innocent or contaminated.

Item Type: Article
Subjects: L300 Sociology
L900 Others in Social studies
Department: Faculties > Health and Life Sciences > Social Work, Education and Community Wellbeing
Depositing User: Ellen Cole
Date Deposited: 04 Apr 2013 14:11
Last Modified: 01 Aug 2021 11:48
URI: http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/11940

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