Middle-class young women: Agentic sexual subjects?

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Middle-class young women: Agentic sexual subjects? / Maxwell, Claire; Aggleton, Peter.

In: International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, Vol. 26, No. 7, 01.01.2013, p. 848-865.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

Harvard

Maxwell, C & Aggleton, P 2013, 'Middle-class young women: Agentic sexual subjects?', International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, vol. 26, no. 7, pp. 848-865. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2012.705044

APA

Maxwell, C., & Aggleton, P. (2013). Middle-class young women: Agentic sexual subjects? International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 26(7), 848-865. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2012.705044

Vancouver

Maxwell C, Aggleton P. Middle-class young women: Agentic sexual subjects? International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education. 2013 Jan 1;26(7):848-865. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2012.705044

Author

Maxwell, Claire ; Aggleton, Peter. / Middle-class young women: Agentic sexual subjects?. In: International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education. 2013 ; Vol. 26, No. 7. pp. 848-865.

Bibtex

@article{96a62e75e25e4fb89c2ae79b065343b0,
title = "Middle-class young women: Agentic sexual subjects?",
abstract = "There are a number of gaps in current understandings of the links between young femininities, agency and social class. Building on recent work, we examine how closely young middle-class women in one fee-paying school in England take up so-called top girl discourses and explore whether and how such discursive positions are linked to agentic practice within sexual and intimate relationships. Only one young woman in our study appeared to relatively successfully embody the idea of a {\textquoteleft}top girl{\textquoteright} and, through the use of an {\textquoteleft}I am powerful{\textquoteright} narrative voice, appeared also to demonstrate the most sustained, agentic approach to her sexual and intimate relationships, as well as many other parts of her life. Although other young women also drew on this idea of themselves as powerful, their narratives demonstrated fewer moments of agency, largely because they desired equally confident, assertive men as their partners (whom they understood would be dominant to them).",
keywords = "Agency, England, Social class, Top girl discourses, Young femininities",
author = "Claire Maxwell and Peter Aggleton",
year = "2013",
month = jan,
day = "1",
doi = "10.1080/09518398.2012.705044",
language = "English",
volume = "26",
pages = "848--865",
journal = "International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education",
issn = "0951-8398",
publisher = "Routledge",
number = "7",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Middle-class young women: Agentic sexual subjects?

AU - Maxwell, Claire

AU - Aggleton, Peter

PY - 2013/1/1

Y1 - 2013/1/1

N2 - There are a number of gaps in current understandings of the links between young femininities, agency and social class. Building on recent work, we examine how closely young middle-class women in one fee-paying school in England take up so-called top girl discourses and explore whether and how such discursive positions are linked to agentic practice within sexual and intimate relationships. Only one young woman in our study appeared to relatively successfully embody the idea of a ‘top girl’ and, through the use of an ‘I am powerful’ narrative voice, appeared also to demonstrate the most sustained, agentic approach to her sexual and intimate relationships, as well as many other parts of her life. Although other young women also drew on this idea of themselves as powerful, their narratives demonstrated fewer moments of agency, largely because they desired equally confident, assertive men as their partners (whom they understood would be dominant to them).

AB - There are a number of gaps in current understandings of the links between young femininities, agency and social class. Building on recent work, we examine how closely young middle-class women in one fee-paying school in England take up so-called top girl discourses and explore whether and how such discursive positions are linked to agentic practice within sexual and intimate relationships. Only one young woman in our study appeared to relatively successfully embody the idea of a ‘top girl’ and, through the use of an ‘I am powerful’ narrative voice, appeared also to demonstrate the most sustained, agentic approach to her sexual and intimate relationships, as well as many other parts of her life. Although other young women also drew on this idea of themselves as powerful, their narratives demonstrated fewer moments of agency, largely because they desired equally confident, assertive men as their partners (whom they understood would be dominant to them).

KW - Agency

KW - England

KW - Social class

KW - Top girl discourses

KW - Young femininities

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84911991151&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1080/09518398.2012.705044

DO - 10.1080/09518398.2012.705044

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:84911991151

VL - 26

SP - 848

EP - 865

JO - International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education

JF - International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education

SN - 0951-8398

IS - 7

ER -

ID: 202859588