Agency in action – young women and their sexual relationships in a private school

Abstract

Maxwell, C. and Aggleton, P. (2010) 'Agency in action -young women and their sexual relationships in a private school ', Gender and Education, 1 Agency in action -young women and their sexual relationships in a private school Claire Maxwell and Peter Aggleton AbstractAgency among young women is often understood as fleeting in nature, and studies rarely offer insights into how agency could become a more sustained position. Using data from 54 young women discussing their sexual and intimate relationships, this paper suggests a new way of understanding agency beyond that found in work which stresses agentic practice as resistance or the challenging of dominant expectations and understandings. Instead, through the notion of 'agency in action' we begin with young women's conceptualisations of power. In this study, power was viewed as a resource that is shared between partners, but also a capacity of the self. These conceptualisations offer two new ways of understanding agency in intimate relations -either through 'reacting into action' and taking power back; or by 'starting from' a powerful position. Central to an understanding of young women's agency is the role of emotions and recognition of these as motivators for change.

Abortion as agentive action: reproductive agency among young women seeking post-abortion care in Uganda

“…Despite power asymmetry, women found leeway for action, supporting Ortner's (2006) view that agency is conditioned by the social system but is not necessarily determined by it. Our findings are also in line with the thinking that agentive action can be used to regain power (Maxwell and Aggleton 2010). In this light, we argue that abortion represents a vital form of female empowerment and a prerequisite for female emancipation in Uganda.…”

Bodies and Agentic Practice in Young Women’s Sexual and Intimate Relationships

“…A third possibility in which the body is integral to sustained agentic practice is linked to our previous finding that some young women positioning themselves discursively as powerful in their sexual and intimate relationships (Maxwell and Aggleton, 2010). Mercedes was one of the young women who most clearly positioned herself centre stage in her own narrative and presented herself as directing her experiences.…”

“…Similarly, others have argued that being wounded in some way for transgressing the appropriate boundaries of heternormativity (Youdell, 2004) or that the desire for social recognition of sexuality (Westhaver, 2006) can provide the stimulus for change or motivate practice. Just as young women were emotionally hurt by the behaviours of young men they were involved with, which led them to take power back (Maxwell and Aggleton, 2010), the narratives presented in this paper have emphasized how their feeling, sensuous bodies reacted into action based on what they perceived to be pleasurable or negative physical sensations and responses to other bodies and persons. Additionally, the young women described how they communicated agentically through both their bodies and by what they said (their speech).…”

“…Our previous work suggested that events that bring to the fore inequalities of power within a relationship can instigate agentic practice (Maxwell and Aggleton, 2010). Similarly, others have argued that being wounded in some way for transgressing the appropriate boundaries of heternormativity (Youdell, 2004) or that the desire for social recognition of sexuality (Westhaver, 2006) can provide the stimulus for change or motivate practice.…”

“…As described elsewhere (Maxwell and Aggleton, 2010), our original study aimed to explore young women's reflexivity, narratives and embodied practices of agency in their sexual and intimate relationships. Using one secondary school in England as the research site, young women in their final two years of formal schooling (known in England as the Sixth Form)…”