Young Women’s Sexual Expression and Vulnerability in Youth Leisure Spaces: The Affective Atmosphere of “Attacking”

Abstract

This article analyzes the phenomenon of “attacking”, a slang term referring to a common Israeli heterosexual script for casual sexual interactions in youth nightclubs, in order to reveal different affective relations that inform young women’s intensified vulnerability and sexual expression. Based on the theory of vulnerability and the theory of affect, it applies the relational standpoint to suggest the ambiguity of the affective atmosphere as a path to rethinking young women’s sexual expression in youth leisure spaces. Based on 39 semi-structured interviews with young women aged 18–23, this framework uses a wide range of affective responses as epistemic resources. The findings show how the affective atmosphere in “attacking” spaces reflects blurred social boundaries, intensified vulnerability, and affective relations, all of which inform young women’s sexual expression. They demonstrate the manifestations of the gender role division but also show how young women’s vulnerability serves as an affective resource for subjectification. The findings contribute to theorizing young women’s vulnerability as ambiguous, revealing how the leisure space offers different affective experiences – some deconstruct the subject, while others allow relational subjectification.