Abstract
Many writers from a range of disciplines have argued that all sexual relationships are first and foremost power relationships. Giddens (1992), for example, described sexuality as a social construct “operating within fields of power, not merely a set of biological promptings which either do or do not find direct release” (p. 23), and Brickell (2009) claimed that power “is intrinsic to sexuality” (p. 57). Following a series of interviews concerning sex within heterosexual relationships, Holland, Ramazanoglu, Sharpe, and Thomson (1998) came to the conclusion that both males and females collude in promoting a single standard of dominant heterosexual masculinity, the “male-in-the-head” (p. 11). Overall, the view that sexuality and power are intertwined is so common that overlooking the nature and effects of social power in sexuality would be very difficult to imagine. Understandings of power relations in different sexual contexts, complex though they may be, are central to comprehending fully various sexual expressions and sexual relationships. These understandings offer important social considerations for an expanded personal construct theory (PCT). Not only do individuals’ constructs require analysis but social factors such as oppression, privilege, social inequalities, social control, and resistance to power also demand attention. This chapter draws on theory and research from various social science disciplines on power relations in general, and sexuality in particular, to consider how power impacts sexuality and how PCT does and should accommodate social power.
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Horley, J., Clarke, J. (2016). Power Relations in Sexuality. In: Experience, Meaning, and Identity in Sexuality. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-40096-3_5
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