Pleasure and Propriety

Teen Girls and the Practice of Straight Space

Bibliographic Data

ID4475646
AuthorsMary E Thomas (Department of Geography, University of California, Los Angeles, Box 951524, Los Angeles, CA 90095 USA), Mary Thomas (0000-0003-1372-3032, University of California, Los Angeles, corresponding author)
Year2004
Volume22
Issue5
Pages773-789
Publication date2004-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEnvironment and Planning D Society and Space (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0263-7758 • E-ISSN: 1472-3433
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1068/d395
OpenAlexW2079162049
LanguageEN
Citations received37
References cited38

Heterosexuality is often perceived by geographers to be a dominant social force in the production of space, yet the ways that heterosexuality achieves this domination have not been scrutinized. In this paper I focus on two straight girls' narratives to explore, first, how they sexualize space and thus make space heterosexual; and, second, how space and spatiality imbue their everyday social and sexual practices and thus exist as a central component of subjectivity. I argue that considering the spatiality of their sexual practices presents a theoretical advantage over current feminist conceptualizations that place girls in gendered relationships in which boys maintain control. Instead, I suggest that a close reading of the pleasures and proprieties of sex and sexuality in these two girls' stories illustrates how the girls become invested with and perform social-sexual norms and meanings through spatialized practices

Art · Epistemology · Heterosexuality · Human sexuality · Narrative · Pleasure · Political science · Queer · Reading (process · Social practice · Social space · Sociology · Subjectivity · Gender Roles and Identity Studies · Gender Studies · Homelessness and Social Issues · Psychology · Rural development and sustainability · Social Psychology

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Open DOISci-HubOpen Access