ENDURING NOTIONS of HETEROSEXUALITY: a STUDY in CONTEMPORARY SEX and RELATIONSHIPS by JULIE WHITEMAN
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ENDURING NOTIONS OF HETEROSEXUALITY: A STUDY IN CONTEMPORARY SEX AND RELATIONSHIPS by JULIE WHITEMAN A thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY School of Social Policy, Sociology and Criminology College of Social Sciences University of Birmingham March 2020 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. Abstract This thesis is a politicised sociological feminist critique of hegemonic heterosexuality. It questions how hegemonic heterosexuality shapes and informs everyday gendered interactions in the area of sex and relationships using the lens of sexual scripting theory. This thesis presents the findings from my innovative in-depth qualitative empirical study into the lives and thought processes of young adults. It unpacks audience interpretations of music video representations of sex and relationships shedding new light on the complex and dynamic process that is cultural meaning making. I draw on feminist theory, social theory, cultural studies, sexuality studies, communication theory, media theory and social science research theory to argue that the social and sexual scripts underpinning contemporary manifestations of hegemonic heterosexuality in postfeminist media culture enduringly discriminate based on gender, sexuality, race and class despite popular discourse to the contrary. This thesis presents examples of cultural domination in popular culture, theorises how they inform definitions of gender and sexuality, and draws out the implications of this for contemporary notions of sex and relationships. I empirically demonstrate my argument with examples of cultural dissonance, illuminating how contradictions between postfeminist discourses and lived experience were experienced and organised by my participants. Dedication For Pop and Logan. Thank you for loving me and believing in me. Acknowledgements Doing this PhD has been a luxury and a privilege. There are so many people that have helped me on my way but first and foremost among them is my husband, Simon Sheridan. It is no exaggeration to say that I could not have done this without his unwavering support and encouragement, and I am eternally grateful. Also, I need to thank my beautiful son Logan for making me laugh every single day and being patient when my mind wandered from Lego to some theory or insight. I thank Nan and Pop for the money that made me think this was achievable, and for not blinking when I told them what I was going to do with it. Next to my family, this PhD would not have been possible, or nearly so enjoyable, without my supervisors, Dr Shelley Budgeon and Professor Finola Kerrigan. Thank you both so much for the unfailing insight, guidance and encouragement. I owe a special thanks to Shelley who I approached with a very vague idea of what I wanted to do and not much else, and somehow managed to convince to take me on. I must also thank Madeline Mott, a new but already very special friend, for so generously taking the time to read my thesis, checking my spelling and grammar, and for all her support, encouragement and all-round cheerleading of my work. And a special thanks to Siân Thomas and Henry Price who I met up the front of the lecture hall in year one and who have kept me sane and entertained throughout this process. To my participants who gave me their time, energy and so much of themselves during 2018 – thank you. I can’t tell you the difference you have made to my life by making this PhD possible. You shared so much of yourselves and I hope I have done you justice in this thesis. Finally, I would like to thank all the amazing women in my life, in books and in person, who have welcomed me into the family of women who don’t know their place. Contents Chapter 1: Introduction…………………………………….…1 1.1 Locating notions of sex and relationships…………...……………………………...2 1.2 Locating this work in the debate…………………………...…………………….....8 1.3 Research aims and questions…………………………….………………….…….12 1.4 Thesis outline…………………………………………….……………...................13 1.5 Motivations……………………………………………….……………………....15 Chapter 2: Conceptualising the problem: hegemonic heterosexuality and constructions of gender and sexuality..16 2.1 What is heterosexuality?.......................................................................................................16 2.2 Constructions of gender and sexuality…………………………………………….28 2.3 Female sexuality and gender politics………………………………………………39 2.4 Sexual politics and questions of power……………………………………………49 2.5 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………..57 Chapter 3: Researching the phenomenon…………………..59 3.1 Understanding the problem………………………………………………………60 3.2 Textual analysis…………………………………………………………………...67 3.3 Audience studies………………………………………………………………….72 3.4 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………..77 Chapter 4: Methodology……………………………………...79 4.1 Analytic perspectives……………………………………………………………...81 4.2 Research processes………………………………………………………………..93 4.3 Ethics and reflexivity……………………………………………………………...108 4.4 Concluding remarks………………………………………………………………113 Chapter 5: Generation as identity……………………………115 5.1 Unpacking the generational identity………………………………………………118 5.2 Navigating dominant and alternative discourses…………………………………..126 5.3 The role and significance of social media…………………………………………133 5.4 Conclusion……………………………………………….……………………….147 Chapter 6: Mediated Sexual Subjectivities: enduring heteronormativity…………………………………………….150 6.1 What is ‘alternative’?............................................................................................................153 6.2 Re-signifying discourses of sexualisation and objectification……………………...168 6.3 The significance of site of engagement…………………………………………...178 6.4 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………….186 Chapter 7: Scripts of Sexual Attraction and Interaction……189 7.1 Scripts of sexual attraction and interaction....……………………………………..194 7.2 The features and role of violence…………………………………………………210 7.3 The production and consumption of scripts...……………………………………222 7.4 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………….231 Chapter 8: Conclusion……………………………………….234 8.1 Addressing the research questions………………………………………………..235 8.2 Contributions…………………………………………………………………….241 8.3 Limitations and future research…………………………………………………..246 8.4 Final thoughts and personal reflections…………………………………………..249 Appendix 1: Participant information……………………..…252 Appendix 2: Analytic codes…………………………………256 Appendix 3: Interview materials…………………………….260 Reference List………………………………………….…….265 Chapter 1: Introduction In summer 2018 I unexpectedly found myself on the road I had worked on as a sixteen-year-old Office Junior in the early 1990s. Reminiscing about my life at that time I recalled my then boyfriend and our relationship which could at best be called unsatisfactory. He was what would now be called emotionally abusive but I did not have that vocabulary then, I simply thought ours was typical of how relationships operated and if I wanted one, which all the world seemed to be telling me I ought to, I had to put up with it. While having these thoughts, I was reminded of a conversation I had had a few days previously with one of my research participants, a young woman of 20. In this conversation my participant was relating her life experience to that shown in a music video and resignedly telling me that love, or the illusion of love, makes us do silly, out of character things (in the case of the music video, stay with a physically abusive and philandering man). The parallels in our youthful resignation to ‘unsatisfactory’ romantic relationships, over 20 years apart, communicated and normalised in this music video, demonstrates what is the at the core of this sociological inquiry: the enduring gendered inequality of hegemonic heterosexuality. This thesis addresses the institution of heterosexuality and questions how it shapes and informs everyday gendered interactions in the realm of sex and relationships using the lens of sexual scripting theory. It presents the findings from my innovative and in-depth qualitative empirical study into the lives and thought processes of young adults, uncovering and engaging with their interpretations of music video representations of sex and relationships to shed new light on the complex and dynamic process that is cultural meaning making. Importantly, I use Mediated Discourse Analysis (MDA) for my analytical framework bringing inventive and broad ranging insight to my data. MDA centres social action and explores the complex semiotic web of 1 discourses that surround it, meaning it encompasses the intentional and unintentional aspects of communication that make up human interaction. I argue that the social and sexual scripts underpinning contemporary manifestations of hegemonic heterosexuality in postfeminist media culture have not changed in any significant way despite popular discourse to the contrary, and empirically demonstrate the dissonance between these discourses and the lived experiences of my participants. Intrinsic