There is a well-documented absence of inclusive school-based sex and relationships education (SRE... more There is a well-documented absence of inclusive school-based sex and relationships education (SRE) for Australian lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) youth. Moreover, relatively few studies specifically examine how bisexual and queeridentifying young Australian women experience SRE. This qualitative study addresses the gap and contributes new perspectives by examining bisexual and queer young women’s experiences of school-based SRE in the state of Tasmania through the lens of sexual citizenship. Drawing on qualitative interviews with 15 Tasmanian bisexual and queer young women, we argue that biomedical, risk-based and heteronormative approaches to SRE reduce young women’s sexual health literacy. By framing SRE around the concept of ‘sexual citizenship’, this article provides important guidance on how SRE can more effectively provide bisexual and queer young women with the skills they need to be effective, engaged sexual citizens.
Australian public health promotion positions safe sex as a biomedical, heteronormative concept. C... more Australian public health promotion positions safe sex as a biomedical, heteronormative concept. Consequently, there is a dearth of scholarly research examining queer young women’s sexual health. To fill this knowledge gap, this article considers how Australian bisexual and queer young women understand ‘safe sex’ and conceptualise ‘good’ sexual citizenship. Drawing on qualitative interviews with 15 participants in Tasmania, findings reveal that although queer women understand heterosexual safe sex, there is little awareness of safer sexual practices with female partners. We argue that gendered sexual scripts shape perceptions of sexual health risk whereby queer women adopt multiple situation-dependent approaches to safer sex.
In light of cultural discourses that position femininity at odds with technology, I was inspired ... more In light of cultural discourses that position femininity at odds with technology, I was inspired by the work of Donna Haraway to examine how women amputees experience and negotiate feminine embodiment with prosthetic limbs. In her germinal Manifesto for Cyborgs, Haraway theorised the cyborg as a feminist symbol of a utopian “post-gendered world,” asserting that techno-hybridity has the potential to destabilise embodied gendered subjectivity—prompting a rethinking of sex, bodies, gender and humanity. In this paper, following a critical discussion of Haraway’s work, I argue that the cyborg continues to be a provocative concept in feminist sociologies of the body, enabling us to explore the complex new subjectivities that are made possible through feminine techno-embodiment. Trough an empirical exploration of women amputees’ experiences of living with prosthetic limbs, I found that women can embody and incorporate prosthetic technologies into their feminine selves in multiple, complex, gendered ways. My fndings indicate that cyborgian hybridity may have the potential to destabilise some aspects of gendered embodiment and performance for women with prosthetic limbs, which can be experienced as both limiting and liberating.
Lena Dunham's cable television series Girls is a candid and comical look at the lives of four you... more Lena Dunham's cable television series Girls is a candid and comical look at the lives of four young women living in Brooklyn, New York. Following in the footsteps of the earlier post-feminist, woman-centred television series, Sex and the City (SATC), Girls explores numerous feminist themes centring on an exploration of what it is like to be a young white woman in contemporary US society. Yet what kind of post-feminist narrative is being constructed in Girls? How is post-feminism deployed in the show? In a comparative analysis of Girls (Seasons 1–2) and SATC (Seasons 1–6), we argue that although both shows certainly exemplify post-feminist culture, they are inflected differently in relation to the representation of sexualities, reproductive “choice,” and feminine embodiment. Compared to SATC, we argue that Girls represents a novel approach to representing young US women's lives on television, re-articulating and re-mobilising existing conceptualisations of post-feminism. To conclude, we propose that the term “post? feminism” may be used to describe Dunham's version of post-feminism for a millennial generation.
There is a well-documented absence of inclusive school-based sex and relationships education (SRE... more There is a well-documented absence of inclusive school-based sex and relationships education (SRE) for Australian lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) youth. Moreover, relatively few studies specifically examine how bisexual and queeridentifying young Australian women experience SRE. This qualitative study addresses the gap and contributes new perspectives by examining bisexual and queer young women’s experiences of school-based SRE in the state of Tasmania through the lens of sexual citizenship. Drawing on qualitative interviews with 15 Tasmanian bisexual and queer young women, we argue that biomedical, risk-based and heteronormative approaches to SRE reduce young women’s sexual health literacy. By framing SRE around the concept of ‘sexual citizenship’, this article provides important guidance on how SRE can more effectively provide bisexual and queer young women with the skills they need to be effective, engaged sexual citizens.
Australian public health promotion positions safe sex as a biomedical, heteronormative concept. C... more Australian public health promotion positions safe sex as a biomedical, heteronormative concept. Consequently, there is a dearth of scholarly research examining queer young women’s sexual health. To fill this knowledge gap, this article considers how Australian bisexual and queer young women understand ‘safe sex’ and conceptualise ‘good’ sexual citizenship. Drawing on qualitative interviews with 15 participants in Tasmania, findings reveal that although queer women understand heterosexual safe sex, there is little awareness of safer sexual practices with female partners. We argue that gendered sexual scripts shape perceptions of sexual health risk whereby queer women adopt multiple situation-dependent approaches to safer sex.
In light of cultural discourses that position femininity at odds with technology, I was inspired ... more In light of cultural discourses that position femininity at odds with technology, I was inspired by the work of Donna Haraway to examine how women amputees experience and negotiate feminine embodiment with prosthetic limbs. In her germinal Manifesto for Cyborgs, Haraway theorised the cyborg as a feminist symbol of a utopian “post-gendered world,” asserting that techno-hybridity has the potential to destabilise embodied gendered subjectivity—prompting a rethinking of sex, bodies, gender and humanity. In this paper, following a critical discussion of Haraway’s work, I argue that the cyborg continues to be a provocative concept in feminist sociologies of the body, enabling us to explore the complex new subjectivities that are made possible through feminine techno-embodiment. Trough an empirical exploration of women amputees’ experiences of living with prosthetic limbs, I found that women can embody and incorporate prosthetic technologies into their feminine selves in multiple, complex, gendered ways. My fndings indicate that cyborgian hybridity may have the potential to destabilise some aspects of gendered embodiment and performance for women with prosthetic limbs, which can be experienced as both limiting and liberating.
Lena Dunham's cable television series Girls is a candid and comical look at the lives of four you... more Lena Dunham's cable television series Girls is a candid and comical look at the lives of four young women living in Brooklyn, New York. Following in the footsteps of the earlier post-feminist, woman-centred television series, Sex and the City (SATC), Girls explores numerous feminist themes centring on an exploration of what it is like to be a young white woman in contemporary US society. Yet what kind of post-feminist narrative is being constructed in Girls? How is post-feminism deployed in the show? In a comparative analysis of Girls (Seasons 1–2) and SATC (Seasons 1–6), we argue that although both shows certainly exemplify post-feminist culture, they are inflected differently in relation to the representation of sexualities, reproductive “choice,” and feminine embodiment. Compared to SATC, we argue that Girls represents a novel approach to representing young US women's lives on television, re-articulating and re-mobilising existing conceptualisations of post-feminism. To conclude, we propose that the term “post? feminism” may be used to describe Dunham's version of post-feminism for a millennial generation.
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Papers by Ruby Grant
Donna Haraway to examine how women amputees experience and negotiate feminine embodiment with
prosthetic limbs. In her germinal Manifesto for Cyborgs, Haraway theorised the cyborg as a feminist symbol of a
utopian “post-gendered world,” asserting that techno-hybridity has the potential to destabilise embodied gendered
subjectivity—prompting a rethinking of sex, bodies, gender and humanity. In this paper, following a critical
discussion of Haraway’s work, I argue that the cyborg continues to be a provocative concept in feminist sociologies
of the body, enabling us to explore the complex new subjectivities that are made possible through feminine
techno-embodiment. Trough an empirical exploration of women amputees’ experiences of living with prosthetic
limbs, I found that women can embody and incorporate prosthetic technologies into their feminine selves in
multiple, complex, gendered ways. My fndings indicate that cyborgian hybridity may have the potential to
destabilise some aspects of gendered embodiment and performance for women with prosthetic limbs, which can
be experienced as both limiting and liberating.
Donna Haraway to examine how women amputees experience and negotiate feminine embodiment with
prosthetic limbs. In her germinal Manifesto for Cyborgs, Haraway theorised the cyborg as a feminist symbol of a
utopian “post-gendered world,” asserting that techno-hybridity has the potential to destabilise embodied gendered
subjectivity—prompting a rethinking of sex, bodies, gender and humanity. In this paper, following a critical
discussion of Haraway’s work, I argue that the cyborg continues to be a provocative concept in feminist sociologies
of the body, enabling us to explore the complex new subjectivities that are made possible through feminine
techno-embodiment. Trough an empirical exploration of women amputees’ experiences of living with prosthetic
limbs, I found that women can embody and incorporate prosthetic technologies into their feminine selves in
multiple, complex, gendered ways. My fndings indicate that cyborgian hybridity may have the potential to
destabilise some aspects of gendered embodiment and performance for women with prosthetic limbs, which can
be experienced as both limiting and liberating.