SEXTANT: masculinities, sexualities & decolonialities

ABSTRACT

Unwanted consensual sex is an under-researched and under-theorised phenomenon despite its prevalence (Hayfield and Clarke, 2012; Katz and Tirone, 2009) and despite its relevance when considering the broader themes of gender-based sexual violence (Gavey, 2005) and sexual consent (Graf and Johnson, 2021). This article offers a critical review of literature in the areas of heterosexuality and sexual scripts that, according to Gavey (2005), provide the cultural scaffolding that supports the sexual victimisation of women. This critical review of literature serves to inform my proposed research that seeks to examine an overlooked area within sexual experience “…that falls uncomfortably into the cracks between …acts of rape and consensual, mutually desire heterosexual sex” (Gavey, 2) namely, women’s engagement in unwanted, consensual sex, within long term, heterosexual relationships.

KEY WOrDS

heterosexuality; heteronormativity; traditional sexual scripts; unwanted consensual sex

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