BEYOND LEARNING TO ENDURE - WOMENS ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF COERCIVE SEXUALITY

In reporting on interviews with 21 women, this article documents a bro ad continuum of unwanted sexual behaviours experienced by women from c hildhood through to adulthood. These behaviours have been constructed as part of ''normal'' heterosexual interaction, and these women's expe riences emphasise that coercion in adulthood is a continuation of chil dhood and adolescent experience. The experiences are presented in the context of themes and discourses identified in previous research, and are shown to illustrate a theoretical position that names ''normal'' h eterosexual practice as one means of continuing women's subjugation. ( C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd.