“No way we could do this alone”: Sexual stratification, social class, and survival

• In Event: Sociology of Sexualities Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 5: Sexuality, Belonging, and Community

Abstract

Emerging adults face new challenges as online communication reshapes social interaction and intimate connection. Cultural conflict occurs when “new” gender identities and ideologies exist alongside traditional ones. Utilizing in-depth, semi-structured interviews with young adults (ages 18-30), the broader study explores relationships between internalized gender ideology, online social networks, and intimate expectations and practices. The current paper focuses on the unique pressure that young adults face to form romantic partnerships amidst economic insecurity in the late modern United States. Particular attention is paid to the unequal distribution of this pressure across social groups. By comparing and contrasting four emerging adults of various demographic backgrounds and identities, this paper highlights the ways that capitalism and heteronormativity work together to reproduce income inequality, gender inequality, and sexual stratification. The wider project seeks to uncover the contradictions, challenges, and benefits of building identity and forging intimacy amid unique modern discourses and structures such as neoliberalism, post-feminism, and the online sphere.

Author

• Adam Gavnik, University of Delaware