Sexualized Violence and Neoliberal Discourse

Researchers have paid relatively little attention to the role that sexual and gender violence play in reinforcing neoliberal discourse. We address this issue by demonstrating that the portrayal of women and girls in the mainstream media, female body practices based on this portrayal, gendered sexual-agency norms, sexual harassment, and rape are not only sexualized and violent, but they also display a common set of cultural scripts drawn from both patriarchal and neoliberal discourse. We thus conclude that these images, practices, and norms are forms of sexualized violence that reinforce patriarchal and neoliberal discourse and, thus, the gender and class orders.