The Missing Discourse of Gender?

Abstract

Gender theories provide a critical framework for considerations of heterosexual identity. Patriarchal power rests on the social meanings given to biological sex differences and to their reproduction as societal discourses regarding what it means to be a woman or a man. This is a crucial point and one that we believe is not fully recognized in the proposed models. Implications for practice—namely, the need to recognize the interplay of gender with the power dynamics between men and women, and between therapists and clients—are briefly explored. In addition, the contributions of the proposed models—their combined attempt to address a critical gap in the sexual identity development literature, to deprivilege heterosexuality, and to disrupt heterosexist practice—are also noted and lauded.

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