Jane the evangelist versus fire-breathing dragons: Dueling discourses on sexuality,a tribute to the work of Norman K. Denzin

Abstract

In this article, I show the connections between critical social work and the thought of Norman Denzin. The connection is pragmatist philosophy whose roots are European. Denzin came to pragmatism through C. Wright Mills’ notion of the sociological imagination whose focus is the intersection of biography and history. This notion is analogous to social work’s person-environment interactions. I illustrate the intersections of history and biography through telling stories about my first professional job teaching health and family life in a suburban Rhode Island high school. I analyze the stories through the perspectives of pragmatist principles and critical discourse analysis. I was naïve and blithely sailed into teaching human sexuality as I understood it and wanted others to, oblivious to what my teaching would mean to those who didn’t share my perspectives and oblivious to the consequences for me. Other faculty told me that students were spreading rumors that I was a slut who talked dirty in class. I became a sexualized joke at my hometown bowling alley. The principal asked me to resign at the end of the school year. A few years later, a friend of my brother’s decided I was rape-worthy. These experiences did not derail my life. I used several democratic discourses to define myself and to resist the definitions of hegemonic sexuality, such as slut. I carried on. Through stories and analysis, I show connections between my personal life, my career, and culture-wide beliefs and practices.