000			04503nam a22003257a 4500
999			_c9211 _d9211
005			20250625151728.0
008			250422s2025 -nz|| |||| 00| 0 eng d
040			_aAFVC
100			_aRasmussen, Paige _913910
245			_aTo provoke what can be : _bwomen’s experiences of sexual encounters they now recognise as sexual assault _cPaige Rasmussen
246			_aA thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University, Manawatū
260			_c2025
300			_aelectronic document (69 pages) ; PDF file
500			_aMA thesis, Massey University
520			_aii Abstract This research project is a narrative that tells a story of the 85% of women who do not recognise their experience as sexual assault. Remembering with the numerous stories of nonconsensual sex that permeated my peer group as we imagined our sexual freedoms, I became increasingly concerned with how gendered sexual violence becomes so normalised in the conditions of our everyday lives. Following the feminist literature over the past 40 plus years, and despite the knowledge produced through decades of women’s storytelling, I recognise that nothing much has changed. How is it possible to resist the normalisation of sexual coercion, contest the hegemony of consent, and open up potential for transforming heteronormativity to begin to talk about ethical sex. The aim of this research is to disrupt the dominant narrative of sexual assault that holds women accountable for the violence committed against them, so that we may narrate what is, in order to provoke what could be. Recognising the singular story of colonial patriarchal heteronormative sexual violence through the voices of those of us who are not recognised in the affective history of knowledge production, I take up storytelling as a process of relational meaning making recognising that stories have the power to move us into action. Hearing the stories of five women, all of whom experienced an untellable sexual assault, I take up a position as a feminist killjoy, to hear, together, loud and quiet resistances to provoke what can be. The analysis tells stories of rape as a young person, online safety, rape and intoxication, sexual assault and silence, and sexual assault and Intimate Partner Violence (IPV), in collaboration with each storyteller whose narrative is represented here and shaped into a coherent story. Each narrative brings into view the untellability of sexual violence, and the silencing effects on our affective embodied experiences. I therefore interrupt the stories with insights into the everyday conditions through which the affective forces of misogyny, coercion and consent have rendered our experiences as untellable. Understanding women’s stories as gifts and as a relationship in the co-construction of knowledge, the stories are told so that others may gain an understanding, or hear, relate to and be moved by them. And as the process of storytelling continues, a recognition of purposeful re-storying emerges, stories that move us away from blame and shame. And I remember my rage. And as I take up my responsibility of feminist killjoy, I connect with the fury for the misogyny that justifies rape as just sex, and in loud resistance I privilege the knowledge produced through these stories as the route to strong objectivity (Haraway, 1988) to provoke what can be. Understanding misogyny, sexual coercion and sexual violence as the everyday conditions of women’s lives enables a hearing of the affective flows of meaning making that hold us responsible, opens the space to provoke us into “wide awakeness”, and to find ways to challenge claims to knowledge that make us responsible for our own victimisation. In the final chapter, I return to the impossibility of ethical sex, but rather engage with a recognition for the fury of misogyny. Loud resistances. (Author's abstract). Record #9211
650			_aCONSENT _94690
650			_aKŌRERO _98266
650			_aMISOGYNY _98257
650		4	_9399 _aNARRATIVE TECHNIQUES
650			_aSEXUAL VIOLENCE _9531
650			_aTAITŌKAI _95943
650			_aTHESES _9606
650			_aTŪHINGA WHAKAPAE _95598
650		0	_99763 _aVICTIM/SURVIVORS' VOICES
650			_aWĀHINE _94040
650			_aWOMEN _9645
651			_aNEW ZEALAND _92588
856			_uhttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/server/api/core/bitstreams/a607fb07-04f6-40dd-b584-f8892af3474d/content
942			_2ddc _cTHESIS