Feminist Agency, Sexual Scripts, and Sexual Violence: Developing a Model for Postgendered Family Communication: Developing a Model for Postgendered Family Communication

We explore the interrelated research on intersectionality, feminist agency, s cript t heory, and gender socialization to uncover the ways in which college students may experience institutionalized sexual scripts and perceptions of agency in sexual encounters. We theorize that changes at the family level could ultimately help create a shift in a campus culture that has become entrenched, with biased sexual scripts that lead to power imbalances and sexual violence. With underpinnings of social role theory and modeling, this article develops a model of postgendered family communication. Practical family communication suggestions based on the model are provided for parents and family educators that could help shift sexual scripts, enable feminist agency, and improve rates of sexual assault incidence and reporting at the institutional level.