“Did those girls know what they were doing?” Agency, Anxiety and the Adult Gaze in Het Hamiltoncomplex
Keywords:
Foucault's Theory of Sexuality, Sex Positivity in Theatre, Drama and Theatre Studies, Taboo, Teenage Sexuality, Youth TheatreAbstract
This essay discusses the discomfort of adult audience members in viewing depictions of female sexuality by young performers in HETPALEIS’s Het Hamiltoncomplex. I deconstruct the ‘Adult Gaze’” that which dictates the programming of children’s theatre based on what adults deem ‘appropriate’, allowing us to punish female children for our own anxieties, under a facade of adult protection. Referencing Foucault’s theory of sexuality ‘confessional’ societies, vulnerability studies, and Freudian definitions of taboo, I posit that our unconcious guilt surrounding the infantilisation of women and the sexualisation of girls leads to a desire too ‘protect’ that is often more harmful than helpful.
References
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