Embodied Discourse: on gender and fear of violence

This article advances an interpretation of gender and fear of violence based on feminist post-structuralist theory. The authors explore the interweaving of 'embodied discourses', 'investments' in subject positions, and emotion. They illustrate their discussion through an exploratory analysis of the ways in which a sample of male and female university students describe their experiences of physical and sexual danger in urban space. The authors interpret the accounts they offer in terms of multiple subject positions embodied in the context of gendered power relations. In so doing they offer a fresh perspective on the geography of women's fear.