ABSTRACT
This chapter conceptualises sexuality as an axis of social analysis, and follows Stevi Jackson's understanding that it encompasses wide-ranging aspects of erotic life, namely 'desires, practices, relationships and identities'. It made the case that the feminist sexual project of seeking out non-exploitative transformative sexual relations for women and men aligns closely with social work's mission of promoting the empowerment and liberation of people to enhance wellbeing, its mandate for addressing social injustices and inequities, and its social change remit. The chapter reviews some notable historical highlights in feminism's engagement with sexuality, particularly although not exclusively women's sexuality. It explores the social construction of heterosexuality and the processes by which boundaries are made between sexual identities that then regulate access to a range of social institutions, including marriage, social work is less likely unintentionally to fall in line with the dominant tenets of institutional heterosexuality.
