"Mom said we had a money maker": Sexualization and Survival Contexts among Homeless Women.

The article presents a study which examines the lived experiences of sexualization and survival contexts among homeless women in the U.S. A symbolic interactionist (SI) approach has been used to locate the social construction of feminity with its emphasis on sexualized embodiment within larger structural conditions of gender inequality. According to in-depth interviews at a homeless shelter, early sexualization had degraded and violated women, which erodes their self-worth as young girls and later as adults. Research found that such circumstances shaped the women's gendered fears and vulnerabilities of their survival.