Sociology and sexuality
- Sexuality has multiple dimensions: identity, desire and behaviour
→ dominated by subjectivist approaches (ie. Perceptions, meanings, social construction of sexuality and control of sexuality) - Sexual cultures vary historically and cross-culturally
Athens
Sexuality was intertwined with power structures
→ only aristocratic male adults had power and therefore their needs/desires determined the foundation of sexuality
→ they could have sex with anyone they wanted because those groups did not have power
Sambian society
Ritualized homosexuality reinforced the patriarchal structure in society
→ presence of females was discouraged because it would impede on males’ development of masculinity
→ because only males produced semen, it needed to be gained to obtain masculinity (youth males needed to get semen from adult males)
Indigenous cultures: colonizing sex, gender, and sexuality
- Belief that sexuality was linked with all dimensions of life
- recognized multiple sex/gender variants (contrasted European views that saw this as sinful and implemented extreme forms of social control)
- les femmes du pays: indigenous women who formed relationships with European settlers during the early years of colonization
→ as colonization progressed indigenous sexuality became defined as deviant and subject to control by religion/law (concerns about mixing races)
North America: the evolution of meanings of sexuality (17th century)
- reproduction within marriage
- the need for “country wives” for explorers and settlers
- sexual control of slaves
- social control involved the church, court, family and community (punishment with the ultimate goal of reintegration)
→ varied based on socioeconomic status, race, and gender
North America: the evolution of meanings of sexuality (18th to 19th century)
- Sexuality became based on intimacy within marriage
→ shift due to urbanization/wage labour, changes in religious ideology, emphasis on personal happiness - social control by women, physicians, and social reformers
→ social purity/sex hygiene movement: equated social purity with sexual purity (sexuality as the heart of mortality); concerns of this movement include divorce, prostitution, illegitimacy etc.
North America: the evolution of meanings of sexuality (20th century)
- Dominant meaning of sexuality had become personal fulfillment, independent of marriage
- Sex and sexuality fully integrated into the culture
Sexual culture today
- Greater sexual freedom (not unlimited)
- criteria for evaluating “deviant” and “normal” sexuality:
→ consent (sexual assault, date rape drugs, age of consent laws)
→ nature of sexual partner (matters of law, formal/informal regulations, evolving views of same-sex relationships)
→ nature of the sexual act; culturally and historically specific (sexual positions, masturbation, sexual fetishes, BDSM)
→ location: governs partly by law (exhibitionism: sex in public)
→ frequency: addicted vs frigid
Sex work (exotic dancing)
- exotic dancing (issue of exploitation vs choice)
→ survivors: those with history of abuse feel as though they have very few options and feel forced into the industry
→ nonconformists: see themselves as rebels (from more privileged backgrounds and had some choice about entering the industry)
→ dancers: trained as dancers and enjoy the artistic element of the work they do
→ workers: come from a working-class background and join the industry simply to make money - erotic labour: effort of being sexy, seeming effortless
- emotional labour: pretending to be interested in the client
- gender
Issues of power (exotic dancing)
- Individual: dancers are subject to the control of their customers
- organizational: rules of the establishment
- institutional: mcdonaldization
Pornography
- Debates over definitions:
→ functional: anything that a person uses for the purpose of sexual arousal is pornography
→ genre: if a product is intended to be used for sexual arousal, it’s pornography (focus on the producers)
→ labelling: focus on community standards (what the community deems obscene) - debates over legal definitions:
→ child pornography
→ sexting
Issues of harm (pornography)
- effects: physical harm, social harm, ontological harm
- effects on youth:
→ attitudes, behaviours and self-concept
→ correlation between violent pornography and sexually aggressive behaviours
Prostitution
Changing discourses of prostitution
→ morality: the morality of the buyers and sellers (morally weak, needed religious intervention)
→ public heath: transmissions of diseases became a public heath concern (prostitutes were criminally charged)
→ victimization: prostitutes are framed as powerless and subjected to exploitation
→ workers’ rights: argument that prostitutes have agency and power
Sexual exploitation (sex traficking)
The act of recruiting/transporting/harbouring/exchanging a person by means of force/fraud/coercion
→ purpose is commercial sexual exploitation (prostitution)
Sexual exploitation (sex tourism)
Offenders can be local or foreign (most are situational child sex tourists)
→ situational tourists: do not exclusively want sex with a child but they feel that they are in a place in which they are anonymous and will not face consequences
