Sexualities

Sacred and obscene laughter in The Contendings of Horus and Seth, in Egyptian inversions of everyday life, and in the context of cultic competition.

by Ellen Morris

2007  In Egyptian Stories: A British Egyptological Tribute to Alan B. Lloyd, ed. Thomas Schneider and Kasia Szpakowska.  Alter Orient und Altes Testament Series.  Münster: Ugarit-Verlag, pp. 197-224.

Modesty Codes in Pentecostalism and Mormonism by Amanda Pumphrey

by Feminism and Religion

Originally posted on the Feminism and Religion project

“You look like a lesbian.” “Why do you want to look like a man?” “Hey, boy head!” These were just some of the... more “You look like a lesbian.” “Why do you want to look like a man?” “Hey, boy head!” These were just some of the responses I got from friends and family when I decided to cut off my hair. The gendered connotations that come with how one decides to wear one’s hair are an overarching signifier of the dominant culture’s obsession with normative appearances. Many religious institutions and congregations uphold normative understandings of appearance and dress. Growing up in a conservative town in rural South Georgia and being raised within a Pentecostal tradition came with many challenges regarding gender, sexuality, and dress.

Traitements non pharmacologiques des problèmes sexuels – Revue de la littérature de recherche (1970–2008)

by Brynjar Landmark

WOMEN ARE NOT SLUTS, RUSH, DOUCHE-BAG IS NOT FUNNY, JON, AND SEXISM IS MORE THAN “INAPPROPRIATE,” MR. WHITEHOUSE SPOKESPERSON! by Carol P. Christ

by Feminism and Religion

Originally published on the Feminism and Religion project

Why is it OK to insult women, our bodies, and our sexuality in ways that it is no longer OK to insult other groups?more Why is it OK to insult women, our bodies, and our sexuality in ways that it is no longer OK to insult other groups?

The recent controversy over Rush Limbaugh’s rant about Sandra Fluke would not be so important if Limbaugh were not the “voice” allowed to say things that Republican politicians cannot say in public. Republican politicians wish to appeal to men who would say exactly what Rush said, while watching Fox News or over a beer with their buddies.

The Virgin-Whore split is alive and well in our culture. Sandra Fluke  finally did get to testify in a hearing called by Nancy Pelosi.  She  assumed a woman’s right to choose when and with whom we have sex and whether and when we will have children, but she did not focus on sexual freedom. One of her examples was a married woman who could not afford birth control and another was a woman who needed birth control pills for reasons having nothing to do with sex or sexual activity. She did not appear in Congress in a mini-skirt (though she should have had every right to do so) but in a business suit. Yet she was called a slut and a prostitute and asked to post porno films of herself on the internet.

No Tolerance to Intolerance! We are different but we are all equal!

by Tornike Metreveli

Yesterday in Tbilisi  a peaceful protest for LGBT rights to mark the International Day Against Homophobia ended... more Yesterday in Tbilisi  a peaceful protest for LGBT rights to mark the International Day Against Homophobia ended in a physical scuffle when religious groups violently disrupted the gathering. In this letter, I try to search for reasons for intolerance and explain the calamity of certain actors by structural factors.

Multiple Forms of Perceived Discrimination and Health among Adolescents and Young Adults

by Eric Anthony Grollman

Published in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior, June 2012: http://hsb.sagepub.com/content/early/2012/05/14/0022146512444289.abstract

Research on perceived discrimination has overwhelmingly focused on one form of discrimination, especially race... more Research on perceived discrimination has overwhelmingly focused on one form of discrimination, especially race discrimination, in isolation from other forms. The present article uses data from the Black Youth Culture Survey, a nationally representative, racially and ethnically diverse sample of 1,052 adolescents and young adults to investigate the prevalence, distribution, and mental and physical health consequences of multiple forms of perceived discrimination. The findings suggest that disadvantaged groups, especially multiply disadvantaged youth, face greater exposure to multiple forms of discrimination than their more privileged counterparts. The experience of multiple forms of discrimination is associated with worse mental and physical health above the effect of only one form and contributes to the relationship between multiple disadvantaged statuses and health. These findings suggest that past research may misspecify the discrimination-health relationship and fails to account for the disproportionate exposure to discrimination faced by multiply disadvantaged individuals.

Jones, T. and Hillier, L. (2012). Sexuality education school policy for Australian GLBTIQ students. Sex Education, ifirst http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14681811.2012.677211 Accessed 10.05.12.

by Tiffany Jones

Education is state-run in Australia, and within each of the eight states and territories there are both government and... more Education is state-run in Australia, and within each of the eight states and territories there are both government and independent schooling systems. This paper details the position of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (GLBTIQ) students within Australian education policy documents nationally, focusing on the three largest states and educational sectors in Australia. Survey data are used to report on the schooling experiences of over 3000 Australian GLBTIQ young people aged 14–21 years. Data from interviews with key policy informants identify both the obstacles to implementing policies, and how such obstacles have been overcome. Much official policy sees sexuality education as promoting inclusive, protective and affirming messages around GLBTIQ students. There exist significant correlations between policy and a variety of well-being and psycho-social outcomes for GLBTIQ students, including lowered incidence of homophobic abuse and suicide, and the creation of supportive school environments. Ideal policy visions are outlined, along with practical recommendations of relevance to a variety of stakeholders.

Dockside Prostitution in South African Ports

by Henry Trotter

History Compass 6/3 (2008): 673-690

Prostitution has been a staple of dockside social life for centuries. In South Africa, it dates from the Dutch East... more Prostitution has been a staple of dockside social life for centuries. In South Africa, it dates from the Dutch East India Company's establishment of a refreshment station at the Cape of Good Hope. But unlike other prostitution sectors—streets, brothels, agencies—the women of the dockside sex trade in Cape Town and Durban participate in a global traffic of ideas, diseases, DNA, contraband, and currency through their ceaseless interactions with foreign sailors. They exploit their knowledge of the seamen's languages and cultures so as to more effectively solicit their marks in a competitive and cosmopolitan environment.

Social historians provide passing glimpses of dockside prostitution in their consideration of larger historical themes—Company rule, slavery, British colonial governance, the Mineral Revolution, the Anglo-Boer War, and apartheid—but they have yet to treat it as a distinct analytical category through which to view the past. Yet popular intellectual trends suggest that research into the dockside sex trade would add new dimensions to the histories of cosmopolitanism, gender, globalization, maritime recreation, and the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.

This article provides a quick and accessible introduction to the historiography of dockside prostitution in South Africa.

The Virtues of Dockside Dalliance: Why Maritime Sugar Girls are Safer then Urban Streetwalkers in South Africa's Prostitution Industry

by Henry Trotter

in Susan Dewey & Patty Kelly (Eds.), Policing Pleasure: Sex Work, Policy and the State in Global Perspective (New York: NYU Press, 2011), pp. 86-99

South African sex workers are exposed to different amounts of violence depending on the prostitution sector that they... more South African sex workers are exposed to different amounts of violence depending on the prostitution sector that they work in, such as the street, truck stop, hotel, agency, brothel, and dockside trades. By comparing the structural features of these sectors, we can not only gauge the likelihood of violence within each, but also devise more precise policy instruments to reduce violence at an industry-wide level. I focus here on the neglected dockside prostitution sector, showing how its structural characteristics enhance the women’s power vis-à-vis their clients. Detailed policy recommendations conclude the article.

Navigating Risk: Lessons From the Dockside Sex Trade for Reducing Violence in South Africa's Prostitution Industry

by Henry Trotter

Sexuality Research & Social Policy: Journal of NSRC, 4/4 (Dec 2007): 106-119

The diversity of South Africa's prostitution industry exposes sex workers to varying levels of violence. The street,... more The diversity of South Africa's prostitution industry exposes sex workers to varying levels of violence. The street, truck stop, hotel, agency, brothel, and dockside trades are characterized by different structural features that determine the prevalence of client, police, and third-party abuse against prostitutes. Comparing the structural elements of each sector allows not only gauging the likelihood of violence within a given niche but also devising more precise policy instruments to reduce violence at an industry-wide level.

This article, "Navigating Risk," focuses on the dockside prostitution sector in Cape Town and Durban, showing how its structural features enhance the women's power vis-à-vis their clients and the police. It discusses 5 key variables that influence the likelihood of violence within each prostitution sector:

* the social and legal status of the client
* the location of the negotiation
* the location of the sexual act
* the level of discretion in the solicitation process
* and the role of third-party involvement

Detailed policy recommendations conclude the argument.

The Women of Durban's Dockside Sex Industry

by Henry Trotter

in Rob Pattman and Sultan Khan (eds.), Undressing Durban (Durban: Madiba Press, 2007), 441-452.

This article, "The Women of Durban's Dockside Sex Industry," looks at the lives of female prostitutes in... more This article, "The Women of Durban's Dockside Sex Industry," looks at the lives of female prostitutes in Durban's dockside sex sector. They solicit at a nightclub catering to foreign sailors. The paper considers their experiences as sex workers and how they deal with stigmatization, family concerns, chemical abuse, moral dilemmas, diseases, and violence. It assesses their fears and frustrations. And it ponders their dreams and longings for what they hope to achieve through this work.

The article concludes with the idea that dockside women are relatively empowered compared to their streetwalking & brothel-working counterparts. Since most hail from upcountry locales, they successfully live "double lives" that protect them from family and communal reprisal. Since their clients are foreign transients, the men pose no threat to their identities (they have no social power outside the dockside world). Since the women solicit from a safe nightclub, they retain the right of refusal. And because they're the knowledgeable locals, they choose the location of sex, which enhances their power to insist on condom-use.

Ironically, these upcountry women are perhaps the most cosmopolitan citizens of Durban as they entertain dozens of nationalities every evening.

Sex and Spirituality in 1500s Rome: Sebastiano del Piombo's Martyrdom of Saint Agatha

by Jill Burke

Sebastiano's Martyrdom of Saint Agatha is only one example of an early-sixteenth-century religious image that... more Sebastiano's Martyrdom of Saint Agatha is only one example of an early-sixteenth-century religious image that deliberately evokes erotic desire in the viewer. The figure of Saint Agatha, derived from a broken sculpture of Venus with the features of a beautiful contemporary, was intended to provoke lust in its original owner, a young cardinal pilloried for his homosexual activity. The essential ambivalence of this work and others of the same genre should be seen in the context of Roman attitudes to sexuality: clerics were, in principle, admonished to live chastely, but in practice were likely to be sexually active.

Sexual Liberation and the Creative Class in Israel

by Dana Kaplan

“Communicate, communicate, communicate” - building ethical subjectivities within polyamory

by Daniel Cardoso

Paper presented at the Sexual Cultures Conference, London, 2012

Joint Panel with Meg Barker, Christian Klesse and Jamie Heckert

Though explicitly non-monogamous relationships are anything but new, the last 20 years have seen the rise and... more Though explicitly non-monogamous relationships are anything but new, the last 20 years have seen the rise and development of another identity: polyamory. This new identity brings with it a focus on feelings and emotions, and seeks to build itself around the ethical notions of frankness and communication. But what is frank communication, how is it supposed to be deployed and, most of all, how does it work in constituting an ethical practice and subjectivity? From the analysis of the conversations on the oldest mailing list on polyamory, we consider how this relates to Foucault’s writing of the self as an ethopoietic practice based on parrhesia - the courage of truth. By focusing on feelings, polyamorous subjects seek to improve themselves and be more autonomous by being able to better control and modify those same feelings.

Polyamory awareness-raising: An auto-ethnographic account of a round-table on polyamory and lesbianism

by Daniel Cardoso

Paper presented at the Sexual Cultures Conference, London, 2012

Co-authored with: Inês Rôlo, Salomé Coelho

Stemming from the auto-ethnographic and personal recounting of a round-table organized by a lesbian-focused activist... more Stemming from the auto-ethnographic and personal recounting of a round-table organized by a lesbian-focused activist group in Lisbon, Portugal, the authors reflect on the intersections between doing research, spreading that research, doing activism and working with / listening to sexual minorities as a way of critically involving the LGBT community and their concerns in the scientific process. As we’ll see, conflicting political and identity agendas might create tension between different minorities, and even the reinstatement of (homo-)normativity. We claim that only through debate, exposure and recognition (which mixes research, scientific dissemination and activism) can we think «about an issue in a way that takes account of the perspectives of others» (Young, 2000), but that the modes of performing debate also need to be critically reflected upon, keeping in sight the ethical concern for the intimate citizenship (Plummer, 1994) of those represented (and of those absent).

Mask/Unmask. Überschreitungen von Grenzen rassifizierter Zugehörigkeiten in zwei Erzählungen über Rom_nija

by Stefan Benedik

published in: Zonen der Begrenzung
Aspekte kultureller und räumlicher Grenzen in der Moderne. Ed. by Gerald Lamprecht, Ursula Mindler, Heidrun Zettelbauer. Bielefeld: transcript 2012.173-186.

In this contribution I'm discussing a recent Czech film (Roma Boys - Přiběh lásky by Rozalie Kohoutová and David... more In this contribution I'm discussing a recent Czech film (Roma Boys - Přiběh lásky by Rozalie Kohoutová and David Tišer) and an Italian novel (il circo capovolto by Milena Magnani). In my analysis, I emphasis different strategies of longing and rejection for Romani identities, which are seemingly coherent and homogeneous. The film under scrutiny here challenges ascriptions to members of Romani communities and renders the often underlying racialising narratives visible. Furthermore, the film can be understood as a sophisticated examination of processes within the Romani movement and it's reception within majorities, that emphasise notions of a homogeneous and holistic, single 'European Romani minority'.
In the tradition of the enlightenment the modern European arts staged Romani people as figures of backwardness, savage and myth. These narratives contribute to the establishment of a fixed, essential border between Romani and Non-Romani people, that seems to be almost impossible to cross afterwards. Milena Magnani's novel is based on this understanding, as the plot concentrates on the impossibility of assimilation within a ‘Non-gypsy”-Environment. Thus, nature is reclaiming what allegedly belongs to her and claims the Romani body to be its property. As the discussed film proves, these connections are so thoroughly linked to cultural borders, that it remains impossible to question them without putting the finger on the meta-level of narration. Apparently, it is only possible to challenge those stories in achieving a deconstruction of the way in which they are told.

Afterword: exiting Amsterdam's red-light district

by Phil Hubbard

From a special section in the journal City with 5 papers on the red light district of Amsteram

n/a n/a

Schizoid subjectivities?: Re-theorising teen-girls’ sexual cultures in an era of ‘sexualisation’,

by Jessica Ringrose

The Chilling Effect: How Do Researchers React to Controversy?

by Joanna Kempner

Background

Can political controversy have a “chilling effect” on the production of new science? This is a... more Background

Can political controversy have a “chilling effect” on the production of new science? This is a timely concern, given how often American politicians are accused of undermining science for political purposes. Yet little is known about how scientists react to these kinds of controversies.

Methods and Findings

Drawing on interview (n = 30) and survey data (n = 82), this study examines the reactions of scientists whose National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded grants were implicated in a highly publicized political controversy. Critics charged that these grants were “a waste of taxpayer money.” The NIH defended each grant and no funding was rescinded. Nevertheless, this study finds that many of the scientists whose grants were criticized now engage in self-censorship. About half of the sample said that they now remove potentially controversial words from their grant and a quarter reported eliminating entire topics from their research agendas. Four researchers reportedly chose to move into more secure positions entirely, either outside academia or in jobs that guaranteed salaries. About 10% of the group reported that this controversy strengthened their commitment to complete their research and disseminate it widely.

Conclusions

These findings provide evidence that political controversies can shape what scientists choose to study. Debates about the politics of science usually focus on the direct suppression, distortion, and manipulation of scientific results. This study suggests that scholars must also examine how scientists may self-censor in response to political events.

Marketing the Media with Sexuality and Violence: Is It Ethical?

by Ahmet Bayraktar

Bayraktar, A. (2012). Marketing the Media with Sexuality and Violence: Is It Ethical? 2012 AMA Marketing & Public Policy Conference, Atlanta, GA. 7-9 June 2012.