Sexualities Current Event
Treviño, Investigating Social Problems, 2e. © SAGE Publications, 2019.
Sexuality
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Chapter 5
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Sexuality as a Social Problem
Human sexuality is socially constructed
View of sexual behavior vary widely across the world
How to define sex? What counts?
Treviño, Investigating Social Problems, 2e. © SAGE Publications, 2019.
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Treviño, Investigating Social Problems, 2e. © SAGE Publications, 2019.
Hookup Culture
Sexually-charged party atmospheres, copious alcohol consumption, casual sex
Students seem to accept hookup culture, though it is associated with acts less likely to produce female pleasure
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Treviño, Investigating Social Problems, 2e. © SAGE Publications, 2019.
Double Standard
Cultural belief system in which:
Men are expected to desire and seek sex
Women are expected to be sexual only within committed, romantic relationships
Women’s sexual behavior is seen as different from men’s and should be judged differently
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Treviño, Investigating Social Problems, 2e. © SAGE Publications, 2019.
Sex Work and Human Trafficking
Many people view sexual labor as immoral and indicative of a social problem
Good data very hard to get
Sex work activists challenge claims about “sex trafficking”
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Treviño, Investigating Social Problems, 2e. © SAGE Publications, 2019.
Sex Work
Encompasses a variety of services, some legal
Although buyers of sex greatly outnumber sellers, workers are most often subjected to arrest
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Treviño, Investigating Social Problems, 2e. © SAGE Publications, 2019.
Sex Trafficking
The U.S. State Department estimates trafficking is a $150 billion business
Critics argue that stories mislead the public and bolster the need for heroic interventions from Western men
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Treviño, Investigating Social Problems, 2e. © SAGE Publications, 2019.
Sexually Transmitted Diseases and Sexual Health
Most sexually active people will be affected by an STD at some point
Some groups are more at risk than others
Are STDs a social problem at all?
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Treviño, Investigating Social Problems, 2e. © SAGE Publications, 2019.
Sexual Violence and Structural Functionalism
Function of sexual violence is to inhibit women’s independence and power
Latent function: Sexual violence mobilizes women to act with collective resistance
Rape culture
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Treviño, Investigating Social Problems, 2e. © SAGE Publications, 2019.
Sexual Violence and Conflict Theory
Men control resources and therefore set the sexual agenda in heterosexual contexts
In a patriarchy, men are the beneficiaries who have more power to sexually exploit women
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Example: if fraternities dominate the social scene and control nearly everything related to social life. From choosing raunchy party themes with accompanying dress codes to supplying alcohol and transportation, fraternity brothers held the power in these interactions.
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Treviño, Investigating Social Problems, 2e. © SAGE Publications, 2019.
Sexual Violence and Symbolic Interactionism
Explains how people interpret the same symbols with different meanings
Looking-glass self
But others may interpret symbols differently
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Treviño, Investigating Social Problems, 2e. © SAGE Publications, 2019.
Erotic Habitus
Habitus: “embodied history” that “is the active presence of the whole past of which it is the product”
Unpacks what we think of as “common sense”
Erotic habitus guides sexual interactions and inclinations
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Treviño, Investigating Social Problems, 2e. © SAGE Publications, 2019.
Black Feminist Theory
Feminism must work against all injustices, include other axes of oppression, such as those based on race, class, and sexuality
Mass media is an important site to analyze how ideas about Black sexuality are represented
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