Woman Studies

This weeks lecture is about sexuality. We

will explore some of the historical views

of female sexuality and feminist

approaches to sexuality. We will pay

particular attention to the sexual double

standard and look at sexual orientation.

Women were viewed as solely for the

pleasure of men and for reproducing.

Women were not given autonomy for

protection or agency over sexuality

creating many negative consequences:

unwanted pregnancy, STD’s and

unwanted sexual relations.

 “No woman can call herself free who does not control her own body.” Margaret Sanger

 The first U.S. birth control clinic, Planned Parenthood, was opened by Margaret Sanger. She coined the term birth control and opened the clinic to help married women try to family plan. She had witnessed too many women and babies die from botched abortions, too many pregnancies and child birth and was motivated to empower women to space the births of their children and control their bodies.

In 1965, married couples were granted the right to access birth control pills (BCP) (with written consent of your husband in many states).

In 1972, the Supreme Court case (Baird v. Eisenstadt) legalized the BCP for all women in the U.S. Women denied the morning after and BCP.

In 1973, Roe v. Wade overturned the U.S. ban on abortions.

Control over family planning and BCP

has been a heated topic as you can see

from the previous slides. Many feminist

scholars argue that the fight over

reproductive is a larger fight over

women’s autonomy (Baumgardner and

Rich, MacKinnon). Not just her body but

in her life as a whole.

 Despite the wide availability of BCP, many employers have clauses that prevent their workers from obtaining BCP with their insurance. This is a hot topic in modern politics today.

 In 2012, President Obama overturned legislation that allows pharmacists the ability to deny women BCP, the morning after pill and other forms of birth control. Yes, I said 2012! Prior to this, based on a morality clause pharmacists could deny women access to birth control.

 2013 the morning after pill is made available over the counter without a prescription.

 For more information on this, go the following link:

 http://www.radioproject.org/2013/10/plan-b- and-beyond-local-struggles-for-reproductive- freedom/

Moving on from the history of birth

control as intertwined with sexuality, the

sexual double standard has been another

pervasive and strong way in which to

control women’s sexuality.

Many of the sexual double standards are

based on binaries of what it means to be

a man or a woman (and the “right” or

“wrong” kind of woman:

Jezebel/virgin (i.e. bad women vs. good)

Stud/whore (men vs. women)

Power/passivity (men/women)

Agency/complicity (men/women)

• Today in the media and real life cases, we see

examples of the sexual double standard and

“slut shaming” (shaming women for their

perceived or real sexual acts). This is a

pervasive tool in trying to keep sexuality in line.

• The double bind seems to be a woman is called

a prude (or other choice words) if she is not

sexually active, she’s a slut if she is!

• There are many harmful portrayals and cultural

expectations for men to be sexually prolific and

aggressive. This has often resulted in shaming

of men who don’t exhibit these traits (perceived

or real), questioning their masculinity and

reports of men having unfulfilled sexual

experiences due to social pressures.

 Increasingly the use of pornographic images is becoming the norm in advertising and popular culture

 Pornography and pornographic images are more “mainstream” than taboo as in past

 This has been linked to lower attitudes about women and an increased acceptance of violence against women as mainstream. New research is emerging that young men are now reporting erctile dysfunction (ED) related to porn usage. They report ED when with a real woman and not while watching porn.

Sexuality is the experience and

expression of ourselves as sexual beings.

The sexual revolution and women’s

movement encouraged women to learn

about their anatomy and their

pleasure/desire

Sexual orientation- emotional and sexual

attraction.

Gender Identity- Concept of self as male

or female.

Sexual behavior- romantic and sexual

actions.

Heterosexuals- refers to opposite sex

attractions and partners

Homosexual- same sex

Bi-sexual – both opposite sex and same

sex partnerships and attractions

Sexual identity/orientation- refers to

who you are sexually attracted to and

your sexual orientation

Sexual behavior- action or how you

physically express sex

Gender identity- how you think about

your gender

People globally and in the U.S. express

their sexual identity in a variety of ways

Heterosexist cultures like the U.S.

privilege heterosexually and make it the

“Norm” while all other sexualities are

pathologized and seen as abnormal