Sexuality, Intimacy, and Politics (Weeks Chpt 5) Flashcards
what forces have dominated since the 70s in terms of influential developments of politics around sexuality and personal life?
conservative forces –> family values
how in the 1960s did sexuality become a political battleground?
sexuality moved in the center of policy and moved across the globe via globalization
what has unsetteled the relations between men and women
rapid social change and the the rise of modern feminisms, accompanied by a wide-ranging destabilisation of traditional concepts of gender
what is “transformation of intimacy” marked by?
decline in the traditional family, the rise of many different ways of sexual life, and the growth of more varied and democratic patterns of relationships
what has defined the politics of sexuality in the contemporary world?
- challenge to the fixity of the heterosexual/homosexual binary and the coming out of LGTBTQ+ ways of life
- an explosion of sexual diversity and a proliferation of new sexual narratives and meanings
- the growth of sexual and intimate citizen ship and human right discourses
- cyber sex and technological innovations
why is trying to return to a “golden age” of order, decency, discipline, and propriety problematic?
how far back do you go? the 60s, 50s,…? no good reference point – usually it reveals more about our current discontents than past realities
we are in a long sexual transformation/transition that is larger than the west: what is this seeded in, impact by, evident in, supported by, and fertilized by?
- seeded in the historical process of colonization (invade and take)
- impacted by ongoing process of colonization (e.g. sex tourism)
- evident in resistance to the ongoing process of colonization (e.g. land defenders)
- supported by neoliberalism/individualism/choice
- fertilized by global capitalism and globalization – power, information, technology
what is the secularization of sexuality?
the progressive detachment of sexual values from religious values –> passed to medical profession/science (though they create issues as much as they solve them)
how has individualism caused a decline of traditional authority?
liberalization of attitudes in the west; diversity of choice to live sexual life – freeing and terrifying/exhausting
how has capitalism led to a decline of traditional authority?
selling sex and sexuality; cyber/techno sex
what have been some impacts of liberalization?
- growth in tolerance and acceptance in the West
- move towards female autonomy in the West
- genders affected differently – reassertion of patriarchy (in countries that seek to defy the ‘corrupt’ West, violence towards women and sexual minorities is common)
what is a “tolerance trap”?
apparent changes in attitudes and public practices in relation to homosexuality in a number of mainly western countries, obscure deeper realities of continuing inequality hidden under the warm blanket of tolerance
describe how tolerance depends on authority
- does not fully recognise validity of different ways of life
- can be revoked
- re-inscribes power relations
whats the difference between a permission vs respect concept of toleration?
permissive: concessionary and conditional
respect: mutuality, recognition, and a positive understanding of what toleration can be, more doing than leaving people alone
toleration means more than leaving people alone, what does it mean?
positively supporting people to take authority to control their own lives and fully validate different ways of being
