Regulating Sex: Historical and Cultural Encounters

2 units

This course explores sexuality, law, and culture as discourses and as regulatory instruments. Using this lens and emphasizing changing norms over time, we will examine a range of specific topics, including, for example, America's historical slave economy and its impact on sexual values and practices; sexual violence, sex without consent, and efforts to reduce both (on campus, in the home, and elsewhere); the role of religion in regulating sex; different understandings of sexual pleasure and the suppression of pleasure for socially devalued groups (women, the elderly, and individuals with disabilities); the legal and social construction of pregnancy and reproduction; traditional marriage and various alternatives; sexual education and initiation; LGB, intersexual, asexual, and trans identities; sex-offender registries; and sex research. To support this course's explicitly transdisciplinary focus, we will study materials from law, social work, sexology, literature, and popular culture and contrast conventional legal analysis with feminist and other frameworks, including queer theory, social constructionism, intersectional approaches, and symbolic interactionism. Students will have two writing assignments throughout the semester and no final exam. Grades will be based on writing assignments and contributions to the class discussions. Please note: Students will not receive "trigger warnings" in this course. Although many of the readings and class conversations confront challenging issues and may evoke emotional reactions, developing competency to address sensitive topics is one of the learning objectives of this course. Students are welcome to discuss with the professor any particular difficulties or accommodations. [BCCCR Requirement: this course contains 5 or more hours of BCCCR instruction.] 2 units.