Oct. 5 (Assigned reading #2)

How did Indigenous and settler-colonial views of sexuality differ?

Many Indigenous cultures accepted diverse genders and sexualities, while colonial cultures promoted strict gender binaries and heterosexuality

How were gender-diverse individuals viewed in many Indigenous cultures?

They were often accepted and sometimes held specialized social roles

How did settler-colonial cultures regulate sexuality?

Through Christian religious norms, marriage expectations, community surveillance, and colonial institutions.

What role did the social control of Indigenous Peoples’ sexualities play in colonization?

Colonial authorities imposed European Christian sexual norms on Indigenous Peoples

• suppressing traditional gender identities and sexual practices

• Helped undermine Indigenous cultures, reinforce European values, and establish colonial power and control

How does consent determine whether sexuality is normal or deviant?

It involves voluntary agreement to sexual activity

• Its absence or the inability to provide it makes sexual activity nonconsensual and potentially criminal

What role does the nature of the sexual partner play in determining normal and deviant sexuality?

Determines deviance based on whether society considers someone an acceptable sexual partner

• Laws prohibit certain relationships, such as incest and sexual relationships involving minors or exploitation.

• Professional rules may also restrict relationships involving authority

• Informal social norms can stigmatize otherwise legal relationships

What role does the nature of the sexual act play in determining normal and deviant sexuality?

Determines deviance based on whether a particular sexual behaviour is culturally and historically acceptable

• ie) masturbation was once considered deviant but is now more widely accepted

What is the ideology of privacy in relation to sexuality?

The belief that private, consensual sexual activity between adults is their personal business and should face limited outside interference

• although some behaviours remain stigmatized

Why does age affect the ability to consent?

Cognitive development and power imbalances can limit children's ability to provide informed, voluntary consent

Why is consent considered contested?

The law treats consent as present or absent, while people's interpretations are more complex and influenced by context

At what three levels are exotic dancers subjected to power?

• Individual (customers)

• Organizational (club rules and managers)

• Institutional (capitalism and beauty standards).

How does McDonaldization influence exotic dancing?

Efficiency, predictability, control, and calculability standardize dancers' appearance, performances, and interactions to maximize profits

How do exotic dancers exercise agency?

By controlling customer interactions, setting boundaries, using counterfeit intimacy, and strategically applying club rules to increase income

How can exotic dancing affect dancers' identities?

Financial pressures may lead dancers to loosen boundaries, increasing the gap between their ideal and perceived selves

How does exotic dancing affect MDW compared to WDM?

• MDW often experience admiration and increased self-esteem

• WDM may experience further objectification and reduced self-esteem

How does the looking-glass self explain differences in dancers' self-esteem?

Dancers develop their self-concept through customers' reactions

• MDW often interpret as admiration

• WDM may experience as objectification

What is the functional definition of pornography?

Anything used for sexual arousal, regardless of its original purpose

• ie) Using a Victoria's Secret catalogue for sexual arousal o reading romance novel

What is the genre definition of pornography?

Material intentionally created to cause sexual arousal

• ie) An adult video produced to sexually excite viewers

What is the labelling definition of pornography?

Material considered obscene according to community standards

• is socially constructed because standards vary across cultures and historical periods

• ie) A sexually explicit publication labelled unacceptable by the community

What is the structural functionalist view on sexuality?

sexual activity should be limited to marital relationships

• helps to establish expectations about marriage and family

• sexual deviance → sex outside marriage because it violated social boundaries

What is the subjective orientation of the social construction process?

It focuses on how society defines and labels behaviours as deviant, rather than the acts themselves

• These definitions vary across history, cultures, and time

What is the social construction for prostitution? Morality

was considered sinful and criminal

• sin: use of body that didn’t serve God, drove men away from wives

• criminal (1982): considered under the ‘offences against morality’ → same category as incest

What is the social construction for prostitution? Public health

the Gold Rush helped make the sex-trade more tolerable

• deemed prostitution as ‘necessary evil’

• gender imbalance → solution for men’s lust

• Dawson city PH → law for regular testing for STD’s

What is the social construction for prostitution? Victimization

linked sex-trade to human trafficking

• became heavily stigmatized, marginalized and experienced lower levels of health-care access

• exploration/ studies done on brothels

What is the social construction for prostitution? Worker rights

Sex work is viewed as labour rather than deviance

• emphasizing workers' rights, safety, legal protections, and reducing stigma

• made it legal to sell sex-work, but illegal to buy

What was COYOTE, and what did it advocate for?

An organization that advocated for sex workers' rights

• repeal all existing prostitution laws → safety

• considered as a credible occupation → decriminalization and workers' rights

• reducing stigma surrounding prostitution

How do flappers illustrate symbolic interactionism and deviance?

challenged traditional gender norms in the 1920s and were labelled deviant

• showing how social reactions and changing meanings determine what is considered deviant

Why were flappers considered folk devils?

They challenged traditional gender roles and were portrayed as immoral threats to society

• creating fear about women's growing independence

  • ads shifted from house wives → freedom

• many worried about the shift from farm → urban life

• morality and drug anxieties