Going Public: Sex, Sexuality and Feminism

From the Stonewall Riots to SlutWalk, this course examines how and why sex and sexual imagery has come to occupy a central role in contemporary Western culture. It traces the development of discourses around sex, sexuality and feminism in order to establish a “sex critical” way of analysing cultural phenomena, especially complex issues of gender and identity. What are the effects of sexual imagery in mainstream culture? Is sex empowering or disempowering? What do feminist and queer writers think about the current condition? This course explores the “sexualisation” of contemporary life starting with the second wave feminist and gay liberation movements of the 1970s onwards. It considers the impact of these early movements on subsequent feminist and queer perspectives and follows their continuing legacies and debates. Some of the topics the course covers include post-feminism, the pornography debates, the rise of raunch culture, issues surrounding consent and sex work, the impact of HIV/AIDS, the emergence of queer and trans identity politics, and the multi-dimensional linkages between race, sex, gender, sexuality and pleasure.