WGSS 404 - Regulating Sex: Historical and Cultural Encounters

Institution:

Washington University in St Louis

Subject:

Description:

This seminar examines various ways in which the law regulates sex, emphasizing the place of sexual pleasure in conventional legal analysis and through feminist frameworks. The class considers the history of the regulation of sex in this country, with emphasis on key historical moments, such as the European/Native American encounter; the "sexual economy" of slavery; suffragists' 19th-century writings on sexuality; the post-WW II emergence of lesbianism; policies of the 1950s on illegitimacy, adoption, and divorce; the "sexual revolution" of the 1960s and 1970s; the AIDS crisis and recognition of marital rape of the 1970s and 1980s; as well as moments when pornography, prostitution, abstinence-only education, and changing understandings of marriage have each enjoyed attention. This historical approach emphasizes sites where sex-positive feminist theory and traditional legal rules converge or clash.

Credits:

3.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.wustl.edu

Phone Number:

(314) 935-5000

Regional Accreditation:

North Central Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

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