Florida has criminalized sex dolls that look like children. Arizona has declared porn a public health crisis.
Both were done without input from scientists, sex experts, or consumers.
“Consent” is only one aspect of sexuality; focussing on it too much distracts us from other important policy issues regarding sex. It also ignores the central role of ambivalence and ambiguity in sexual decision-making.
As a lifelong “liberal” it breaks my heart to say this, but “liberals” and “progressives” are making it harder and harder to write about things that matter. Here are examples of facts that I and others hesitate to write about:
An 18-year-old man accuses a 72-year-old of rape–from an unwanted blowjob with no coercion and no threats. A jury convicts.
Interested in sex? Then you’re interested in politics, whether you like it or not. There are literally thousands of laws that regulate our sexual expression–who we can have sex with, what we can do, the products and pharmaceuticals we can use, the ways in which we can control our reproduction, and the ways we can share what we do with others. Who makes these laws? Politicians—from mighty senators to self-righteous state legislators to friendly city council members. A few of these people can be bought. Others want to do good, or to leave a legacy. Almost all of them want…
A few of our civil rights in America were reaffirmed last week. Ironically, the context, as is often the case when our basic rights are trampled, was sexuality. * Forced ultrasound and required physician speech found unconstitutional Like 12 other states, North Carolina forces women undergoing a legal medical procedure (abortion) to undergo an invasive procedure (uterine ultrasound) they may not want, and to listen to their doctor recite a script that the doctor may not want to recite and the woman may not want to hear. In upholding a successful challenge to the law, a federal court concluded that…