Category Archives: Sex and Sexuality

Monopoli on Situating Dobbs @ProfMonopoli @ConLawCenter

Paula A. Monopoli, University of Maryland School of Law, has published Situating Dobbs at 14 ConLawNOW 45 (2023). Here is the abstract. The recent decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health has been characterized as an outlier because its effect … Continue reading

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Title IX’s Prohibition of Discrimination “on the Basis of Sex” Prohibits Discrimination on Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation

In an anticipated (but not surprising) memorandum, the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, has issued guidance (here) to federal agencies on the applicability of Bostock v. Clayton County, 140 S. Ct. 1731 (2020) to Title IX. Here is … Continue reading

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Sarah Rajec & Andrew Gilden on “Patenting Pleasure”

Sarah R. Wasserman Rajec (William & Mary) and Andrew Gilden (Willamette) have posted to SSRN their working paper Patenting Pleasure. Here is the abstract: The United States Patent and Trademark Office has granted thousands of patents for inventions whose purpose … Continue reading

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Irina Manta on “Tinder Lies”

Irina Manta (Hofstra) has posted to SSRN her article Tinder Lies, forthcoming in the Wake Forest Law Review (2019).  Here is the abstract: The rise of Internet dating — in recent years especially through the use of mobile-based apps such … Continue reading

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Tenzer on #MeToo, Statutory Rape Laws, and the Persistence of Gender @ProfLGTenzer

Leslie Y. Garfield Tenzer, Pace University School of Law, has published #MeToo, Statutory Rape Laws, and the Persistence of Gender. Here is the abstract. In the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, feminists pushed for reform of statutory rape laws. At … Continue reading

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SMU Series on “Excavate, Energize, Equalize: Propelling American Women in Thought and Deed”

Some of you may be interested in the event linked here that I am helping to organize, along with colleagues in the SMU departments of Theology, History and English. This third event in our SMU Dedman College Interdisciplinary Institute cluster … Continue reading

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Posted in Reproductive Rights, Sex and Sexuality, Upcoming Conferences, Women's Health | 1 Comment

Is Access to Affordable Menstrual Products a “Right”? Men and Women Disagree. But Men are Curious About Robots.

This week Eleanor Goldberg, a reporter at the Huffington Post, published an article, “Lots Of Men Still Don’t See Tampons As A Basic Right.” Here is an excerpt: In a YouGov survey of more than 2,000 American adults released this … Continue reading

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Leary on Affirmatively Replacing Rape Culture With Consent Culture

Mary Leary, CUA Columbus School of Law, has published Affirmatively Replacing Rape Culture with Consent Culture at 49 Texas Tech 1 (2016). Here is the abstract. The debate concerning affirmative consent consists of two camps: those who assert people must … Continue reading

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White Paper on Title IX & the Preponderance of the Evidence, 3d Edition

Please see the “third edition” of the White Paper on Title IX & the Preponderance of the Evidence at the link below, including the first 100 signatures from law professors across the country.  We will continue to accept signatures from law … Continue reading

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Swan on Title IX, the Criminal Law, and the Campus Sexual Assault Debate

Sarah Lynnda Swan, Columbia University Law School, is publishing Between Title IX and the Criminal Law: Bringing Tort Law to the Campus Sexual Assault Debate in volume 64 of the the Kansas Law Review (2016). Here is the abstract. In … Continue reading

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Craig on the Failure To Interpret and Apply Canada’s Rape Shield Provision Properly

Elaine Craig, Dalhousie University School of Law, is publishing Section 276 Misconstrued: The Failure to Properly Interpret and Apply Canada’s Rape Shield Provisions in the Canadian Bar Review. Here is the abstract. Despite the vintage of Canada’s rape shield provisions … Continue reading

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What Adults Don’t Understand About Teen Sexting

The local public radio station in New York City, WNYC, ran this interesting story about the teen sexting scandal in Colorado: Schools, Cops Take Notice as Teen Sexting Becomes New Norm: There are many thought-provoking ideas presented in the story.  … Continue reading

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Alabama Same-Sex Marriage Rulings, 2015

Howard M. Wasserman, Florida International University College of Law, has published Crazy in Alabama: Judicial Process and the Last Stand Against Marriage Equality in the Land of George Wallace at 110 Northwestern University Law Review Online 201 (2015). Here is … Continue reading

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The Gendered Nature of Canada’s Witchcraft Law

Here’s an interesting piece on Canadian witchcraft law. Natasha Bakht, University of Ottawa, Common Law Section, and Jordan Palmer, University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law, have published Modern Law, Modern Hammers: Canada’s Witchcraft Provision as an Image of Persecution at … Continue reading

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Federal Recognition Of Same-Sex Marriage

Mae Kuykendall, Michigan State University College of Law, has published Marriage Goals and Government Interests: Handling Complexity, Apportioning Expertise, Using Federalism. Here is the abstract. This Article argues that the Supreme Court should require that all states recognize legal same-sex … Continue reading

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The Debate Over Provocative Dress

Jessica Wolfendale, West Virginia University, Philosophy Department, is publishing Provocative Dress and Sexual Responsibility in the Georgetown Journal of Gender and the Law. Here is the abstract. Numerous studies have found that many people believe that a provocatively dressed woman … Continue reading

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On Consent: The Tea Analogy

From Rockstar Dinosaur Pirate Princess (here), this lesson on consent: You say “hey, would you like a cup of tea?” and they go “omg fuck yes, I would fucking LOVE a cup of tea! Thank you!*” then you know they … Continue reading

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Female Ejaculation Explained, Poetry-Slam Style

The Association of College Unions International hosts a poetry slam each year.  The final rounds of this year’s College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational was held March 25–28, 2015 at Virginia Commonwealth University.  The final round featured this brilliant performance by … Continue reading

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How Much is Male Virginity Worth?

More than $1,278, apparently.  According to the (UK) Mirror (here), a 24-year old Romanian man is offering to “sell” his virginity and has turned down an offer of 1,125 euros (approximately $1,278). Sound familiar? A Russian man received $2,600 in … Continue reading

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Margo Kaplan, “Taking Pedophilia Seriously,” Washington & Lee L. Rev. (forthcoming 2015).

Margo Kaplan recently published this Op-Ed in the NYT entitled “Pedophilia: A Disorder, Not a Crime”, in which she asserts: A pedophile should be held responsible for his conduct — but not for the underlying attraction. Arguing for the rights … Continue reading

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Bryan Adamson: Media Images of Michael Sam and Vito Cammisano Showed Us More Than We Thought

From my in-box: published here with permission, Bryan Adamson’s essay on Michael Sam, the media, and why challenging norms is not comfortable (or, apparently, welcome). The “Problem” With Michael Sam: It Wasn’t the Kiss Bryan Adamson, Associate Professor, Seattle University School of Law Through the … Continue reading

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A Feminist Theoretical Take on Virginity Auctions

Various press outlets (not linked here) have reported that a medical school student planned to auction her virginity and then cancelled that plan.  Over at Feminist Current, Elisa Haf writes thoughtfully about the situtation in “Student Virginity Auctions and Sexual Economics.” … Continue reading

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Case Western Law School retaliation law suit update

Here. Oy.

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“As Dartmouth makes efforts to combat sexual assault, posts on an anonymous online forum have students terrified.”

Below is an excerpt from “How Cyberbullying Is Making Sexual Assault on College Campuses Even Worse” by Katie Van Syckle: Less than two months ago, a commenter on an anonymous online forum threatened to gang-bang me at a fraternity house. … Continue reading

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Changing Sexual Practices, Media Sensationalism and Attention-Getting Rim Jobs

I admit that reading New York magazine is a guilty pleasure of mine.  I enjoy the mix of fluff pieces; vanilla journalism; and NYC-centered, self-satisfied trend-spotting and cultural prognostications.  This week’s mag brings us yet another intriguing “Sex Lives” column … Continue reading

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BDSM and Feminism

Writer Kathy Kulig asks here, “BDSM and Feminism – Can They Coexist?” In a recent interview, I was asked whether I thought the BDSM lifestyle and feminism conflicted. I thought it would be an interesting topic for discussion. I think … Continue reading

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Massachusetts Legislature Revises Its Statute In Response To “Upskirting” Decision

In response to Massachusetts’ highest court’s ruling that “upskirting” is not illegal according to the state’s statute,  members of the legislature moved quickly to introduce a number of bills to criminalize the practice. One bill made it all the way to … Continue reading

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French in an Uproar about Judith Butler’s Gender Theories

From the Boston Globe: On Feb. 2, Paris once again became a vast political stage. One hundred thousand demonstrators had gathered, galvanized by a danger looming over the Republic. The threat was not, as in times past, fascism or Nazism, … Continue reading

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Sex-Positive Law

Sexual pleasure is a good thing. It’s not just moral philosophy that supports the value of pleasure (although much of it does); it’s common sense. We value pleasure simply because it is pleasurable. People devote significant time and money to … Continue reading

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Apps Can Teach You Anything: Yes, a Masturbation App

I’m not making this up: Forwarded to me by a friend who said he did *not* see this app and think of me (huh?).  Anyway, it’s HappyPlayTime (tag line: “female masturbation made friendly”).  Here‘s the app’s “mission”: Sexuality is one … Continue reading

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Camille Paglia’s Review of Three Academic Studies of BDSM

Camille Paglia reviews (here) for the Chronicle three recent books: Three books from university presses dramatize the degree to which once taboo sexual subjects have gained academic legitimacy. Margot Weiss’s Techniques of Pleasure: BDSM and the Circuits of Sexuality (Duke … Continue reading

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Sexual Behavior and Critics of Consent Theory

Over (here) at The Atlantic, Conor Friedersdorf has in interesting take on whether consent is an appropriate litmus test for measuring ethical sexual behavior. Unfortunately, the article’s title — The Ethics of Extreme Porn: Is Some Sex Wrong Even Among … Continue reading

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Marc Stein’s “Sexual Injustice” Available in Paperback

Marc Stein’s Sexual Injustice: Supreme Court Decisions From Griswold To Roe is now available in paperback from the University of North Carolina Press. The publisher gives the following infor for professors interested in course adoption: To order a print exam copy, … Continue reading

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Lean In (Toward the Everlasting Glass)

I think about all the moments I just didn’t believe in myself. Every test I was sure I was about to fail, every job I wasn’t sure I could do,” she says. “It was after watching so many women quietly … Continue reading

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“A school reveals it has a “Fantasy Slut League””

An excerpt just won’t do this article justice. Read the entire piece here.

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“Despite a cease-and-desist letter, Shautsova surmised that Primal Ventures, the host of escortsexguide.com, would not delete the [false] profile because it makes money whenever someone clicks on it.”

That is a sentence pulled from this article, which tells yet another story of someone using the internet to inflict misery on a former romantic partner.

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“Creepshots and revenge porn: how paparazzi culture affects women”

That’s the title of this article. Below is an excerpt: … Charlotte Laws first encountered these sites in January this year, after her daughter Kayla, who is in her mid-20s, had her computer hacked. In Kayla’s email account was one … Continue reading

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Guttmacher Institute Data About Teen Sex

SEX, PREGNANCY AND ABORTION • Although only 13% of U.S. teens have had sex by age 15, most initiate sex in their late teen years. By their 19th birthday, seven in 10 teen men and teen women have had intercourse.[1] … Continue reading

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Neuroscience and Female Sexuality: Another Critique of Naomi Wolf’s “Vagina”

Here. Below is an excerpt: Oddly, one of the few places in her book where Wolf gets the science right — in a discussion about the physiology of a clitoral versus vaginal orgasm — quashes the universalizing claims she makes … Continue reading

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Bias concerns about sex education in New York.

Here. An excerpt: In some districts, students learn that HIV/AIDS will kill them within three years. Another district used material which defined the vagina as a “sperm deposit.” Two-thirds do not depict or label external female genitalia. In fact, much … Continue reading

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Phoebe Hart, “ORCHIDS: My Intersex Adventure”

A documentary by Australian filmmaker Phoebe Hart aired on Showtime earlier this month.  Here’s the distributor’s description of the film “ORCHIDS: My Intersex Adventure”: Gen X filmmaker Phoebe Hart always knew she was different growing up – but she didn’t … Continue reading

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Sex-Positive Radio Programming

Broadcasting from McGill University’s CKUT 90.3 FM (in Canada), Audio Smut is “a racy radio show exploring the vast terrain of sexuality.”  The program is available as a podcast and via its website (“Audio Smut: Sex Positive Radio”), here. The folks … Continue reading

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CFP – “Sex::Tech 2012,” San Francisco, April 1-3, 2012

From the FLP mailbox, this CFP: Sex::Tech is the premier event for health professionals; technology experts; researchers and educators; community leaders and advocates; parents and young people to advance sexual health awareness, knowledge, and strategies. This annual gathering is hosted … Continue reading

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Reid on “Sex, Drugs, and American Jurisprudence”

Susan Reid (J.D. Columbia, 2011) has posted to SSRN her working paper “Sex, Drugs, and American Jurisprudence: The Medicalization of Pleasure.”  Here is the abstract: This paper explores the role of medical arguments in cases where courts have overturned statutes … Continue reading

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Is it Feminism “Fault” that Women are Single?

The November, 2011 edition of The Atlantic features a young, single writer and the headline “What Me, Marry?” with the subtitle, “In today’s economy, men are falling apart.  What that means for sex and marriage.”  That sounds like an interesting … Continue reading

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Posted in Feminism and Culture, Feminism and Families, Sex and Sexuality, Socioeconomic Class | 2 Comments

New Book by Meagan Tyler, “The Pornographic and Sexological Construction of Women’s Sexuality in the West”

Meagan Tyler (Sociology, Victoria U., Australia) has published a book, “Selling Sex Short: The Pornographic and Sexological Construction of Women’s Sexuality in the West.”  Here is the publisher’s description: Pornography and the ‘science of sex’ – sexology – are redefining … Continue reading

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Why a Friend With Benefits is Complicated

“7 Reasons For Not Putting Your Friend’s Genitals in Your Mouth” renamed Why A Friend With Benefits is Complicated [renamed at the request of a gentle reader — 8/30/11] That’s [the deleted language is] the subject title of this post over … Continue reading

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Posted in Sex and Sexuality | 1 Comment