Politicizing Sexuality - Gayle Rubin

". . . these pleasures which we lightly call physical. . ." (Colette, 1982, p. 72)

As discussed by Gayle Rubin, an American cultural anthropologist, activist, and theorist, in her piece "Thinking Sex", sexuality is inherently political. Rubin makes some interesting points in her piece regarding the aspects of sexuality that we chose to take seriously. She writes: 

"In Western culture, sex is taken all too seriously. A person is not considered immoral, is not sent to prison, and is not expelled from her or his family, for enjoying spicy cuisine. But an individual may go through all this and more for enjoying shoe leather. Ultimately, of what possible social significance is it if a person likes to masturbate over a shoe? It may even be non-consensual, but since we do not ask permission of our shoes to wear them, it hardly seems necessary to obtain dispensation to come on them" (171). 

Rubin then goes on to talk about aspects of sexuality that she feels are not taken seriously enough. She writes:

"If sex is taken too seriously, sexual persecution is not taken seriously enough. There is systematic mistreatment of individuals and communities on the basis of erotic taste or behavior. There are serious penalties for belonging to the various sexual occupational castes. The sexuality of the young is denied, adult sexuality is often treated like a variety of nuclear waste, and the graphic representation of sex takes place in a mire of legal and social circumlocution. Specific populations bear the brunt of the current system of erotic power, but their persecution upholds a system that affects everyone" (171). 

Rubin's commentary here is one of the key, foundational aspects of discussing transnational sexuality. If we can agree that sexuality is moralized and politicized, then we can begin to look into the ways in which that politicization affects certain populations. 

Check out more of Gayle Rubin's work:

Dr. Gayle Rubin lecture "Histories of Up Your Alley Fair" for San Francisco Leathermen's Discussion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2pIVcavRKA

The Traffic in Women: Notes on the "Political Economy" of Sex: https://philpapers.org/rec/RUBTTI