Belinda Bennett, Isabel Karpin, Angela Ballantyne, and Wendy Rogers
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199545520
- eISBN:
- 9780191721113
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso:acprof/9780199545520.003.0022
- Subject:
- Law, Medical Law
This chapter presents the current challenges facing legislators, regulators, researchers, and ethics committees in determining how and when to include women appropriately in research, and ensure that ...
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This chapter presents the current challenges facing legislators, regulators, researchers, and ethics committees in determining how and when to include women appropriately in research, and ensure that sex analysis of research results is routinely performed. It offers five issues that require attention to address these challenges: that national regulatory statements could provide researchers with definitions of the terms ‘sex’ , ‘gender’, and ‘gender equity’ in research; that sex and gender analysis should be built into health research protocols; the lack of internationally comparable data regarding the rates of inclusion of men and women presents a major hurdle for analysing the efficacy of different regulatory strategies; the accessibility of data would be facilitated by a requirement for publication of the results of health research to include descriptions of sex analysis performed on research data; and that institutional review boards, research ethics committees, and researchers themselves require better education about the scientific and ethical importance of including of women in clinical research.Less
This chapter presents the current challenges facing legislators, regulators, researchers, and ethics committees in determining how and when to include women appropriately in research, and ensure that sex analysis of research results is routinely performed. It offers five issues that require attention to address these challenges: that national regulatory statements could provide researchers with definitions of the terms ‘sex’ , ‘gender’, and ‘gender equity’ in research; that sex and gender analysis should be built into health research protocols; the lack of internationally comparable data regarding the rates of inclusion of men and women presents a major hurdle for analysing the efficacy of different regulatory strategies; the accessibility of data would be facilitated by a requirement for publication of the results of health research to include descriptions of sex analysis performed on research data; and that institutional review boards, research ethics committees, and researchers themselves require better education about the scientific and ethical importance of including of women in clinical research.
Mark D. Regnerus
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195320947
- eISBN:
- 9780199785452
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195320947.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Americans remain deeply ambivalent about teenage sexuality. Many presume that such uneasiness is rooted in religion. This book tackles such questions as: how exactly does religion contribute to the ...
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Americans remain deeply ambivalent about teenage sexuality. Many presume that such uneasiness is rooted in religion. This book tackles such questions as: how exactly does religion contribute to the formation of teenagers' sexual values and actions? What difference, if any, does religion make in adolescents' sexual attitudes and behaviors? Are abstinence pledges effective? Who expresses regrets about their sexual activity and why? The book combines analyses of three national surveys with stories drawn from interviews with over 250 teenagers across America. It reviews how young people learn, and what they know about sex from their parents, schools, peers, and other sources. It examines what experiences teens profess to have had, and how they make sense of these experiences in light of their own identities as religious, moral, and responsible persons. The author's analysis discovers that religion can and does matter. However, the analysis finds that religious claims are often swamped by other compelling sexual scripts. Particularly interesting is the emergence of what the author calls a “new middle class sexual morality”, which has little to do with a desire for virginity but nevertheless shuns intercourse in order to avoid risks associated with pregnancy and STDs. And strikingly, evangelical teens aren't less sexually active than their non-evangelical counterparts, they just tend to feel guiltier about it. In fact, the analysis finds that few religious teens have internalized or are even able to articulate the sexual ethic taught by their denominations. The only-and largely ineffective-sexual message most religious teens are getting is: “don't do it until you're married”. Ultimately, the author concludes, religion may influence adolescent sexual behavior, but it rarely motivates sexual decision making.Less
Americans remain deeply ambivalent about teenage sexuality. Many presume that such uneasiness is rooted in religion. This book tackles such questions as: how exactly does religion contribute to the formation of teenagers' sexual values and actions? What difference, if any, does religion make in adolescents' sexual attitudes and behaviors? Are abstinence pledges effective? Who expresses regrets about their sexual activity and why? The book combines analyses of three national surveys with stories drawn from interviews with over 250 teenagers across America. It reviews how young people learn, and what they know about sex from their parents, schools, peers, and other sources. It examines what experiences teens profess to have had, and how they make sense of these experiences in light of their own identities as religious, moral, and responsible persons. The author's analysis discovers that religion can and does matter. However, the analysis finds that religious claims are often swamped by other compelling sexual scripts. Particularly interesting is the emergence of what the author calls a “new middle class sexual morality”, which has little to do with a desire for virginity but nevertheless shuns intercourse in order to avoid risks associated with pregnancy and STDs. And strikingly, evangelical teens aren't less sexually active than their non-evangelical counterparts, they just tend to feel guiltier about it. In fact, the analysis finds that few religious teens have internalized or are even able to articulate the sexual ethic taught by their denominations. The only-and largely ineffective-sexual message most religious teens are getting is: “don't do it until you're married”. Ultimately, the author concludes, religion may influence adolescent sexual behavior, but it rarely motivates sexual decision making.
Alex Córdoba-Aguilar (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199230693
- eISBN:
- 9780191710889
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199230693.001.0001
- Subject:
- Biology, Ecology, Animal Biology
This book is a collection of nineteen chapters where summaries of major ecological and evolutionary questions have been asked and responded using dragonflies and damselflies as study subjects. Each ...
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This book is a collection of nineteen chapters where summaries of major ecological and evolutionary questions have been asked and responded using dragonflies and damselflies as study subjects. Each chapter is written by a well-respected scientist. The topics covered are: demography, population and community ecology, life-history, distribution, abundance, migration, conservation, applied use, predator-prey interactions, mating isolation, lifetime reproductive success estimates, reproduction vs. survival, parasite-host relationships, cryptic female choice, sexual conflict, territoriality, sex-limited colour polymorphisms, sexual size dimorphism, flight performance, and wing evolution. Each chapter puts forward new data and hypothesis in relation to further ecological and evolutionary questions.Less
This book is a collection of nineteen chapters where summaries of major ecological and evolutionary questions have been asked and responded using dragonflies and damselflies as study subjects. Each chapter is written by a well-respected scientist. The topics covered are: demography, population and community ecology, life-history, distribution, abundance, migration, conservation, applied use, predator-prey interactions, mating isolation, lifetime reproductive success estimates, reproduction vs. survival, parasite-host relationships, cryptic female choice, sexual conflict, territoriality, sex-limited colour polymorphisms, sexual size dimorphism, flight performance, and wing evolution. Each chapter puts forward new data and hypothesis in relation to further ecological and evolutionary questions.
Victoria Harris
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199578573
- eISBN:
- 9780191722936
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199578573.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
This book examines the German sex trade from the lowest level upwards, focusing on the voices and experiences of the prostitutes. The book moves telescopically through four chapters. It begins with ...
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This book examines the German sex trade from the lowest level upwards, focusing on the voices and experiences of the prostitutes. The book moves telescopically through four chapters. It begins with the the prostitute herself, then turns to the wider community in which she operated, before discussing her interactions with German society more widely, and finishing with a discussion of the prostitute's relationship to the larger, bureaucratic workings of the nation‐state. In doing this, the book uses prostitution to help recast our understanding of sexuality and ethics in twentieth‐century Germany. It demonstrates the difficult relationship between criminality, marginality, and deviance, teaching us much about how German society defined itself by determining who did not belong within it. Finally, the book challenges our conception of the relationship between the type of government in power and official attitudes towards sexuality, arguing that the prevalent desire to control citizens' sexuality transcended traditional left–right divides and intensified with economic and political modernization. Throughout, the study notes the important continuities and breaks across this difficult thirty‐year period of Germany's history. Despite the inherent problems in doing so, in studying prostitution it is first necessary to try to understand prostitutes, as well as the other individuals who ensured the continued operation of the sex trade. The title of this book, Prostitutes in German Society, is more than simply a semantic choice. It encapsulates its focus on the individual human actors at the centre of the sex trade.Less
This book examines the German sex trade from the lowest level upwards, focusing on the voices and experiences of the prostitutes. The book moves telescopically through four chapters. It begins with the the prostitute herself, then turns to the wider community in which she operated, before discussing her interactions with German society more widely, and finishing with a discussion of the prostitute's relationship to the larger, bureaucratic workings of the nation‐state. In doing this, the book uses prostitution to help recast our understanding of sexuality and ethics in twentieth‐century Germany. It demonstrates the difficult relationship between criminality, marginality, and deviance, teaching us much about how German society defined itself by determining who did not belong within it. Finally, the book challenges our conception of the relationship between the type of government in power and official attitudes towards sexuality, arguing that the prevalent desire to control citizens' sexuality transcended traditional left–right divides and intensified with economic and political modernization. Throughout, the study notes the important continuities and breaks across this difficult thirty‐year period of Germany's history. Despite the inherent problems in doing so, in studying prostitution it is first necessary to try to understand prostitutes, as well as the other individuals who ensured the continued operation of the sex trade. The title of this book, Prostitutes in German Society, is more than simply a semantic choice. It encapsulates its focus on the individual human actors at the centre of the sex trade.
Mark Regnerus and Jeremy Uecker
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199743285
- eISBN:
- 9780199894741
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199743285.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This book tells the definitive story of the sexual and relationship values and practices of young adults. The authors draw upon their analysis of nationally representative data and ...
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This book tells the definitive story of the sexual and relationship values and practices of young adults. The authors draw upon their analysis of nationally representative data and scores of in-person interviews to help shed light on numerous questions about the sex lives of young Americans, including how long their relationships last, how quickly they become sexual, why the double standard is so stubborn, who remains a virgin and for how long, how gender imbalances in college change the rules of mating, the “price” of sex and its effects on relationship security, how online social networking and porn alter the market in relationships, how emerging adults think about marriage and relationship permanence, who marries early, why the age at marriage is rising rapidly, and how “red” and “blue” politics are reflected in our sexual choices. This book reveals striking disparities between college students and those who never pursued higher education, between conservatives and liberals, and between men and women in their experiences of romantic and sexual relationships. Although women continue to make great strides in higher education and the economy, their relationships are stalling and making many of them unhappy. Quests for sexual chemistry fall short or even backfire, revealing discordant experiences with serial monogamy among many men and women. And yet the powerful scripts of sexual equality and romantic individualism propel emerging adults forward to try again. The result is an omnibus study of sex and relationships in the lives of heterosexual emerging adults in America.Less
This book tells the definitive story of the sexual and relationship values and practices of young adults. The authors draw upon their analysis of nationally representative data and scores of in-person interviews to help shed light on numerous questions about the sex lives of young Americans, including how long their relationships last, how quickly they become sexual, why the double standard is so stubborn, who remains a virgin and for how long, how gender imbalances in college change the rules of mating, the “price” of sex and its effects on relationship security, how online social networking and porn alter the market in relationships, how emerging adults think about marriage and relationship permanence, who marries early, why the age at marriage is rising rapidly, and how “red” and “blue” politics are reflected in our sexual choices. This book reveals striking disparities between college students and those who never pursued higher education, between conservatives and liberals, and between men and women in their experiences of romantic and sexual relationships. Although women continue to make great strides in higher education and the economy, their relationships are stalling and making many of them unhappy. Quests for sexual chemistry fall short or even backfire, revealing discordant experiences with serial monogamy among many men and women. And yet the powerful scripts of sexual equality and romantic individualism propel emerging adults forward to try again. The result is an omnibus study of sex and relationships in the lives of heterosexual emerging adults in America.
S.C. Dube
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198077312
- eISBN:
- 9780199081158
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198077312.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Social Stratification, Inequality, and Mobility
This book takes a comprehensive look at the Kamar tribe, an aboriginal tribe located within the Central Province (present day Chhattisgarh) of India. It presents an anthropological monograph on the ...
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This book takes a comprehensive look at the Kamar tribe, an aboriginal tribe located within the Central Province (present day Chhattisgarh) of India. It presents an anthropological monograph on the tribe, starting with a basic description of its location, population, and organization. The rest of the book is devoted to several aspects of the Kamar culture, including tribal law, its myths and rituals, attitudes towards marriage and sex, and religious ceremonies and rituals. The final part of the book focuses on the various changes that have occurred within the Kamar tribe due to the influences of other castes, tribes, and cultures. In order to clearly demonstrate the tribal organization, physical appearance, and sources of livelihood of the Kamars, several photographs and illustrations have been provided throughout the book.Less
This book takes a comprehensive look at the Kamar tribe, an aboriginal tribe located within the Central Province (present day Chhattisgarh) of India. It presents an anthropological monograph on the tribe, starting with a basic description of its location, population, and organization. The rest of the book is devoted to several aspects of the Kamar culture, including tribal law, its myths and rituals, attitudes towards marriage and sex, and religious ceremonies and rituals. The final part of the book focuses on the various changes that have occurred within the Kamar tribe due to the influences of other castes, tribes, and cultures. In order to clearly demonstrate the tribal organization, physical appearance, and sources of livelihood of the Kamars, several photographs and illustrations have been provided throughout the book.
Stephen Wilkinson
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199273966
- eISBN:
- 9780191706585
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199273966.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy, Political Philosophy
To what extent should parents be allowed to use selection technologies (such as preimplantation genetic diagnosis) to determine the characteristics of their children? And is there something morally ...
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To what extent should parents be allowed to use selection technologies (such as preimplantation genetic diagnosis) to determine the characteristics of their children? And is there something morally wrong with parents who wish to do this? Choosing Tomorrow's Children provides answers to these questions. In particular, the book applies the techniques of philosophical bioethics to address issues raised by selective reproduction, the practice of choosing between different possible future persons by selecting or deselecting (for example) embryos, eggs, and sperm. It offers answers to questions including the following. Do children have a ‘right to an open future’ and, if they do, what moral constraints does this place upon selective reproduction? Under what circumstances (if any) should sex selection be allowed? Should we ‘screen out’ as much disease and disability as possible before birth, or would that be an objectionable form of eugenics? Is it acceptable to create or select a future person (a ‘saviour sibling’) in order to provide life-saving tissue for an existing relative? Is there a moral difference between selecting to avoid disease and selecting to produce an ‘enhanced’ child? And should we allow deaf parents to use reproductive technologies to ensure that they have a deaf child? The book does not provide one overarching conclusion but rather assesses each argument-type on its merits. Insofar as it is possible to generalise though, Choosing Tomorrow's Children concludes that most of the arguments usually provided against selective reproduction are flawed in one way or another.Less
To what extent should parents be allowed to use selection technologies (such as preimplantation genetic diagnosis) to determine the characteristics of their children? And is there something morally wrong with parents who wish to do this? Choosing Tomorrow's Children provides answers to these questions. In particular, the book applies the techniques of philosophical bioethics to address issues raised by selective reproduction, the practice of choosing between different possible future persons by selecting or deselecting (for example) embryos, eggs, and sperm. It offers answers to questions including the following. Do children have a ‘right to an open future’ and, if they do, what moral constraints does this place upon selective reproduction? Under what circumstances (if any) should sex selection be allowed? Should we ‘screen out’ as much disease and disability as possible before birth, or would that be an objectionable form of eugenics? Is it acceptable to create or select a future person (a ‘saviour sibling’) in order to provide life-saving tissue for an existing relative? Is there a moral difference between selecting to avoid disease and selecting to produce an ‘enhanced’ child? And should we allow deaf parents to use reproductive technologies to ensure that they have a deaf child? The book does not provide one overarching conclusion but rather assesses each argument-type on its merits. Insofar as it is possible to generalise though, Choosing Tomorrow's Children concludes that most of the arguments usually provided against selective reproduction are flawed in one way or another.
Elizabeth Brake
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199774142
- eISBN:
- 9780199933228
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199774142.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Feminist Philosophy
Even in secular contexts, marriage retains sacramental connotations. Yet what is its moral significance? This book examines its morally salient features – promise, commitment, care, and contract – ...
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Even in secular contexts, marriage retains sacramental connotations. Yet what is its moral significance? This book examines its morally salient features – promise, commitment, care, and contract – with surprising results. In Part One, “De-Moralizing Marriage,” essays on promise and commitment argue that we cannot promise to love and so wedding vows are (mostly) failed promises, and that marriage may be a poor commitment strategy. The book contends with philosophical defenses of marriage to argue that marriage has no inherent moral significance. Further, privileging marriage sustains amatonormative discrimination – discrimination against non-amorous or non-exclusive caring relationships such as friendships, adult care networks, or polyamorous groups. The discussion raises issues of independent interest for the moral philosopher such as the limits of promising and nature of commitment. The central argument of Part Two, “Democratizing Marriage,” is that liberal reasons for recognizing same-sex marriage also require recognition of polyamorists, polygamists, friends, urban tribes, and adult care networks. Political liberalism requires the disestablishment of monogamous amatonormative marriage. Under public reason, a liberal state must refrain from basing law solely on moral or religious doctrines; but only such doctrines could furnish reason for restricting marriage to male-female couples or romantic dyads. Restrictions on marriage should be minimized. But there is a strong rationale for minimal marriage: social supports for care are a matter of fundamental justice. Part Two responds to challenges posed by property division, polygyny, and parenting, builds on feminist, queer, and anti-racist critiques of marriage, and argues for the compatibility of liberalism and feminism.Less
Even in secular contexts, marriage retains sacramental connotations. Yet what is its moral significance? This book examines its morally salient features – promise, commitment, care, and contract – with surprising results. In Part One, “De-Moralizing Marriage,” essays on promise and commitment argue that we cannot promise to love and so wedding vows are (mostly) failed promises, and that marriage may be a poor commitment strategy. The book contends with philosophical defenses of marriage to argue that marriage has no inherent moral significance. Further, privileging marriage sustains amatonormative discrimination – discrimination against non-amorous or non-exclusive caring relationships such as friendships, adult care networks, or polyamorous groups. The discussion raises issues of independent interest for the moral philosopher such as the limits of promising and nature of commitment. The central argument of Part Two, “Democratizing Marriage,” is that liberal reasons for recognizing same-sex marriage also require recognition of polyamorists, polygamists, friends, urban tribes, and adult care networks. Political liberalism requires the disestablishment of monogamous amatonormative marriage. Under public reason, a liberal state must refrain from basing law solely on moral or religious doctrines; but only such doctrines could furnish reason for restricting marriage to male-female couples or romantic dyads. Restrictions on marriage should be minimized. But there is a strong rationale for minimal marriage: social supports for care are a matter of fundamental justice. Part Two responds to challenges posed by property division, polygyny, and parenting, builds on feminist, queer, and anti-racist critiques of marriage, and argues for the compatibility of liberalism and feminism.
Hera Cook
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199252183
- eISBN:
- 9780191719240
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199252183.003.0017
- Subject:
- History, Social History
Immense positive change has taken place in English people's sexual and emotional lives. This is reflected in changing family forms and greater acceptance of sexual variation of all kinds. These ...
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Immense positive change has taken place in English people's sexual and emotional lives. This is reflected in changing family forms and greater acceptance of sexual variation of all kinds. These changes were propelled forward by the transformation of pregnancy from an uncontrollable risk to a freely chosen product of sexual activity. There are many women throughout the globe who do not have access to adequate maternity care and contraception, and neo-liberal economic measures are eroding the improvements in people lives made possible by the political and social agitation of earlier generations. Acknowledging positive change in the past should give confidence to those who seek change in the future.Less
Immense positive change has taken place in English people's sexual and emotional lives. This is reflected in changing family forms and greater acceptance of sexual variation of all kinds. These changes were propelled forward by the transformation of pregnancy from an uncontrollable risk to a freely chosen product of sexual activity. There are many women throughout the globe who do not have access to adequate maternity care and contraception, and neo-liberal economic measures are eroding the improvements in people lives made possible by the political and social agitation of earlier generations. Acknowledging positive change in the past should give confidence to those who seek change in the future.
Stephen Macedo
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691166483
- eISBN:
- 9781400865857
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691166483.001.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Family Law
The institution of marriage stands at a critical juncture. As gay marriage equality gains acceptance in law and public opinion, questions abound regarding marriage's future. Will same-sex marriage ...
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The institution of marriage stands at a critical juncture. As gay marriage equality gains acceptance in law and public opinion, questions abound regarding marriage's future. Will same-sex marriage lead to more radical marriage reform? Should it? Antonin Scalia and many others on the right warn of a slippery slope from same-sex marriage toward polygamy, adult incest, and the dissolution of marriage as we know it. Equally, many academics, activists, and intellectuals on the left contend that there is no place for monogamous marriage as a special status defined by law. This book demonstrates that both sides are wrong: the same principles of democratic justice that demand marriage equality for same-sex couples also lend support to monogamous marriage. The book displays the groundlessness of arguments against same-sex marriage and defends marriage as a public institution against those who would eliminate its special status or supplant it with private arrangements. Arguing that monogamy reflects and cultivates our most basic democratic values, the book opposes the legal recognition of polygamy, but agrees with progressives that public policies should do more to support nontraditional caring and caregiving relationships. Throughout, the book explores the meaning of contemporary marriage and the reasons for its fragility and its enduring significance. Casting new light on today's debates over the future of marriage, the book lays the groundwork for a stronger institution.Less
The institution of marriage stands at a critical juncture. As gay marriage equality gains acceptance in law and public opinion, questions abound regarding marriage's future. Will same-sex marriage lead to more radical marriage reform? Should it? Antonin Scalia and many others on the right warn of a slippery slope from same-sex marriage toward polygamy, adult incest, and the dissolution of marriage as we know it. Equally, many academics, activists, and intellectuals on the left contend that there is no place for monogamous marriage as a special status defined by law. This book demonstrates that both sides are wrong: the same principles of democratic justice that demand marriage equality for same-sex couples also lend support to monogamous marriage. The book displays the groundlessness of arguments against same-sex marriage and defends marriage as a public institution against those who would eliminate its special status or supplant it with private arrangements. Arguing that monogamy reflects and cultivates our most basic democratic values, the book opposes the legal recognition of polygamy, but agrees with progressives that public policies should do more to support nontraditional caring and caregiving relationships. Throughout, the book explores the meaning of contemporary marriage and the reasons for its fragility and its enduring significance. Casting new light on today's debates over the future of marriage, the book lays the groundwork for a stronger institution.
David Clark
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199558155
- eISBN:
- 9780191721342
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199558155.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Early and Medieval Literature, Anglo-Saxon / Old English Literature
This book argues for the importance of synoptically examining the whole range of same‐sex relations in the Anglo‐Saxon period, revisiting well‐known texts and issues (as well as material often ...
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This book argues for the importance of synoptically examining the whole range of same‐sex relations in the Anglo‐Saxon period, revisiting well‐known texts and issues (as well as material often considered marginal) from a radically different perspective. The introductory chapters first lay out the premises underlying the book and its critical context, then emphasise the need to avoid modern cultural assumptions about both male‐female and male‐male relationships, and underline the paramount place of homosocial bonds in Old English literature. Part II then investigates the construction of and attitudes to same‐sex acts and identities in ethnographic, penitential, and theological texts, ranging widely throughout the Old English corpus and drawing on Classical, Medieval Latin, and Old Norse material. Part III expands the focus to homosocial bonds in Old English literature in order to explore the range of associations for same‐sex intimacy and their representation in literary texts such as Genesis A, Beowulf, The Battle of Maldon, The Dream of the Rood, The Phoenix, and Ælfric's Lives of Saints. During the course of the book's argument, it uncovers several under‐researched issues and suggests fruitful approaches for their investigation. It concludes that, in omitting to ask certain questions of Anglo‐Saxon material, in being too willing to accept the status quo indicated by the extant corpus, in uncritically importing invisible (because normative) heterosexist assumptions in our reading, we risk misrepresenting the diversity and complexity that a more nuanced approach to issues of gender and sexuality suggests may be more genuinely characteristic of the period.Less
This book argues for the importance of synoptically examining the whole range of same‐sex relations in the Anglo‐Saxon period, revisiting well‐known texts and issues (as well as material often considered marginal) from a radically different perspective. The introductory chapters first lay out the premises underlying the book and its critical context, then emphasise the need to avoid modern cultural assumptions about both male‐female and male‐male relationships, and underline the paramount place of homosocial bonds in Old English literature. Part II then investigates the construction of and attitudes to same‐sex acts and identities in ethnographic, penitential, and theological texts, ranging widely throughout the Old English corpus and drawing on Classical, Medieval Latin, and Old Norse material. Part III expands the focus to homosocial bonds in Old English literature in order to explore the range of associations for same‐sex intimacy and their representation in literary texts such as Genesis A, Beowulf, The Battle of Maldon, The Dream of the Rood, The Phoenix, and Ælfric's Lives of Saints. During the course of the book's argument, it uncovers several under‐researched issues and suggests fruitful approaches for their investigation. It concludes that, in omitting to ask certain questions of Anglo‐Saxon material, in being too willing to accept the status quo indicated by the extant corpus, in uncritically importing invisible (because normative) heterosexist assumptions in our reading, we risk misrepresenting the diversity and complexity that a more nuanced approach to issues of gender and sexuality suggests may be more genuinely characteristic of the period.
Michael Ostling
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199587902
- eISBN:
- 9780191731228
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199587902.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Early Modern History, Social History
Witches are imaginary creatures. But in Poland as in Europe and its colonies in the early modern period, people imagined their neighbours to be witches, with tragic results. This book tells the story ...
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Witches are imaginary creatures. But in Poland as in Europe and its colonies in the early modern period, people imagined their neighbours to be witches, with tragic results. This book tells the story of the imagined Polish witches, showing how ordinary peasant women got caught in webs of suspicion and accusation, finally confessing under torture to the most heinous crimes. Through a close reading of accusations and confessions, the book also shows how witches imagined themselves and their own religious lives. Paradoxically, the tales they tell of infanticide and host desecration reveal to us a culture of deep Catholic piety, while the stories they tell of diabolical sex and the treasure-bringing ghosts of unbaptized babies uncover a complex folklore at the margins of Christian orthodoxy. Caught between the devil and the host, the self‐imagined Polish witches reflect the religion of their place and time, even as they stand accused of subverting and betraying that religion. Through the dark glass of witchcraft the book attempts to explore the religious lives of early modern women and men: their gender attitudes, their Christian faith and folk cosmology, their prayers and spells, their adoration of Christ incarnate in the transubstantiated Eucharist and their relations with goblin-like house demons and ghosts.Less
Witches are imaginary creatures. But in Poland as in Europe and its colonies in the early modern period, people imagined their neighbours to be witches, with tragic results. This book tells the story of the imagined Polish witches, showing how ordinary peasant women got caught in webs of suspicion and accusation, finally confessing under torture to the most heinous crimes. Through a close reading of accusations and confessions, the book also shows how witches imagined themselves and their own religious lives. Paradoxically, the tales they tell of infanticide and host desecration reveal to us a culture of deep Catholic piety, while the stories they tell of diabolical sex and the treasure-bringing ghosts of unbaptized babies uncover a complex folklore at the margins of Christian orthodoxy. Caught between the devil and the host, the self‐imagined Polish witches reflect the religion of their place and time, even as they stand accused of subverting and betraying that religion. Through the dark glass of witchcraft the book attempts to explore the religious lives of early modern women and men: their gender attitudes, their Christian faith and folk cosmology, their prayers and spells, their adoration of Christ incarnate in the transubstantiated Eucharist and their relations with goblin-like house demons and ghosts.
Loriliai Biernacki
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195327823
- eISBN:
- 9780199785520
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195327823.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
This chapter addresses women's roles and attitudes toward women in the Tantric rite of sexual union. This chapter also addresses the problem of the relation between sex represented in a text and the ...
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This chapter addresses women's roles and attitudes toward women in the Tantric rite of sexual union. This chapter also addresses the problem of the relation between sex represented in a text and the question of whether “anyone ever really did this.” What does it mean to portray a rite involving sex in a textual source? This chapter explores the discourse around women's bodies and how identity is enacted through sex and language—and language about sex. Key in this version of the rite is that it rejects a notion of ascetic mastery over the body and women. This is coded in the rite gesturally, in the ways that bodies act in relation to one another, and iterated conceptually in the philosophical “secret” behind the Tantric rite of sexual union—that, contrary to normative understanding of the feminine as matter, the Tantric “secret” is that the feminine principle is spirit, soul and essence.Less
This chapter addresses women's roles and attitudes toward women in the Tantric rite of sexual union. This chapter also addresses the problem of the relation between sex represented in a text and the question of whether “anyone ever really did this.” What does it mean to portray a rite involving sex in a textual source? This chapter explores the discourse around women's bodies and how identity is enacted through sex and language—and language about sex. Key in this version of the rite is that it rejects a notion of ascetic mastery over the body and women. This is coded in the rite gesturally, in the ways that bodies act in relation to one another, and iterated conceptually in the philosophical “secret” behind the Tantric rite of sexual union—that, contrary to normative understanding of the feminine as matter, the Tantric “secret” is that the feminine principle is spirit, soul and essence.
Loriliai Biernacki
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195327823
- eISBN:
- 9780199785520
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195327823.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
What role, if any, do wives play in Tantric rite of sexual union? This chapter focuses on a neglected counterview within Tantric praxis: the participation of the wife as the male practitioner's ...
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What role, if any, do wives play in Tantric rite of sexual union? This chapter focuses on a neglected counterview within Tantric praxis: the participation of the wife as the male practitioner's partner in the Tantric sex rite. Admittedly, the texts that enjoin only the wife as partner, excluding the “other” woman, are a minority. Nevertheless, that this occurs at all suggests we need to expand our images of Tantric practice. The alternative this presents makes it apparent that dominant representations did not exist uncontested. This chapter suggests that the wife as partner disrupts normative relations between the genders. A consequence is that the wife as partner in the rite undoes the more typical coding of women as male property. It also allows us to see an otherwise obscured element of transgression as religious phenomenon: it may here in part derive from the anxiety of difference that woman presents.Less
What role, if any, do wives play in Tantric rite of sexual union? This chapter focuses on a neglected counterview within Tantric praxis: the participation of the wife as the male practitioner's partner in the Tantric sex rite. Admittedly, the texts that enjoin only the wife as partner, excluding the “other” woman, are a minority. Nevertheless, that this occurs at all suggests we need to expand our images of Tantric practice. The alternative this presents makes it apparent that dominant representations did not exist uncontested. This chapter suggests that the wife as partner disrupts normative relations between the genders. A consequence is that the wife as partner in the rite undoes the more typical coding of women as male property. It also allows us to see an otherwise obscured element of transgression as religious phenomenon: it may here in part derive from the anxiety of difference that woman presents.
Alec Stone Sweet
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780199275533
- eISBN:
- 9780191602009
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019927553X.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, European Union
The evolution is charted, through adjudication, of the rules governing sex equality in European Community (EC) law. The first section, ‘The Normative Structure’, provides an overview of the Treaty of ...
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The evolution is charted, through adjudication, of the rules governing sex equality in European Community (EC) law. The first section, ‘The Normative Structure’, provides an overview of the Treaty of Rome rules and secondary legislation that constitute the domain of sex equality, while the second examines how Art. 141 (which provides that male and female workers shall receive equal pay for equal work) evolved once it had been constitutionalized by the European Court of Justice. Section III, ‘Judicialization: The Court and the Legislator’, focuses on the relationship between the Court, its case law on sex equality, and the production of directives by the EC legislator; the impact is also briefly discussed of the Court's rulemaking on national judicial and legislative processes; topics included are indirect discrimination, occupational pensions, pregnancy and maternity rights. In the fourth section, ‘Adjudicating Sex Equality Law’, an analysis is made of the aggregate data on litigation and adjudication in the field, focusing on how precedent‐based lawmaking has organized the development of this area. The conclusion addresses a range of theoretical issues.Less
The evolution is charted, through adjudication, of the rules governing sex equality in European Community (EC) law. The first section, ‘The Normative Structure’, provides an overview of the Treaty of Rome rules and secondary legislation that constitute the domain of sex equality, while the second examines how Art. 141 (which provides that male and female workers shall receive equal pay for equal work) evolved once it had been constitutionalized by the European Court of Justice. Section III, ‘Judicialization: The Court and the Legislator’, focuses on the relationship between the Court, its case law on sex equality, and the production of directives by the EC legislator; the impact is also briefly discussed of the Court's rulemaking on national judicial and legislative processes; topics included are indirect discrimination, occupational pensions, pregnancy and maternity rights. In the fourth section, ‘Adjudicating Sex Equality Law’, an analysis is made of the aggregate data on litigation and adjudication in the field, focusing on how precedent‐based lawmaking has organized the development of this area. The conclusion addresses a range of theoretical issues.
Cynthia Herrup
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195139259
- eISBN:
- 9780199848966
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195139259.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Early Modern History
Sex, privilege, corruption, and revenge—these are elements that we expect to find splashed across today's tabloid headlines. But in 17th-century England, a sex scandal in which the 2nd Earl of ...
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Sex, privilege, corruption, and revenge—these are elements that we expect to find splashed across today's tabloid headlines. But in 17th-century England, a sex scandal in which the 2nd Earl of Castlehaven was executed for crimes so horrible that “a Christian man ought scarce to name them” threatened the very foundations of aristocratic hierarchy. This book presents a new interpretation both of the case itself and of the sexual and social anxieties it cast into bold relief. Castlehaven was convicted of abetting the rape of his wife and of committing sodomy with his servants. More than that, he stood accused of inverting the natural order of his household by reveling in rather than restraining the intemperate passions of those he was expected to rule and protect. The book argues that because an orderly house was considered both an example and endorsement of aristocratic governance, the riotousness presided over by Castlehaven was the most damning evidence against him. Castlehaven himself argued that he was the victim of an impatient son, an unhappy wife, and courtiers greedy for his lands. Eschewing simple conclusions about guilt or innocence, the book focuses instead on the legal, social, and political dynamics of the case and its subsequent retellings.Less
Sex, privilege, corruption, and revenge—these are elements that we expect to find splashed across today's tabloid headlines. But in 17th-century England, a sex scandal in which the 2nd Earl of Castlehaven was executed for crimes so horrible that “a Christian man ought scarce to name them” threatened the very foundations of aristocratic hierarchy. This book presents a new interpretation both of the case itself and of the sexual and social anxieties it cast into bold relief. Castlehaven was convicted of abetting the rape of his wife and of committing sodomy with his servants. More than that, he stood accused of inverting the natural order of his household by reveling in rather than restraining the intemperate passions of those he was expected to rule and protect. The book argues that because an orderly house was considered both an example and endorsement of aristocratic governance, the riotousness presided over by Castlehaven was the most damning evidence against him. Castlehaven himself argued that he was the victim of an impatient son, an unhappy wife, and courtiers greedy for his lands. Eschewing simple conclusions about guilt or innocence, the book focuses instead on the legal, social, and political dynamics of the case and its subsequent retellings.
Charles Patrick Ewing
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199732678
- eISBN:
- 9780199894550
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199732678.003.0005
- Subject:
- Psychology, Forensic Psychology
This chapter presents some concluding thoughts. Over the past two decades or so, federal, state, and local governments have waged a so-called “war on sex offenders.” Legislators and policymakers have ...
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This chapter presents some concluding thoughts. Over the past two decades or so, federal, state, and local governments have waged a so-called “war on sex offenders.” Legislators and policymakers have developed a variety of new or recycled laws aimed at reducing the threat these offenders pose to the public. While these legal initiatives have enjoyed great popular and political support, there is little evidence that any of them have had a significant effect, if any effect, in reducing sex crimes. It is argued that America needs sex offender laws and policies that are evidence-based and cost-effective, that respect the nation's historic and fundamental commitment to civil liberties, and that do not threaten to make a mockery of psychology, psychiatry, and other mental health professions.Less
This chapter presents some concluding thoughts. Over the past two decades or so, federal, state, and local governments have waged a so-called “war on sex offenders.” Legislators and policymakers have developed a variety of new or recycled laws aimed at reducing the threat these offenders pose to the public. While these legal initiatives have enjoyed great popular and political support, there is little evidence that any of them have had a significant effect, if any effect, in reducing sex crimes. It is argued that America needs sex offender laws and policies that are evidence-based and cost-effective, that respect the nation's historic and fundamental commitment to civil liberties, and that do not threaten to make a mockery of psychology, psychiatry, and other mental health professions.
Charles Patrick Ewing
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199732678
- eISBN:
- 9780199894550
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199732678.001.0001
- Subject:
- Psychology, Forensic Psychology
Over the past quarter century Congress, state legislatures, and the courts have radically reshaped America's laws dealing with sex offenders in an effort to reduce the prevalence of sex offenses. ...
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Over the past quarter century Congress, state legislatures, and the courts have radically reshaped America's laws dealing with sex offenders in an effort to reduce the prevalence of sex offenses. Most convicted sex offenders must now register with the authorities, who then make information about them available to the public. Possession of child pornography has been made an extremely serious crime often punishable by prison sentences that dwarf those meted out to child molesters, rapists, robbers, and even killers. Federal law now imposes a minimum sentence of ten years in prison for those convicted of using the internet to attempt to lure minors for sex. And the federal government and twenty states have “sexually violent predator” laws that allow the indefinite civil commitment of convicted sex offenders to secure institutions for treatment after they have served their full criminal sentences. All of these changes in sex offender law, as well as numerous others, have been based at least in part on input from psychology, psychiatry, and the social sciences. Moreover, enforcement and administration of many of these laws relies to a large extent on the efforts of mental health professionals. However, many questions about this involvement remain largely unanswered. Are these laws supported by empirical evidence, or even by well-reasoned psychological theories? Do these laws actually work? Are mental health professionals capable of reliably determining an offender's future behavior, and how best to manage it? Finally, are experts capable of providing effective treatment for sex offenders—i.e., treatment that actually reduces the likelihood that an identified sex offender will re-offend? This book poses these difficult questions and others that few in either law or psychology have asked, much less tried to answer. Drawing on research from across the social and behavioral sciences, it weighs the evidence for the spectrum of sex offense laws, to occasionally surprising results.Less
Over the past quarter century Congress, state legislatures, and the courts have radically reshaped America's laws dealing with sex offenders in an effort to reduce the prevalence of sex offenses. Most convicted sex offenders must now register with the authorities, who then make information about them available to the public. Possession of child pornography has been made an extremely serious crime often punishable by prison sentences that dwarf those meted out to child molesters, rapists, robbers, and even killers. Federal law now imposes a minimum sentence of ten years in prison for those convicted of using the internet to attempt to lure minors for sex. And the federal government and twenty states have “sexually violent predator” laws that allow the indefinite civil commitment of convicted sex offenders to secure institutions for treatment after they have served their full criminal sentences. All of these changes in sex offender law, as well as numerous others, have been based at least in part on input from psychology, psychiatry, and the social sciences. Moreover, enforcement and administration of many of these laws relies to a large extent on the efforts of mental health professionals. However, many questions about this involvement remain largely unanswered. Are these laws supported by empirical evidence, or even by well-reasoned psychological theories? Do these laws actually work? Are mental health professionals capable of reliably determining an offender's future behavior, and how best to manage it? Finally, are experts capable of providing effective treatment for sex offenders—i.e., treatment that actually reduces the likelihood that an identified sex offender will re-offend? This book poses these difficult questions and others that few in either law or psychology have asked, much less tried to answer. Drawing on research from across the social and behavioral sciences, it weighs the evidence for the spectrum of sex offense laws, to occasionally surprising results.
Mark D. Regnerus
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195320947
- eISBN:
- 9780199785452
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195320947.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter evaluates alternate expressions of sexual activity, such as pornography and oral and anal sex. It explores in some detail the preference for replacing vaginal sexual intercourse with ...
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This chapter evaluates alternate expressions of sexual activity, such as pornography and oral and anal sex. It explores in some detail the preference for replacing vaginal sexual intercourse with forms of sexual expression less threatening to future prospects for material success. It concludes that there is evidence of an emerging middle-class sexual morality among some American teenagers.Less
This chapter evaluates alternate expressions of sexual activity, such as pornography and oral and anal sex. It explores in some detail the preference for replacing vaginal sexual intercourse with forms of sexual expression less threatening to future prospects for material success. It concludes that there is evidence of an emerging middle-class sexual morality among some American teenagers.
SWAPAN CHAKRAVORTY
- Published in print:
- 1996
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198182665
- eISBN:
- 9780191673856
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198182665.003.0010
- Subject:
- Literature, Drama, 16th-century and Renaissance Literature
A recent survey of drama and society in the English Renaissance ends with applauding Thomas Middleton as ‘a master’ who ‘will take no contemporary ...
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A recent survey of drama and society in the English Renaissance ends with applauding Thomas Middleton as ‘a master’ who ‘will take no contemporary value for granted, no reality as unchanging’. His promiscuous texts are proven material for postmodern theatre and pedagogy, constantly assaulting the tidy notions of high and low, genre and counter-genre. It is not surprising that academic criticism should have managed to find in Middleton the extremes of both committed didacticism and detached irony. One reason it still finds him so difficult to place is the suggestion in his plays that desires, morals, society, and politics are subject to rules that can operate only by misrepresenting themselves to our consciousness. The suggestion makes Middleton an important waymark in our emergence out of cognitive innocence.Less
A recent survey of drama and society in the English Renaissance ends with applauding Thomas Middleton as ‘a master’ who ‘will take no contemporary value for granted, no reality as unchanging’. His promiscuous texts are proven material for postmodern theatre and pedagogy, constantly assaulting the tidy notions of high and low, genre and counter-genre. It is not surprising that academic criticism should have managed to find in Middleton the extremes of both committed didacticism and detached irony. One reason it still finds him so difficult to place is the suggestion in his plays that desires, morals, society, and politics are subject to rules that can operate only by misrepresenting themselves to our consciousness. The suggestion makes Middleton an important waymark in our emergence out of cognitive innocence.
