Unjust Sexual Boundaries? Prostitution, Polygamy, and the Legal Construction of Agency

• In Event: 133 - Section on Sociology of Sexualities Paper Session. Sex(uality) and (Social) Justice (co-sponsored with the Section on Sociology of Law)

Abstract

Sociological scholarship on sexualities has mapped out the forms of social control that institutions exert on sexual behavior. The law, for example, applies sanctioning systems to prevent the violation of norms, which compel conformity to normative standards of the difference between “good” and “bad” sexualities. This body of scholarship uncovers the ways that sexual concerns can prompt moral panics and remain at the heart of much political controversy across the globe. How do debates over sexualities pave the way for social control? In this paper, we compare two provincial Canadian Supreme Court cases on prostitution and polygamy to uncover how the legal construction of agency enables regulation of sexual behavior.

Authors

• Melanie Heath, McMaster University

• Jessica Braimoh, McMaster University

• Julie Gouweloos, McMaster University