583 - Thematic Session. Sexuality in an Insecure Society

Session Submission Type: Invited Session

Abstract

For many people, sex ideally occurs in the context of a secure, committed relationship. Some view marriage as the only appropriate site for sexual expression. Yet in the United States and other countries, marriage is thought to be undergoing a process of “de-institutionalization.” People are marrying later, divorcing frequently, and spending less of their adult lives in marriage. This panel will generate a conversation among scholars who have thought about how economic and marital instability influences how people experience sexuality. Speakers will include Eva Illouz, author of Why Love Hurts, Allison Pugh, author of The Tumbleweed Society, and Andrew Cherlin, author of the highly influential article “The Deinstitutionalization of American Marriage” and of the recently published Labor’s Love Lost: The Rise and Fall of the Working Class Family in America. The panelists will be prompted with a set of provocative questions.

Sub Unit

• Thematic Sessions

Session Organizer

• Elizabeth A. Armstrong, University of Michigan

Presider

• Elizabeth A. Armstrong, University of Michigan

Panelists

• Allison Pugh, University of Virginia

• Andrew J. Cherlin, Johns Hopkins University

• Eva Illouz, Hebrew University

Discussant

• Elizabeth A. Armstrong, University of Michigan