Sexual Stories as Ghost Stories: Applying a Hauntological Framework to the Study of Sex

• In Event: 1466 - Section on the Sociology of Sexualities Roundtables (1 hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: 4. Practicing Sex

Abstract

Sociologists have long theorized that interactions continue to impact social life after their formal end, what Goffman referred to as the interaction’s “referential afterlife.” I draw upon this line of theorizing, often referred to as hauntology, to discuss novel ways in which sociologists can study sex. In my proposed presentation, I demonstrate the utility of a hauntological framework for the study of sex. In particular, I discuss the ways in which the absence of historical context may impact sociologists’ ability to conceptualize and operationalize sex in research. Using a hauntological framework, the research positions history as an active social influence (i.e., a haunting) rather than a passive social influence (i.e., the social context). In addition to outlining this theoretical shift, I provide an account of one example of such work – my own research into the ways in which the HIV/AIDS epidemic continues to haunt the sex lives of gay men in the United States. I find that the trauma of the HIV/AIDS epidemic has led to a fracturing in the meaning of sex for gay men, creating a birth cohort effect. Gay men of different ages experience their sex lives differently in part due to the continued impact (i.e., haunting) of the memory of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Their experiences during different periods of time (before the epidemic, at the height of the epidemic’s mortality rate, after the availability of highly effective medication) continues to impact how they approach their sex lives, defining, in part, what sex is and what it means to them. I discuss findings as they relate to interpersonal meaning-making during sexual encounters specifically and also theorizing about sex more broadly.

Author

• Michael Patrick Vaughn, Emory University