552 - Thematic Session. Social Class and Sexuality

Session Submission Type: Invited Session

Abstract

Sexuality is deeply implicated in social stratification. Social class location shapes sexual partnering in a variety of ways. Those with few resources may not be able to decline less attractive partners, while those with lots of resources may be selective about partners and typically have access to desirable partners. Sexual partnering—as it is often linked to marriage—is thus critical to the transmission of class advantage from one generation to the next. Shamus Khan, Margaret Frye, and Barbara Risman will compare and contrasting different class locations (from the working class to the upper class) and different national contexts (the United States and Malawi). We hope that these juxtapositions will help us arrive at deeper understandings of the way that social class shapes sexuality and the ways in which sexual partnering shapes social reproduction.

Sub Unit

• Thematic Sessions

Session Organizer

• Elizabeth A. Armstrong, University of Michigan

Presider

• Julie Bettie, University of California-Santa Cruz

Panelists

• Shamus Rahman Khan, Columbia University

• Margaret Frye, Princeton University

• Barbara J. Risman, University of Illinois-Chicago

Discussant

• Julie Bettie, University of California-Santa Cruz