Eros and Agency

Session Submission Type: Paper Session (90 minute)

Description

Central concerns in the sociology of sexuality are conditions under which individuals are able to exercise agency and desire. This includes how individuals perceive and interact with their own bodies; reflexivity in how mutual perceptions shape behavior; and how individuals make decisions about their sexual and reproductive experiences. These papers bring into conversation theories of reproductive justice, interactional embodiment, sexual socialization, moral agency, and the role of joy in social life. The researchers on this panel challenge dominant narratives about sex work and gendered sexual scripts, unpack how sexual and reproductive decisions are shaped by family and community contexts, explore the liberatory potential of the erotic, and examine queer joy as collective resistance in the face of oppressive systems. In doing so, they highlight how individuals and communities challenge pervasive cultural assumptions about desire, sexuality, and agency.

Sub Unit

• Sociology of Sexualities Section / Reproductive Justice in the Sociology of Sexualities

Presider

• Zoë Chaetana Miller-Vedam

Individual Presentations

• Cultivating Queer Joy: Barriers, Bridges, and Belonging - Jennifer Pearson, Wichita State University

• Ethical Sex Work: Moral agency in OnlyFans Adult Content Work - Changhye Ahn, Rutgers University-New Brunswick

• From “scary metal tools” to “generations of clueless people”: Exploring reproductive health among Asian American youth - Paige Logan Prater, University of California-San Francisco

• Touching and Feeling the Erotic: Audre Lorde, Pelvic Physical Therapy, and Interactional Embodiment - Bex MacFife, University of Oregon

• Never Enough: Highly Sexual Women and the Myth That Men Want It More - Alicia M. Walker, Missouri State University

Session Organizers

• Zoë Chaetana Miller-Vedam

• Desmond Francis Goss, George Washington University

• Greggor Mattson, Oberlin College & Conservatory