Answer each question using critical thinking and analyzing from a sociologist view point. Title each answer with the corresponding questions.
Fully acknowledging the extremely problematic language and attitudes at play in the Craigslist posts analyzed in Ward’s article about straight dudes who have sex with dudes, and understanding why Ward disavows this type of same-sex behavior from queerness, is there a way to understand what is happening here in a larger context and then to imagine it in a different context? How might we be able to understand the desires of these men in a context that was not characterized by misogyny, homophobia, racism, and toxic masculinity? If heteronormativity and compulsory heterosexuality could be removed from the social context of these posts and the desires these men feel, how do you think some of these men might identify? Would there be anything wrong for a self-identified straight man to post an add honestly looking for a particular form of male bonding that involved certain kinds of same-sex activity if such posts and desires were not so compromised by toxic masculinity?
If “race” is a social construct, should we not identify ourselves with specific ethnic and cultural groups? Are ethnicity and culture important for how we understand our sexuality and gender identities??
The very first clip I link you to in the Power Point is an animated educational video from the 2007 documentary For the Bible Tells Me So. It is a worthwhile and informative little video that addresses scientific research into the makeup of sexual orientation and the problematic role the Christian ex-gay movement plays in trying to change people’s sexual orientation. However, I would say, that while this video is not inaccurate, it is itself a bit problematic in terms of how it presents some of this information. Why do you think I say that? Given what we’ve learned in this course so far, what do you think might be a bit problematic in terms of how this video presents some of its information?
Given the argument made by Dines and Jenkins about mainstream heterosexual pornography, is all pornography by its nature exploitative or harmful? Can pornography operate differently?
Based on what you’ve learned from this week’s recorded lecture as well as our oral presentations, what do you think is the best route forward to address the problems currently associated with sex work? Should sex work be criminalized as it once was? Is the Nordic model a good substitute? What about red light districts? Or should we decriminalize or even fully legalize?
