Sex & Sexuality

2009

The Virginity Movement, Rebranded

Jessica Valenti : Feminism & Women

It might sound milder, and appear hipper, but it traffics in the same old sexism.
Through a Lens Starkly

JoAnn Wypijewski : Youth, Education, & Children

A rash of teen "sexting" has turned educators and law enforcement officials into instant oglers, hunting for crimes where none are intended.
The Kiss

JoAnn Wypijewski : Barack Obama Administration

Let us pause, amid the muddle of the moment in this season of renewal and fresh starts, to consider fundamental things.

Stolen Kisses: Iran's Sexual Revolutions

Laura Secor : Iran

Is sexual promiscuity in Iran a sign of political ferment or of an unmoored generation's dissipated energies?
Scenes From the Crackup

JoAnn Wypijewski : U.S. Economy

Behind the scrim of boom times there was always debt and sex--and the intimate economy of panic and desire.
Beauty and the Beast

JoAnn Wypijewski : Presidential Election 2008

The old warrior deploys sex as a central political weapon to recharge his potency and his party's fortunes. Is there a trap here?
The Shadow of His Smile

JoAnn Wypijewski

A desperately needy America warms to the hot married love of Barack and Michelle.
Notes on a Scandal

JoAnn Wypijewski : Media Analysis

The Spitzer affair's obvious rationality continues to elude the therapists, sexperts and pundits for whom shame is the game.
John Q. Public

Katha Pollitt : Feminism & Women

Just once it would be nice to see a male politician caught in a sex scandal stand up there at a press conference all by himself.
The Spitzer Sting

Alexander Cockburn : Conservatives & The American Right

Was there a medium-sized right-wing conspiracy to nail Eliot Spitzer?
Against Sexual Scandal

Lauren Berlant

In just two days, Eliot Spitzer went from white knight to shamed ex-governor. But the real loser in all of this is sex itself.

Homos, Hypocrites and Haters

Timothy Patrick McCarthy : US Politics & Government

The shaming and resignation of Senator Larry Craig proves that if you're going to be a hypocrite in American politics, it pays to be a straight hypocrite.
Opportunities in Abstinence Training

Barbara Ehrenreich

Chastity advocates: Lay off the adolescents and concentrate on the vast numbers of middle-aged and elderly who aren't getting any. Make them feel good about their lifestyle choice!
The Virginity Mystique

Nona Willis-Aronowitz : Feminism & Women

Wendy Shalit's new book pits "good girls" against "girls gone wild." But where's the middle ground?

Don't Spare the Rod

Nicholas von Hoffman

What happens when liberals lose their sex drive? American culture moves further away from secular individualism and closer to religious fundamentalism.

Good Vibrations

Cristina Nehring : Gender & Sexuality

Orgasms used to be a secret, then they became a right. Now they're a duty.
Epistemology of the Closet

Martha Nussbaum : Philosophy

A biography of Utilitarian philosopher Henry Sidgwick sheds new light on life in the Victorian era.