Subject: Re: The Sociology of Criminal Sexuality.
From: Raymond Michalowski (Raymond.Michalowski@NAU.EDU)
Date: Mon Jan 10 2000 - 12:28:43 CST
I see that while I was writing several other people responded. There seems
to be some concensus here.
At 07:06 AM 1/9/00 -0600, you wrote:
>Several of our good colleagues on the Crit-l crim list have made comment on
>sex offense and its location within critical criminology. There are
>several points to be made which may be helpful to the task of critical
>criminology.
>
>1. For most of human history, human sexuality has been confined within
>social relationships...any variance from acceptable social use of sexuality
>has been defined as evil, corrupt, sinful and in the last 400 years,
>violations of state law. State law on sexuality usually follows
>prohibitions of major religions but not always.
>
>2. A great many sexual patterns prohibited in one society are accepted in
>another; sexual congress with young persons, homosexual relations,
>institutionalized prostitution as well as cross-dressing has been widely
>accepted across societies and history.
>
>3. The sexuality of young persons varies greatly with the mode of
>production; in primitive communal societies where families lived at the
>edge of hunger and disease, the sexuality of young men and women began at
>an early age as political ties and economic need dictated.
>
>4. The sexuality of women become much more tightly restrained in agrarian
>societies--some 4000 years ago or more--as a solution to the problem of
>land transfer within family...birth children to outside males challenged
>title to land...virginity and fidelity for women began to be tightly
>restricted.
>
>5. Pedophilia became proscribed by law as a new age category emerged out of
>industrial capitalism...the short version is that reading, writing and math
>became ever more central to the production of goods and services;
>adolescence, as a age category, emerged. Persons over 14, then 16, then 18
>and now 21 are confined to childhood until they finish preparation for the
>labor market...and their sexuality was and is discouraged.
>
>6. In mass, de-gendered societies, sexuality of children become of interest
>to males with status problems...unable to embody the masculinity/machismo
>of early societies...especially in relationships with competant adult
>women, males find children satisfying sexual partners...in terms of status,
>power and control issues...in ways not possible with independent adult women.
>
>7. As children become net energy sinks (they use more goods than they
>produce), children become economic liabilities. Social norms demanding
>high birth rates and fecund females become archaic...female sexuality,
>especially, becomes less confined to the production of children...and moral
>codes about female sexuality change dramatically...in short, women are able
>to act on their own sexuality in ways not permitted in agrarian societies.
>
>In the USA, in 1999, the average female kissed 79 males before marriage; in
>fundamental Christian, Muslim or Jewish society as well as in many Asian
>relgions, she would not have kissed any. The same is true of both
>pre-marital sex and extra-marital sex...not on in agrarian society with so
>much concern with land use and land transfer across generations.
>
>8. And, in a mass society with de-gendered production and distribution, the
>family and/or heterosexual relationships become irrelevant to mode of
>production; male and female homosexuality do not threaten the interests of
>class elites or power elites. The de-gendering of production follows both
>high tech production and high distribution...machines don't care who run
>them; markets don't care who buys.
>
>9. Children remain an age category needing special protection from adult
>predators...parents, teachers, guardians and clergy occupy a trust
>position; they require authority and social power over children in order to
>help them become competent adults; use of authority and social power to
>extract/extort sexual favors from children despoils the socialization
>process...and is reprehensible to all except those who would solve their
>own status panic at the expense of children they are supposed to protect.
>Critical criminologists continue to be concerned with protection of
>children from sexual predation.
>
>10. Most societies have made ad hoc distinction between erotic and
>pornographic materials which follow the uses of social and moral power;
>erotic materials help celebrate sexuality within adult relationships;
>pornographic materials are known by their emphasis on parts, power, and
>perversion; that is to say, pornography reduce persons to body parts;
>reduce human beings to objects of another's will; subvert cherished social
>relationships to mere sexuality.
>The restriction on pornography continues to be a concern for critical
>criminology even if other sexual practices are not.
>
> TR Young
>TR Young, 8085 Essex
>Weidman, Mi., 48893
>Email: tr@tryoung.com
>
>Visit the Red Feather website:
>http://www.tryoung.com
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