Insert Sexy Title Here: Moving Toward a Sex-Positive Criminology

• Author: Vanessa R. Panfil,Aimee Wodda
• Published date: 01 December 2018
• Date: 01 December 2018
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/1557085117693088
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/1557085117693088

Feminist Criminology

2018, Vol. 13(5) 583 –608

© The Author(s) 2017

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DOI: 10.1177/1557085117693088

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Article

Insert Sexy Title Here:

Moving Toward a

Sex-Positive Criminology

Aimee Wodda1 and Vanessa R. Panfil2

Abstract

Literature on sexuality in criminological contexts exists, yet much of it is sex-negative,

employs a “deviance frame,” and regards many sex acts as dangerous or destructive.

Although research that could be considered sex-positive has been undertaken, an

explicitly sex-positive theoretical and practical framework for feminist criminology

has not yet been advanced. In this article, we propose “thick desire” as a way to

envision an intersectional sex-positive feminist criminology that aligns with the

principles of a positive sexuality approach to research and praxis. We explore the

issue of criminalization of teen sexting to begin to integrate these principles.

Keywords

sex-positive, sex-negative, feminist criminology, queer criminology, thick desire,

public health, positive sexuality

Introduction

Although sexuality recently has entered the realm of criminological theorizing, it has

most often been regarded as a destructive element or attribute. Likewise, the crimino-

legal system has historically treated sexuality as an exclusively negative force. The

term sex-negative describes a perspective that treats any form of sexuality aside from

heterosexual marital sex as deviant or abnormal. This treatment is evident in the sexu-

ally repressive history of the crimino-legal system, most transparently in the

regulation of girls’ and young women’s sexuality during the Progressive Era and

1University of Illinois at Chicago, IL, USA

2Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA, USA

Corresponding Author:

Aimee Wodda, Department of Criminology, Law, and Justice (MC 141), University of Illinois at Chicago,

Behavioral Sciences Building, 1007 West Harrison Street, Chicago, IL 60607, USA.

Email: awodda2@uic.edu

693088FCXXXX10.1177/1557085117693088Feminist CriminologyWodda and Panl

research-article2017

584 Feminist Criminology 13(5)

beyond, in the stigmatization and criminalization of same-sex relations and gender

nonconforming behaviors (e.g., sodomy laws, laws prohibiting cross-dressing), and in

the criminalization of sex work. In this article, we offer a critique of the current sex-

negative system and explore ways that feminist criminologists could productively

incorporate elements of sex-positivity into their research and praxis. Although sex-

positive perspectives vary, a basic definition includes positive notions of desire, affir-

mative (or “yes means yes”) consent, and concern for the well-being of self and others

(Friedman & Valenti, 2008). Specifically, we advocate for the inclusion of “thick

desire,” an organizing principle that regards sexual activity as a right, where sexuality

is positioned “within a larger context of social and interpersonal structures that enable

a person to engage in the political act of wanting” (Fine & McClelland, 2006, p. 325).

We also embrace the formation of a positive sexuality framework to support strengths-

based approaches that recognize the uniqueness of individual sexuality (Williams,

Thomas, Prior, & Walters, 2015). These concepts will be more fully described through-

out the article.

When criminological theorizing emerged in the mid-1800s and expanded into the

20th century, it remained male-focused for more than 100 years until a feminist view-

point emerged; feminist criminology brought a needed focus on gender to mainstream

criminological theory. Still, sexuality remained ancillary. In recent years, queer crimi-

nology has begun to address issues related to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and

queer (LGBTQ) individuals and populations and, along with this focus, provides the

opportunity to critique purely negative treatment of sexuality in the crimino-legal sys-

tem in the United States and in the global context (Ball, 2014; Dwyer, 2014; Holsinger

& Hodge, 2016; Laing, Pilcher, & Smith, 2015; Peterson & Panfil, 2014). Because we

consider ourselves both queer and feminist criminologists, in this article we use a

queer/ed sex-positive feminist criminological lens to critique sex-negativity in (main-

stream) criminology and the crimino-legal system.

A number of scholars have addressed early criminologists’ and practitioners’ fasci-

nation with sexuality as reform institutions attempted to regulate the most minute

details of girls’ and young women’s bodies and sexualities (Dohrn, 2004; Knupfer,

2001; Nathanson, 1991; Odem, 1995; Pasko, 2010). Others have explored early crimi-

nologists’ obsession with the categorization and classification of bodies and sexuali-

ties (Sekula, 1986; Tomsen, 1997; Woods, 2015). Feminist and queer criminologists

have begun to address the importance of considering sexuality in criminal justice set-

tings, mainly by exploring the repression and regulation of sexuality in prisons and

juvenile detention facilities (Bosworth & Carrabine, 2001; Gibson & Hensley, 2013;

Hensley & Tewksbury, 2002; Holsinger, 2000; Jenness, 2015; Kunzel, 2008; Richie,

2005; Schaffner, 2014). To frame sex-positive feminist criminology as sensitive to the

concept of “thick desire” and intimately connected with the politics of wanting (Fine

& McClelland, 2006), we use a queer/ed sex-positive feminist lens to explore the

criminalization of teen sexting as a proxy for moral panic about teen sexuality by

examining recent media coverage of criminalized teen sexting. We have selected this

particular social phenomenon because the criminalization of teen sexting allows us to

uncover important concerns for sex-positive feminist criminologists: harm reduction,