Rethinking Sexual Citizenship

Description

Offers a more democratic way to think about families, politics, and public life. Public policy often assumes there is one correct way to be a family. Rethinking Sexual Citizenship argues that policies that enforce this idea hurt all of us and harm our democracy. Jyl J. Josephson uses the concept of “sexual citizenship” (a criticism of the assumption that all families have a heterosexual at their center) to show how government policies are made to punish or reward particular groups of people. This analysis applies sexual citizenship not only to policies that impact LGBTQ families, but also to other groups, including young people affected by abstinence-only public policies and single-parent families affected by welfare policy. The book also addresses the idea that the “normal” family in the United States is white. It concludes with a discussion of how scholars and activists can help create a more inclusive democracy by challenging this narrow view of public life. Contents List of Tables Acknowledgments Chapter One: Sexual Citizenship The State and Public Policy Citizenship, Feminism, and Intimate Life: What is the Connection? Feminist Political Thought: The Personal is Political Political Power is the Basis of Inequalities in Intimate and Public Life Intimate Life and Economics are Intertwined Sexual Regulation and the Convergence of Social and Fiscal Conservative Interests Sexual Citizenship Sexual Regulation and Public Policy Socially Constructed Subjects Target Populations and Hegemonic Identities Analyzing Public Policy and “Target Populations” Conclusion Chapter Two: Welfare Policy and the Politics of Sexual Deviance Conservative Analysis of Poverty Neoliberalism Individual Behavior as the Cause of Poverty The Creation of Deviancy Moral Entrepreneurs From Moral Entrepreneurs to Political Entrepreneurs George W. Bush as a Political Entrepreneur: The Healthy Marriage Initiative and Responsible Fatherhood Programs Provisions of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 The Responsible Fatherhood Program: Implementation and Results Healthy Marriage Promotion and the Regulation of Families Deviancy and Sexuality in Current Policy TANF, Heteronormativity, and Sexual Shaming Sexual Citizenship, the Policy Audience, and Democracy Conclusion: Visibility and Invisibility Chapter Three: The Politics of Sexual Shaming The Creation of Deviancy: Teenage Sexuality as a Threat The Development of Abstinence-Only Sex Education Background: Defining “Abstinence-Only” Moral Entrepreneurs and the Origins of Abstinence-Only Political Entrepreneurs Linking Abstinence-Only Sex Education and PRWORA Research and Evaluation of Abstinence-Only Political and Legal Contestation over Abstinence-Only Conclusion Chapter Four: Defense of Marriage Acts and the Politics of Sexual Regulation Background on DOMA Scholarship Adoption of the Federal Defense of Marriage Act Moral Entrepreneurs and Elected Officials Challenging DOMAs DOMA Litigation Before Windsor: The Massachusetts Cases The Windsor Case The Proposition 8 Case Success in Challenging DOMA and Proposition 8 Rejecting DOMA: The Politics of the Obama Administration Turning the Lens Around: Defending DOMA Reinscribing Sexual Citizenship Chapter Five: Sexual Citizenship after the Hegemonic White Heteronormative Family Hegemonic Identity Politics and the “Universal Citizen” Neoliberalism and Social Reproduction Neoliberalism: Risk Management and “Responsibilization” Neoliberalism and Political and Economic Institutions Social Movements, Sexual Citizenship, and Political Change Notes Bibliography Index