Several studies have investigated the sex recession, including a 2021 study in the Journal of Sex and a 2019 study published by  The Atlantic  that found young adults in the United States are having less sex than previous generations. This trend has been observed in various countries, including Australia, Japan, France, and the United Kingdom. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ] [ 5 ] [ 6 ] [ 7 ] [ 8 ] [ 9 ] [ 10 ] [ 11 ]


Some factors have been suggested as contributing to the possible sex recession, such as porn, [ 12 ]  cultural changes, work and financial stress, technology, [ 13 ] [ 14 ]  and the  COVID-19 pandemic . [ 15 ] [ 16 ]


A  sex scandal  is a public  scandal  involving allegations or information about possibly immoral  sexual activities , often associated with the  sexual affairs  of  film stars ,  politicians , [ 1 ]  famous  athletes , or others in the public eye. Sex scandals receive attention if a prominent figure is involved, if there is a perception of hypocrisy, if a public figure's sexuality is non- normative , or if it involves  non-consensual  acts. [ 2 ]  A scandal may be based on reality, the product of false allegations, or a mixture of both. Whether the scandal is based in fact or not, it may lead to the celebrity disappearing from the public eye or to the resignation of prominent political figures. [ 3 ]


Sex scandals involving politicians often become  political scandals , particularly when there is an attempt at a  cover-up  or suspicions of illegality. Attempts at coverups include payoffs, threats, or, in extreme cases, murder. [ citation needed ]


While some commentators see sex scandals as irrelevant to politics, particularly where "professional performance [does] not seem to be impaired", [ 4 ]   Gene Healy  of the  Cato Institute  views them as not just "great fun", but a reminder that "we should think twice before we cede more power to these fools". [ 5 ]  An increase in the prevalence of morally questionable expressions of  sexuality  is sometimes referred to as a  sexidemic . [ 6 ]


Sex scandals, in relation to political and public figures, often lead to questions of one's own ethics and moral code. A politician who is caught in a sex scandal is more likely to resign than a public figure in the face of a sex scandal. [ 1 ]


Scandals have been a part of history in major declarations, false truces, when political or celebrity figures need to pay someone off to protect their legacy and more. [ 7 ]  Scandals can involve bribery, immoral action, shame, slander, misdoing, etc. [ 8 ]  The  Hamilton–Reynolds affair , which involved Secretary of the Treasury  Alexander Hamilton , who had a one-year affair with  Maria Reynolds  during  George Washington 's presidency, is considered one of the first sex scandals in American political history. [ 9 ]  Political sex scandals in the U.S. have included the first sex scandal of  Alexander Hamilton  to five major national political figures,  Newt Gingrich ,  John Edwards ,  Arnold Schwarzenegger ,  Bill Clinton  and  Donald Trump . [ 10 ]  Men and women have to face scrutiny of their career or life in the field of politics by the media looking for scandals.


Sex scandals involve sexual affairs which usually, but not always, involve  infidelity . Infidelity has many definitions, either based on experience or research done on people who have been involved in the act of disloyalty and trust. To some, infidelity "is a complex phenomenon with multiple reasons driving people to cheat on their partners". [ 11 ]  A 2018  New York Times  article cited an  American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy  national survey, stating "that 15 percent of married women and 25 percent of married men have had extramarital affairs". [ 12 ]


Sex scandals tend to include a bias when it comes to men and women who are caught and then need evidence to explain their situation. A 2015 study concluded that gender stereotypes were "refer(ed) to the meanings that individuals and societies ascribe to males and females". [ 13 ]  According to Juliet Williams at the  University of California, Los Angeles  the 1998  Clinton–Lewinsky scandal  in the United States made the  US Congress , media, and citizens look at male candidates and politicians in a different light by "normalizing public discussion of sex acts." [ 14 ]   John Edwards ,  David Petraeus ,  Anthony Weiner ,  Arnold Schwarzenegger , are other examples of men involved in sex scandals that have caused the public not to give men the benefit of the doubt. This has caused the debate between politics and sex scandals to be seen in a different light. It has allowed gender-shifting and the role of gender to become more unbiased in the selection of candidates during their evaluation and allows more power for women fighting against stereotypes due to scandals, and men being seen as more skeptical. [ 13 ]


A year after the 2017  Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse cases  was first reported, leading to the viral spread of the  #MeToo  movement,  New York Times  published a list of 201 names of prominent men in the United States who had lost their jobs following public allegations of sexual harassment. [ 15 ]


Social attitudes have traditionally been less forgiving when minors are involved. In France, for example, the scandal surrounding Swiss art dealer  Yves Bouvier  and former call girl  Zahia Dehar  – for whom Bouvier allegedly acted as a pimp in the late 2000s, paying her to appear at dinners for entertainment when she was 17 years old – has caused outrage and opened a debate about powerful men in society abusing their power. [ 16 ] [ 17 ]  The fall from grace and imprisonment of  Anthony Weiner , following his  sexting  of explicit pictures to a 15-year-old girl, is another notable example of the pre-#MeToo era. [ 18 ]


A  sex strike  ( sex boycott ), or more formally known as Lysistratic nonaction, [ 1 ]  is a method of  nonviolent resistance  in which one or more persons refrain from or refuse  sex  with partners until policy or social demands are met. It is a form of temporary  sexual abstinence . Sex strikes have been used to protest many issues, from  war  to  gang violence  to  policies .


The effectiveness of sex strikes is contested. [ 2 ]


The most famous example of a sex strike in the arts is the  Greek  playwright  Aristophanes ' work  Lysistrata , an  anti-war  comedy. [ 3 ]  The female characters in the play, led by the eponymous Lysistrata, withhold sex from their husbands as part of their strategy to end the  Peloponnesian War .


Among the  Igbo people  of Nigeria, in pre-colonial times, the community of women periodically formed themselves into a Council, a kind of women's trade union. This was headed by the Agba Ekwe, 'the favoured one of the goddess Idemili and her earthly manifestation'. She carried her staff of authority and had the final word in public gatherings and assemblies. Central among her tasks was to ensure men's good behaviour, punishing male attempts at harassment or abuse. What men most feared was the council's power of strike action. According to Ifi Amadiume, an Igbo anthropologist: "The strongest weapon the Council had and used against the men was the right to order mass strikes and demonstrations by all women. When ordered to strike, women refused to perform their expected duties and roles, including all domestic, sexual and maternal services. They would leave the town  en masse , carrying only suckling babies. If angry enough, they were known to attack any men they met." [ 4 ]


Citing similar examples of women's strike action in  hunter-gatherer  and other precolonial traditions around the world, some  anthropologists  argue that it was thanks to solidarity of this kind—especially collective resistance to the possibility of  rape —that language, culture, and religion became established in our species in the first instance. This controversial hypothesis is known as the " Female Cosmetic Coalitions ", "Lysistrata", [ 5 ]  or "sex strike" [ 6 ] [ 7 ] [ 8 ] [ 9 ]  theory of human origins.


In April 2009 a group of  Kenyan  women organised a week-long sex strike aimed at  politicians , encouraging the wives of  the president  and  prime minister  to join in too, and offering to pay  prostitutes  for lost earnings if they joined in. [ 10 ]


In 2003  Leymah Gbowee  and the  Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace  organized  nonviolence  protests that included suggesting a sex strike, though this was not actually carried out. [ 11 ]  Their actions led to peace in  Liberia  after a 14‑year  civil war  and the election of  Ellen Johnson Sirleaf , country's first female head of state. [ 12 ]  Leymah Gbowee was awarded the 2011  Nobel Peace Prize  "for her  non-violent  struggle for the safety of women and for  women's rights  to full participation in peace-building work." [ 13 ] [ 14 ]


In October 2014,  Pricilla Nanyang , a politician in South Sudan, coordinated a meeting of women peace activists in  Juba   "to advance the cause of peace, healing and reconciliation." Attendees issued a statement which called on women of South Sudan "to deny their husbands conjugal rights until they ensure that peace returns." [ 15 ]


In 2012, inspired by the 2003 Liberian sex strike, the  Togolese  opposition coalition " Let's Save Togo " asked women to abstain from sex for a week as a  protest  against President  Faure Gnassingbé , whose family has been in power for more than 45 years. The strike aimed to "motivate men who are not involved in the political movement to pursue its goals". [ 16 ]  Opposition leader  Isabelle Ameganvi  views it as a possible "weapon of the battle" to achieve political change. [ 17 ]


In October 1997, the chief of the  Military of Colombia , General Manuel Bonnet publicly called for a sex strike among the wives and girlfriends of the Colombian left-wing guerrillas,  drug traffickers , and paramilitaries as part of a strategy—along with diplomacy—to achieve a ceasefire. Also the  mayor of Bogota ,  Antanas Mockus , declared the  capital  a women-only zone for one night, suggesting men to stay at home to reflect on violence. The guerrillas ridiculed the initiatives, pointing at the fact that there were more than 2,000 women in their army. In the end the ceasefire was achieved, but lasted only a short time.


In September 2006 dozens of wives and girlfriends of gang members from  Pereira ,  Colombia , started a sex strike called  La huelga de las piernas cruzadas  ("the strike of crossed legs") to curb  gang violence , in response to 480 deaths due to gang violence in the  coffee  region. According to spokeswoman Jennifer Bayer, the specific target of the strike was to force gang members to turn in their weapons in compliance with the law. According to them, many gang members were involved in violent crime for status and sexual attractiveness, and the strike sent the message that refusing to turn in the guns was not sexy. [ 18 ]  In 2010 the city's murder rate saw the steepest decline in Colombia, down by 26.5%. [ 2 ]


In June 2011, women organized in the so-called Crossed Legs Movement in the secluded town of  Barbacoas  in southwestern Colombia, started a sex strike to pressure the government to repair the road connecting Barbacoas and its neighboring towns and cities. [ 19 ]   They declared that if the men of the town were not going to demand action, they would refuse to have sex with them. The men of Barbacoas showed no support at the beginning of the campaign, but they soon joined in the protest campaign. [ 20 ]  After 112 days strike in October 2011, the Colombian government promised action on road repairs. Construction ensued [ 21 ]  and the strike ended. [ 22 ] [ 23 ]


In the build-up to  New Year's Eve  in 2008, hundreds of Neapolitan women pledged to make their husbands and lovers "sleep on the sofa" unless they took action to prevent  fireworks  from causing serious injuries. [ 24 ]


During the summer of 2011, women in rural  Mindanao  imposed a several-week-long sex strike in an attempt to end fighting between their two villages. [ 25 ] [ 26 ]


In 2019, Georgia governor, Brian Kemp (R), signed  House Bill (HB) 481  into law. It was immediately blocked by a lawsuit. HB 481 criminalizes most abortions after six weeks and adds a “fetal personhood” language. This language changes the definition of a “natural person” to include an unborn child at any stage of development in the womb. [ 27 ]  This law has been nicknamed a “heartbeat bill” because HB 481 states that no abortion will be performed if the physician determines that they detect a human heartbeat.


In response to this bill's passage, actress and #MeToo activist,  Alyssa Milano  and Waleisah Wilson wrote an opinion editorial for CNN and went to Twitter to call for a sex strike until the policy was repealed. In the  tweet , Milano calls on women to join her sex strike until women “have legal control over [their] own bodies” because women cannot risk a pregnancy under this new bill. In her  CNN opinion  piece, Milano states that there are similar bills to the one in Georgia and that the single purpose of them is to make it up to the Supreme Court, forcing them reconsider  Roe v. Wade  (1973). In this opinion piece, Milano discusses the history of Lysistratic protest, [ 1 ]  calls on people who can become pregnant to conduct a sex strike, and pay attention to current events. Milano encourages a sex strike in addition to other efforts.


Sex work  is "the exchange of  sexual services , performances, or products for material compensation. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ]  It includes activities of direct physical contact between buyers and sellers as well as indirect sexual stimulation". [ 4 ]  Sex work only refers to voluntary sexual transactions; thus, the term does not refer to  human trafficking  and other coerced or nonconsensual sexual transactions such as  child prostitution . The transaction must take place between consenting adults of the legal age and mental capacity to consent and must take place without any methods of coercion, other than payment. [ 5 ] [ 6 ]  The term emphasizes the labor and economic implications of this type of work. Furthermore, some prefer the use of the term because it grants more agency to the sellers of these services.


In 2004, a Medline search and review of 681 "prostitution" articles was conducted in order to create a global typology of types of sex work using arbitrary categories. Twenty-five types of sex work were identified in order to create a more systematic understanding of sex work as a whole. Prostitution varies by forms and social contexts, including different types of direct and indirect prostitution. This study was conducted in order to work towards improving the health and safety of  sex workers . [ 7 ]


Types of sex work include various consensual sexual services or erotic performances, [ 8 ]  involving varying degrees of  physical contact  with clients:


Full criminalization [ citation needed ]  of sex work is the most widely practiced legal strategy for regulating transactional sex. [ 12 ]  Full criminalization is practiced in China, Russia, and the majority of countries in Africa. In the United States, in which each state has its own  criminal code , full contact sex work is illegal everywhere, sex work using a condom is legal only in parts of Nevada; non-contact sex work is a gray and confused area. Under full criminalization the seller, buyer, and any third party involved is subject to criminal penalties. This includes anyone who profits from commercial sex in any location or physical setting. Criminalization has been linked to higher rates of  sexually transmitted infections , partner violence, and police harassment. [ 13 ]  Fear of legal ramifications can deter sex workers from seeking proper sexual health care services and discourage them from reporting crimes of which they were the victim. According to research conducted by  Human Rights Watch , criminalization has sex workers more vulnerable to rape, murder, and discrimination due to their marginalized position and ability to be prosecuted by the police even if they come forward as a victim. [ 14 ]


Partial criminalization [ citation needed ]  allows for the legalization of both the buying and selling of sex between two consenting parties but prohibits the commercial selling of sex within brothels or public settings such as street solicitation. This has the unintended consequence that it criminalizes the coalition of sex workers, forcing them to work alone and in less safe conditions. Partial criminalization ranges from a variety of legal models such as  abolitionism, neo-abolitionism  and the  Swedish-Nordic Model . [ citation needed ]


Legalization  is currently practiced in parts of South America, Australia, Europe, and in certain counties in the U.S. state of  Nevada . The  red light district  in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, is an example of full legalization, where all aspects of sex work are allowed as long as they are registered with the government. Since the registration process is often expensive and time-consuming, requires legal residence, and may involve regular medical exams, the most marginalized sex workers have to remain illegal, and usually charge less, because they cannot comply with the regulations. This is most common among minority groups, immigrants, and low-income workers. [ 15 ]


Decriminalization  is the most supported solution by sex workers themselves. [ 15 ]  The  decriminalization of sex work  is the only legal solution that offers no criminalization of any party involved in the sex work industry and additionally has no restrictions on who can legally participate in sex work. The decriminalization of sex work would not remove any legal penalties condemning human trafficking. There is no reliable evidence to suggest that decriminalization of sex work would encourage human trafficking. [ 5 ]   New Zealand  was the first country to decriminalize sex work in 2003, with the passage of the  Prostitution Reform Act . [ 16 ]   This is the most advocated for by sex workers because it allows them the most negotiating power with their clients. With full protection under the law, they have the ability to determine their wages, method of protection, and protect themselves from violent offenders. Sex work is one of the oldest professions in existence and even though sex work is criminalized in most places in order to regulate it, the profession has hardly changed at all over time. Those who work in sex trade are more likely to be exploited, trafficked, and victims of assault when sex work is criminalized. [ 17 ]  Starting in August 2015, Amnesty International, a global movement free of political, religious, or economic interests to protect people from abuse, introduced a policy that requested that all countries decriminalized sex work. [ 18 ] [ 19 ]  Amnesty International stated in this policy that decriminalizing sex work would decrease human trafficking through promotion of the health and safety of sex workers by allowing them to be autonomous with protection of the government. [ 19 ]  This policy gained a large amount of support worldwide from the WHO, UNAIDS, GAATW, and several others, but has not been adopted universally yet. [ 20 ] [ 21 ] [ 22 ] [ 5 ] [ 14 ] [ 23 ]


Sex work, in many different forms, has been practiced since ancient times. It is reported that even in the most primitive societies, there was transactional sex. Prostitution was widespread in ancient Egypt and Greece, where it was practiced at various socioeconomic levels.  Hetaera  in Greece and  geisha  in Japan were seen as prestigious members of society for their high level of training in companionship. Attitudes towards prostitution have shifted through history.


During the  Middle Ages  prostitution was tolerated but not celebrated. It was not until the  Renaissance  and the  Protestant Reformation  in the 16th century that attitudes turned against prostitution on a large scale and bodies began to be regulated more heavily. These moral reforms were to a large extent directed towards the restriction of women's autonomy. Furthermore, enforcement of regulations regarding prostitution disproportionately impacted the poor. [ 24 ]


Sex work has a long history in the United States, yet laws regulating the sale of sex are relatively new. In the 18th century, prostitution was deeply rooted from Louisiana to San Francisco. Despite its prevalence, attitudes towards prostitutes were negative and many times hostile. Although the law did not directly address prostitution at this time, law enforcement often targeted prostitutes. Laws against lewdness and  sodomy  were used in an attempt to regulate sex work.  Red-light districts  formed in the 19th century in major cities across the country in an attempt by sex workers to find spaces where they could work, isolated from outside society and corresponding stigma.


Ambiguity in the law allowed for prostitutes to challenge imprisonment in the courts. Through these cases prostitutes forced a popular recognition of their profession and defended their rights and property. Despite sex workers' efforts, social reformers looking to abolish prostitution outright began to gain traction in the early 20th century. New laws focused on the third-party businesses where prostitution took place, such as saloons and brothels, holding the owners culpable for the activities that happened within their premises. Red-light districts began to close. Finally, in 1910 the  Mann Act , or "White Slave Traffic Act" made illegal the act of coercing a person into prostitution or other immoral activity, the first federal law addressing prostitution. This act was created to address the trafficking of young, European girls who were thought to have been kidnapped and transported to the United States to work in brothels but criminalized those participating in consensual sex work. [ 25 ]  Subsequently, at the start of the First World War, a Navy decree forced the closure of sex-related businesses in close proximity to military bases. Restrictions and outright violence led to the loss of the little control workers had over their work. In addition to this, in 1918, the  Chamberlain–Kahn Act  made it so that any woman found to have a  sexually transmitted infection  (STI) would be quarantined by the government. The original purpose of this act was to stop the spread of venereal diseases among U.S. soldiers. [ 26 ]  By 1915 under this act, prostitutes, or those perceived to be prostitutes could be stopped, inspected, and detained or sent to a rehabilitation facility if they were found to test positive for any venereal disease. During  World War I , an estimated 3,000 women were detained and examined. The state had made sex workers into legal outcasts. [ 27 ]  During the  Great Depression , black women in New York City accounted for more than 50% of arrests for prostitution. [ 28 ]


Types of sex work expanded in the 21st century. Film and later the Internet provided new opportunities for sex work. [ 29 ] [ 30 ]  In 1978,  Carol Leigh , a sex worker and activist, coined the term "sex work" as it is now used. She looked to combat the  anti-pornography movement  by coining a term that reflected the labor and economic implications of the work. The term came into popular use in the 1980s.  COYOTE  (Call Off Your Old Tired Ethics) and other similar groups formed in the 1970s and 80s to push for women's sexual freedom and  sex workers' rights . A rift formed within feminism that continues today, with some arguing for the abolishment of sex work and others working for acceptance and rights for sex works.


Stigmas are negative and often derogatory ideas and labels that are placed on one or more members of a community. A prevalent stigma of sex workers that is circulated through various media platforms is the "whore" stigma in which sex workers are labelled as "whores" due to the nature and abundance of client relationships. [ 31 ]


A history of media narratives of sex workers was studied to yield the top three most common storylines shown in media about sex works. First, sex workers are shown as carriers and sources of disease. Second, sex work is shown as a social problem that varies in severity. And third, sex work is almost always portrayed in media to occur outdoors, which adds to negative social perceptions that associate sex work to be dirty or public. Across all of these narratives, we typically see a gendered hierarchy in which women of various ages are shown as the sex workers and men are portrayed as the authoritative role of pimps, clients, and law enforcers. [ 31 ]


A study in 2006 from the University of Victoria found that when compared to media representations of sex work, firsthand experiences of sex workers were far from similar. It was found that even though inaccurate, media portrayals of sex work are formed from rigid social and cultural scripts that perpetuate stigma and provide influence to news coverage and negative perceptions of sex work. [ 31 ]


The  HIV/AIDS  epidemic presented a new challenge to sex workers. The criminalization of exposing others to HIV/AIDS significantly impacted sex workers. Gay-related immune disorder, or GRID (later changed to AIDS), made headlines in 1985 and led to intermittent sex work. Sex workers were wrongfully held responsible for the transmission of the infection due to the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS, which resulted in discrimination against them.  [ 32 ]  Harm reduction strategies were organized providing testing, counseling, and supplies to stop the spread of the disease. This experience organizing helped facilitate future action for social justice. The threat of violence persists in many types of sex work. Unionization of legal types of sex work such as exotic dancers, lobbying of public health officials and labor officials, and human rights agencies has improved conditions for many sex workers. Nonetheless, the political ramifications of supporting a stigmatized population make organizing around sex work difficult. Despite these difficulties, actions against violence and for increased visibility and rights persist drawing hundreds of thousands of participants. [ 33 ]   Women in the sex trade are more susceptible to experiencing more stigma and discrimination than men. [ 34 ]  This stigma and discrimination is attributed to the negative social connotation of the job title "sex worker" and social perspective that sex workers have closer exposure to sexually transmitted infections like HIV and AIDS. These stigmas influence how society interacts with sex workers. In 2011, many sex workers in Hong Kong reported having a verbally or physically abusive interaction with a police officer or healthcare official, which prompted a negative impact on overall health and unequal access to healthcare. [ 34 ]


During the  COVID-19 pandemic , contact professions (which includes many forms of sex work, amongst others) had been banned (temporarily) in some countries. This has resulted in a reduction in Europe of certain forms of sex work. [ 35 ] [ 36 ] [ 37 ]  In addition, there has been a greater adoption of forms of sex work which do not require physical contact (virtual sexual services). [ 38 ] [ 39 ] [ 40 ]  Examples of sex work that do not require physical contact include webcam modelling and adult  content-subscription services  (e.g. OnlyFans). [ 41 ]
Some sex workers have carried on regardless however, also because some virtual sexual services may require an official bank account (or  other means of receiving money digitally ) and an own private room. [ 39 ] [ 38 ]  The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened pre-existing marginalization, inequality, and criminalization of sex workers. With increased global health risks associated with the pandemic, sex workers' in-person services were suspended, posing more financial stressors to an already poverty-stricken population. COVID-19 regulations have specifically posed more threats to the physical and financial safety of socially disadvantaged sex workers who are undocumented, transgender, and of color. [ 42 ]


Dr. Annie Sprinkle and the Sex Workers Outreach Project USA first observed the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers on December 17, 2003, and has been continuously recognized for the last 17 years. [ 43 ]  Sprinkle and the Sex Workers Outreach Project USA first observed this day in memory of victims of the Green River Killer in Seattle Washington and has since evolved into an annual, international recognition for other cities who have lost many lives of sex workers, those who experience and have experienced violence, and to empower sex workers. [ 44 ]  During the week of December 17, the International Day to End Violence Against Sex workers calls attention to hate crimes around the world and social justice organizations work side-by-side with sex worker communities to hold memorials and stage actions to raise awareness of violence by focusing on condemnation of transphobia, xenophobia, racism, criminalization of drug use as well as stigma of sex work in order for sex work to be a safe, non criminalized practice. [ 45 ]


In adult  content-subscription services  (e.g.  OnlyFans ) social media creators can be paid for their content. This content can include selfies, tips, information, tutorials, as well as sex work. OnlyFans creators make a lucrative profit from subscribers who purchase access to their exclusive account every month. [ 46 ]  OnlyFans has changed sex work in a way that has made it more powerful for the creator, and safer for them to control how they perform their sex work. Many OnlyFans creators that focus on sex work have reported that they receive more subscribers as they post more frequently. It is irrelevant if the posts are "explicit" or not. [ 47 ]  Several of the women who perform sex work on OnlyFans have regulars that they know everything about from their job description to family member names, to when their surgical procedures are. Although these creators are often paid for and may assist in their subscribers' orgasms, this act is not considered prostitution. Subscribers to OnlyFans sex work accounts have stated that they can get pornography for free anywhere, and that they are paying for a service catered to their personal needs. These subscribers are paying for people to be an online significant other who occasionally helps them achieve an orgasm. [ 47 ]


Emotional labor  is an essential part of many service jobs, including many types of sex work. Through emotional labor sex workers engage in different levels of acting known as surface acting and deep acting. These levels reflect a sex worker's engagement with the emotional labor. Surface acting occurs when the sex worker is aware of the dissonance between their authentic experience of emotion and their managed emotional display. In contrast deep acting occurs when the sex worker can no longer differentiate between what is authentic and what is acting; acting becomes authentic. [ 48 ]


Sex workers engage in emotional labor for many different reasons. First, sex workers often engage in emotional labor to construct performances of gender and sexuality. [ 49 ] [ 50 ] [ 51 ]  These performances frequently reflect the desires of a clientele which is mostly composed of heterosexual men. In the majority of cases, clients value women who they perceive as normatively feminine. For women sex workers, achieving this perception necessitates a performance of gender and sexuality that involves deference to clients and affirmation of their  masculinity , as well as physical embodiment of traditional femininity. [ 49 ] [ 52 ]  The emotional labor involved in sex work may be of a greater significance when race differences are involved. For instance Mistress Velvet, a black, femme  dominatrix , advertises herself using her most fetishized attributes. She makes her clients, who are mostly white heterosexual men, read Black feminist theory before their sessions. This allows the clients to see why their participation, as white heterosexual men, contributes to the fetishization of black women. [ 53 ]


Both within sex work and in other types of work, emotional labor is gendered in that women are expected to use it to construct performances of normative  femininity , whereas men are expected to use it to construct performances of normative masculinity. [ 48 ]  In both cases, these expectations are often met because this labor is necessary to maximizing monetary gain and potentially to job retention. Indeed, emotional labor is often used as a means to maximize income. It fosters a better experience for the client and protects the worker thus enabling the worker to make the most profit. [ 49 ] [ 50 ] [ 54 ]


In addition, sex workers often engage in emotional labor as a self-protection strategy, distancing themselves from the sometimes emotionally volatile work. [ 4 ] [ 50 ]  Finally, clients often value perceived authenticity in their transactions with sex workers; thus, sex workers may attempt to foster a sense of authentic intimacy. [ 49 ] [ 54 ]


Traumatic sexual events and violence put sex workers at a higher risk for mental health disorders. Women in sex work have a higher chance of suffering mental health disorders, and the chance is even greater for those who are women in minority groups including the LGBTQ+ community. [ 55 ]  A study performed in 2010 concluded that women in sex work were more likely to exhibit signs of PTSD (13%), anxiety (33.7%), and depression (24.4%). Women in sex work experience more obstacles and barriers to gaining mental health care despite their increased risk due to stigma, lack of access to insurance, lack of trust from health care professionals and misogyny. [ 56 ] [ 57 ]  A study examining the institutionalized barriers to healthcare faced by female sex workers was conducted in Canada in 2016. The study yielded the finding that about 70% of female sex workers experience one or more institutional barriers to healthcare. These institutional barriers included long wait times, limited hours of operation, and biased treatment or discrimination on behalf of health care providers. [ 58 ]


Sex workers are less likely to seek health care or be eligible to seek health care due to negative stigma. Women in sex work are disproportionally treated worse in health care settings. It is a minimal necessity that women in sex work have access to frequent STI testing and treatment, but it is essential that sex workers have the equal access for regular primary care for other ailments as non-sexworkers. [ 56 ]  UNAIDS researched the percentage rates of accessible prevention services for sex workers in 2010 around the world and concluded that 51% did not have access. [ 59 ]  Another obstacle for sex workers to gain health care services is that many are unable to, or unwilling to disclose their profession on required medical paperwork making them ineligible to receive medical care. [ 19 ] [ 60 ]


The population of sex workers has been targeted by the public health industry as a population that has a high risk of HIV infection. This concept is used to strategize marketing materials to sex workers about health resources, but it has been found to actually add to stigma and discrimination of sex workers, further delegitimize prostitution as a source of income, hinder effective health interventions, and perpetuate the idea that being a sex worker is a risk factor for disease. [ 61 ]  Public health care initiatives that prioritize HIV prevention among sex workers and portray sex workers as a vulnerable population overshadow the rights of sex workers and the legitimacy of sex work as a functional occupation. The title "sex worker" itself was introduced in an attempt to break the association by healthcare industries that links female prostitutes with dirty, immoral, and diseased identities. [ 61 ]


There is a possibility that sex work's status as a criminal offense could lead sex workers to engage in practices that impact their own health and safety. In countries where sex work is classified as a crime, condoms can be used as a form of evidence. The Sex Workers Project is an organization that provides legal and social services for sex workers. In a study done regarding the impact of using condoms as evidence, the Brooklyn Defense Services provided data that showed that between 2008 and 2009 there were around 39 sex work-related cases in which condoms were used  as evidence. [ 62 ]  There is a chance that in order to decrease the chance of arrest, sex workers are inclined to participate in unprotected sex. If this is the case, this would contribute to the higher risk of sexually transmitted infections these workers face, as aforementioned.


In Tangent with this, it is not uncommon for sex workers experiencing health difficulties to not take the appropriate steps with healthcare professionals due to fear or distrust in them. A survey done by STAR-STAR, a partner of the human rights organization UNFPA, concluded that almost a quarter of sex workers were denied healthcare services because of their occupation. [ 63 ]


In the interest of providing the best care for Sex Workers seeking health care, transparent communication can enhance the quality of services being provided. This can be practiced on both sides of this relationship. For example, a care provider could include questions in their sexual history questionnaire that pertain to the exchange of sex for money. [ 64 ]  Being prompted with these kinds of questions could mitigate the anxiety that if the patient is honest about what they do would cause their services to be declined. This might encourage the patient to be more honest about their entire experience and history, which would allow for a better decision to be made in regards to treatment.


A study in Melbourne, Australia, found that sex workers typically experience relationship difficulties as a result of their line of work. This primarily stems from the issue of disclosure of their work in personal relationships. Some sex workers noted that dating ex-clients is helpful as they have had contact with sex workers, and they are aware of their employment. [ 65 ]


Although a majority of women in sex work reported that their profession negatively affected them, those that stated a positive effect reported that they had increases sexual self-esteem and confidence. [ 65 ]  There is very little empirical evidence characterizing clients of sex workers, but they may share an analogous problem. A  Scientific American  article on sex buyers summarizes a limited field of research which indicates that Johns have a normal psychological profile matching the makeup of the wider male population but view themselves as mentally unwell. [ 66 ]


Dolf Zillmann  asserts that extensive viewing of pornographic material produces many  sociological  effects which he characterizes as unfavorable, including a decreased respect for long-term,  monogamous  relationships, and an attenuated desire for  procreation . [ 67 ]  He claims that pornography can "potentially undermine the traditional values that favor marriage, family, and children" and that it depicts sexuality in a way which is not connected to "emotional attachment, of kindness, of caring, and especially not of continuance of the relationship, as such continuance would translate into responsibilities". [ 68 ]


In clients' encounters with prostitutes or exotic dancers (and potentially other sex workers as well), many seek more than sexual satisfaction. They often seek, via their interactions with sex workers, an affirmation of their masculinity, which they may feel is lacking in other aspects of their lives. [ 49 ] [ 52 ]  This affirmation comes in the form of (a simulation of) affection and sexual desire, and "smooth, intimate, affective space, wherein the way that time is managed is governed only by mutual desire and enjoyment." [ 52 ]  Partly because they are engaged in work during these interactions, prostitutes' experience and interpretation of time tends to be structured instead by desires to maximize income, avoid boredom, and/or avoid detriment to self-esteem. [ 52 ]


For sex workers, commodified intimacy provides different benefits. In Brazil, sex workers prioritize foreign men over local men in terms of forming intimate relationships with sex workers. This is a result of local men regarding sex workers as having no worth beyond their occupation. In contrast, foreign men are often accompanied by wealth and status, which are factors that can help a sex worker become independent. Hence sex workers in Brazil are more likely to seek out "ambiguous entanglements" with the foreign men they provide services for, rather than the local men. [ 69 ]


Interviews with men and women escorts illuminate gender differences in these escorts' experiences. [ 4 ]  On average, women escorts charged much more than men. [ 70 ] [ better source needed ]  Compared to traditional women escorts, women in niche markets charged lower rates. However, this disparity in rates did not exist for men escorts. Men escorts reported widespread acceptance in the gay community; they were much more likely than women to disclose their occupation. [ citation needed ]  This community acceptance is fairly unusual to the gay community and not the experience of many women sex workers. Also, heterosexual men prostitutes are much more likely than heterosexual women prostitutes to entertain same-gender clients out of necessity, because the vast majority of clients are men. [ 52 ]  In general, there is a greater social expectation for women to engage in emotional labor than there is for men; there are also greater consequences if they do not. [ 48 ]


The potential risks sex work poses to the worker vary greatly depending on the specific job they occupy. Compared to outdoor or street-based sex workers, indoor workers are less likely to face violence. [ 71 ]  Street sex workers may also more likely to use addictive drugs, to have unprotected sex, and to be the victim of sexual assault. [ 4 ]  HIV affects large numbers of sex workers, of all genders, who engage in prostitution globally. Rape and violence, poverty, stigma, and social exclusion are all common risks faced by sex workers in many different occupations. [ 24 ]  A study of violence against women engaged in street prostitution found that 68% reported having been raped. [ 72 ]  Sex workers are also at a high risk of murder. According to Salfati's study, sex workers are 60 to 120 times more likely to be murdered than nonprostitute females. [ 73 ]  Although these features tend to apply more to sex workers who engage in full service sex work, stigma and safety risks are pervasive for all types of sex work, albeit to different extents. [ 4 ] [ 71 ]  Because of the varied legal status of some forms of sex work, sex workers in some countries also face the risk of incarceration, flogging and even the death penalty. [ 74 ]


Feminist debates on sex work focus primarily on pornography and prostitution. Feminist arguments against these occupations tend to be founded in the notion that these types of work are inherently degrading to women, perpetuate the sexual objectification of women, and/or perpetuate  male supremacy . [ 75 ]   In response, proponents of sex work argue that these claims deny women sex workers' agency, and that choosing to engage in this work can be empowering. They contend that the perspectives of anti-sex work feminists are based on notions of sexuality constructed by the patriarchy to regulate women's expressions sexuality. [ 76 ]  In fact, many feminists who support the  sex industry  claim that criminalizing sex work causes more harm to women and their sexual autonomy. An article in the Touro Law Review 2014, focuses on the challenges faced by prostitutes in the U.S and the need for prostitution reform: "[By criminalizing prostitution] women lose the choice to get paid for having consensual sex. A woman may have sex for free, but once she receives something of value for her services, the act becomes illegal". [ 77 ]  Those who see this as an attack on a women's sexual autonomy also worry about the recent attacks on liberal social policy, such as same sex marriage and abortion on demand, in the U.S.  Some liberals also argue that since a disproportionate share of those who choose sex work as a means of income are the poor and disadvantaged, public officials should focus on social policies improving the lives of those choosing to do so rather than condemnation of the "private" means which those victims of society employ. [ 78 ]  In an interview,  Monica Jones , a Black transgender woman and activist, describes the need to address the conflation of sex work and human trafficking.  [ 79 ]


The topic of sexual labor is often contextualized within opposing abolitionist and sex-positive perspectives. [ 80 ] [ 81 ]  The abolitionist perspective typically defines sex work as an oppressive form of labor. [ 82 ]  According to opponents of prostitution, it is not only the literal purchase of a person's body for sexual exploitation, it also constitutes exertion of power over women both symbolically and materially. This perspective views prostitution and trafficking as directly and intimately connected and therefore calls for the abolition of prostitution in efforts to eliminate the overall sexual exploitation of women and children. [ 82 ]  Opponents also refute the idea of consent among sex workers by claiming that such consent is merely a submissive acceptance of the traditional exploitation of women. For these reasons, opponents believe that  decriminalizing sex work  would utterly harm women as a class by maintaining their sexual and economic exploitation while "serving the interests of pimps, procurers and prostitutors". [ 82 ]  Some  Marxist feminists  argue sex work is not uniquely exploitative. Heather Berg writes, "Commercial sex exchange is not exploitative because of anything unique to sex; it is exploitative because it is labor under capitalism." [ 83 ]


Some  sex-positive feminists  recognize sex workers as situated within a modern Western sexual hierarchy where a married man and woman are respected while  LGBT people , fetishists, and sex workers such as prostitutes and pornographic models are viewed as sexual deviants. [ 84 ]  According to sex positive feminists, sex law incorporates a prohibition against mixing sex and money in order to sustain this hierarchy. Therefore, the individuals who practice these "deviant" sexual acts are deemed as criminals and have limited institutional support and are subjected to economic sanctions. [ 84 ]  Sex-positive perspectives challenge this hierarchy by appreciating  sexual diversity  and rejecting any notion of "normal" sex. [ 85 ]  With this understanding, people who choose to engage in criminalized sex acts are seen as autonomous sexual beings rather than victims of the sex industry. For black women, agency is viewed as contextual due to historical considerations, and can be regarded as one facet of a complex system of ideals that encompass black women's sexuality over time. One result of this is the way that race relations impact the mobility of black people in the sex industry. [ 86 ]


Some  liberal feminists  believe that a "democratic morality" should judge sexual activity (as if the proclivities of the majority, as well as their proficiency in providing sexual pleasures, should determine the direction of a society's moral compass) "by the way partners treat one another, the presence or absence of coercion, and the quantity and quality of the pleasures they provide". [ 84 ]  They propound that it should not be an ethical concern whether sex acts are coupled or in groups, same or mixed sex, with or without consensual acts of violence or video, commercial or free. [ 84 ]


Sex-positive feminism , also known as  pro-sex feminism ,  sex-radical feminism , or  sexually liberal feminism , is a  feminist  movement centering on the idea that  sexual freedom  is an essential component of women's freedom. [ 1 ]  They oppose legal or social efforts to control sexual activities between consenting adults, whether they are initiated by the government, other feminists, opponents of feminism, or any other institution. They embrace  sexual minority  groups, endorsing the value of  coalition -building with marginalized groups. Sex-positive feminism is connected with the  sex-positive movement . Sex-positive feminism brings together anti- censorship  activists,  LGBT  activists, feminist scholars, producers of pornography and  erotica , among others. Sex-positive feminists believe that prostitution can be a positive experience if workers are treated with respect, and agree that sex work should not be criminalized.


Gayle Rubin  summarizes the conflict over sex within feminism. She says that one feminist stream criticizes the sexual constraints and difficulties faced by sexually active women (e.g., access to abortion), while another stream views sexual liberalization as an extension of "male privilege". [ 2 ]


Sex-positive feminists reject the  vilification  of male sexuality that many attribute to  radical feminism , and instead embrace the entire range of human sexuality. They argue that the patriarchy limits sexual expression and are in favor of giving people of all genders more sexual opportunities, rather than restricting pornography. [ 3 ]  Sex-positive feminists generally reject  sexual essentialism , defined by Rubin as "the idea that sex is a natural force that exists prior to social life and shapes institutions". Rather, they see sexual orientation and gender as social constructs that are heavily influenced by society. [ 2 ]


Some radical feminists reject the dichotomy of "sex-positive" and "sex-negative" feminism, suggesting that instead, the real divide is between  liberal feminism  and  radical feminism . [ 4 ]


Sex-radical feminists in particular, come to a sex-positive stance from a deep distrust in the patriarchy's ability to secure women's best interest in sexually limiting laws. Other feminists identify women's sexual liberation as the real motive behind the women's movement.  Naomi Wolf  writes, " Orgasm  is the body's natural call to feminist politics." [ 5 ]   Sharon Presley , the National Coordinator of the Association of Libertarian Feminists, [ 6 ]  writes that in the area of  sexuality , government blatantly discriminates against women.


The social background in which sex-positive feminism operates must also be understood: Christian societies are often influenced by what is understood as 'traditional' sexual morality: according to the Christian doctrine, sexual activity must only take place in marriage, and must be vaginal intercourse; sexual acts outside marriage and 'unnatural sex' (i.e. oral, anal sex, termed as " sodomy ") are forbidden; yet  forced sexual intercourse within marriage  is not seen as immoral by a few social and religious conservatives, owing to the existence of so-called 'conjugal rights' [ 7 ] [ 8 ] [ 9 ]  defined in the Bible at 1 Corinthians 7:3-5. [ 10 ]


Such organization of sexuality has increasingly come under legal and social attack in recent decades. [ 11 ] [ note 1 ]


In addition, in certain cultures, particularly in  Mediterranean  countries influenced by  Roman Catholicism , traditional ideas of  masculinity  and female purity are still influential. This has led to what many interpret as a  double standard  between  male  and  female sexuality ; men are expected to be sexually assertive as a way of affirming their  masculinity , but for a woman to be considered 'good', she must remain pure. [ 12 ]  Indeed,  Cesare Lombroso  claimed in his book,  The Female Offender , that women could be categorized into three types: the  Criminal Woman , the  Prostitute , and the  Normal Woman . As such, highly sexed women (prostitutes) were deemed as abnormal. [ 13 ]


Feminists "ranging from Betty Friedan and Kate Millett to Karen DeCrow, Wendy Kaminer and Jamaica Kincaid" supported the right to consume pornography. [ 14 ]  Feminists who have advocated a sex-positive position include writer  Kathy Acker , academic  Camille Paglia , sex educator  Megan Andelloux ,  Susie Bright ,  Rachel Kramer Bussel ,  Diana Cage ,  Avedon Carol ,  Patrick Califia ,  Betty Dodson ,  Nancy Friday ,  Jane Gallop ,  Laci Green , porn performer  Nina Hartley ,  Josephine Ho ,  Amber L. Hollibaugh ,  Brenda Howard ,  Laura Kipnis ,  Wendy McElroy ,  Inga Muscio ,  Joan Nestle , Marcia Pally,  Carol Queen ,  Candida Royalle ,  Gayle Rubin ,  Annie Sprinkle ,  Tristan Taormino ,  Ellen Willis , and  Mireille Miller- Young. [ 15 ] [ United States-centric ]


According to sexologist and author  Carol Queen , in an interview with researcher and professor Lynn Comella, "[sex positivity] is the cultural philosophy that understands sexuality as a potentially positive force in one's life, and it can be [...] contrasted with  sex-negativity , which sees sex as problematic, disruptive, dangerous. Sex-positivity allows for and [...] celebrates  sexual diversity , differing desires and relationships structures, and individual choices based on consent... [negative sexual experiences caused by lack of information, support, and choices] are the cultural conditions that sex-positivity allows us to point out as curtailers of healthy, enjoyable sexual experience."


Queen also added, "This sense that many of us were being denied space and credentials to speak for ourselves and speak about issues within our community is what [...] led to the efflorescence of sex-positive feminism. And it is why there is a sex-positive  feminism  and not just sex-positivity." [ 16 ]


Authors such as  Gayle Rubin  and  Wendy McElroy  see the roots of sex-positive feminism stemming from the work of sex reformers and workers for sex education and access to contraception, such as  Havelock Ellis ,  Margaret Sanger ,  Mary Dennett  and, later,  Alfred Kinsey  and  Shere Hite . [ 2 ] [ 17 ]  However, the contemporary incarnation of sex-positive feminism appeared more recently, following an increasing feminist focus on pornography as a source of women's oppression in the 1970s.


The rise of  second-wave feminism  was concurrent with the  sexual revolution  and rulings that loosened legal restrictions on access to pornography. In the 1970s,  radical feminists  became increasingly focused on issues around sexuality in a  patriarchal  society. Some feminist groups began to concern themselves with prescribing what proper feminist sexuality should look like. This was especially characteristic of  lesbian separatist  groups, but some heterosexual women's groups, such as  Redstockings , became engaged with this issue as well. On the other hand, there were also feminists, such as  Betty Dodson , who saw women's sexual pleasure and masturbation as central to women's liberation. Pornography was not a major issue during this era; radical feminists were generally opposed to pornography, but the issue was not treated as especially important until the mid-1970s.


There were, however, feminist prostitutes-rights advocates, such as  COYOTE , which campaigned for the  decriminalization of prostitution .


The late 1970s found American culture becoming increasingly concerned about the aftermath of a decade of greater sexual freedom, including concerns about explicit violent and sexual imagery in the media, the mainstreaming of pornography, increased sexual activity among teenagers, and issues such as the dissemination of  child pornography  and the purported rise of " snuff films ". [ citation needed ]  (Critics maintain that this atmosphere amounted to a  moral panic , which reached its peak in the mid-1980s. [ citation needed ] ). These concerns were reflected in the feminist movement, with radical feminist groups claiming that pornography was a central underpinning of patriarchy and a direct cause of  violence against women .  Robin Morgan  summarized this idea in her statement, "Pornography is the theory; rape the practice."


Andrea Dworkin and Robin Morgan began articulating a vehemently anti-porn stance based in radical feminism beginning in 1974, and anti-porn feminist groups, such as  Women Against Pornography  and similar organizations, became highly active in various US cities during the late 1970s. As anti-porn feminists broadened their criticism and activism to include not only pornography, but prostitution and sadomasochism, other feminists became concerned about the direction the movement was taking and grew more critical of anti-porn feminism.


This included feminist  BDSM  practitioners (notably  Samois ), prostitutes-rights advocates, and many liberal and anti-authoritarian feminists for whom free speech, sexual freedom, and advocacy of women's  agency  were central concerns.


One of the earliest feminist arguments against this anti-pornography trend amongst feminists was  Ellen Willis 's essay  "Feminism, Moralism, and Pornography"  first published in October 1979 in the  Village Voice . [ 18 ]  In response to the formation of  Women Against Pornography  in 1979, Willis wrote an article (the origin of the term, "pro-sex feminism"), expressing worries about anti-pornography feminists' attempts to make feminism into a  single-issue movement , arguing that feminists should not issue a blanket condemnation against all pornography and that restrictions on pornography could just as easily be applied to speech that feminists found favorable to themselves. [ 19 ]


Rubin calls for a new feminist theory of sex, saying that existing feminist thoughts on sex had frequently considered sexual liberalization as a trend that only increases male privilege. Rubin criticizes anti-pornography feminists who she claims "have condemned virtually every variant of sexual expression as anti-feminist," arguing that their view of sexuality is dangerously close to anti-feminist, conservative sexual morality. Rubin encourages feminists to consider the political aspects of sexuality without promoting  sexual repression . She also argues that the blame for women's oppression should be put on targets who deserve it: "the family, religion, education, child-rearing practices, the media, the state, psychiatry, job discrimination, and unequal pay..." rather than on relatively un-influential sexual minorities. [ 2 ]


McElroy (1995) argues that for feminists in the 1970s and 1980s, turning to matters of sexual expression was a result of frustration with feminism's apparent failure to achieve success through political channels: in the United States, the  Equal Rights Amendment  (ERA) had failed, and  abortion  rights came under attack during the  Reagan  administration.


Scholar Elaine Jeffreys observes that the 'anti-prostitute' position gained increased critical purchase in China during the establishment of the international movement for prostitutes in 1985, demanding recognition of prostitutes' rights as an emancipation and labor issue rather than of criminality, immorality or disease.


In her 1992 book,  Sexual Reality: A Virtual Sex World Reader , sex-positive feminist  Susie Bright  dedicated a chapter to a  salon  gathering she co-hosted with fellow feminists  Laura Miller ,  Amy Wallace , and Lisa Palac at Wallace's  Berkeley Hills  mansion, attended by 16 women writers and served by fully nude men they called "slaveboys". The hosts had advertised for "slaveboys" in the  San Francisco Weekly , stating, " Genteel  and  Bohemian  gathering of women writers requires comely slaveboys to serve at our  tea party . You will serve nude and will not speak unless spoken to. [...]". The ad received about 100 responses, from which six were selected after "nude auditions". The "slaveboys" served tea and meals, provided foot massages, polished nails, brushed hair, tended the fire, and posed for photographs with the guests. Bright also addresses criticism from unattended friends who called the setup "reverse  sexism ", to which she responded unapologetically, adding a note of regret for not having sex with them. [ 20 ]


By the 2000s, the positive-sex position had driven various international human rights NGOs to actively pressure the Chinese government to abandon its official policy of banning prostitution in post-reform China and recognize voluntary prostitution as legitimate work. [ 21 ] [ 22 ]


The issue of pornography was perhaps the first issue to unite sex-positive feminists, though current sex-positive views on the subject are wide-ranging and complex. During the 1980s, Andrea Dworkin and Catharine MacKinnon, as well as activists inspired by their writings, worked in favor of anti-pornography ordinances in a number of U.S. cities, as well as in Canada. The first such ordinance was passed by the city council in  Minneapolis  in 1983. MacKinnon and Dworkin took the tactic of framing pornography as a  civil rights  issue, arguing that showing pornography constituted sex  discrimination  against women. The sex-positive movement response to this argument was that legislation against pornography violates women's right to free speech. Soon after, a coalition of anti-porn feminists and right-wing groups succeeded in passing a similar ordinance in  Indianapolis . This ordinance was later declared unconstitutional by a Federal court in  American Booksellers v. Hudnut .


Rubin writes that anti-pornography feminists exaggerate the dangers of pornography by showing the most shocking pornographic images (such as those associated with  sadomasochism ) out of context, in a way that implies that the women depicted are actually being raped, rather than emphasizing that these scenes depict fantasies and use actors who have consented to be shown in such a way. [ 2 ]  Sex-positive feminists argue that access to pornography is as important to women as to men and that there is nothing inherently degrading to women about pornography. [ 23 ] [ 24 ]  However, anti-pornography feminists disagree, often arguing that the very depiction of such acts leads to the actual acts being encouraged and committed. [ 25 ]


Feminist curators such as  Jasmin Hagendorfer  organize feminist and queer porn film festivals (e.g.  PFFV  in Vienna). [ 26 ]


Some sex-positive feminists believe that women and men can have positive experiences as sex workers and that where it is illegal, prostitution should be decriminalized. They argue that prostitution is not necessarily bad for women if prostitutes are treated with respect and if the professions within sex work are destigmatized. [ 27 ] [ 28 ]


Sex workers are adults who receive money (or other goods) in exchange for consensual sexual services. In the United States, sex work is legal. The  sex workers' rights  movement started in the 1970s, and one of the founding groups was COYOTE. The goal of the sex workers activist is to fight for workers by having a better work environment/ conditions, reducing negative fed back, and stopping prohibition. [ 29 ]


Carol Leigh is an American woman who is an artist, filmmaker, and sex worker rights activist. Carol Leigh was the first woman to use the term "sex worker". She wanted to educate others about the understanding of sex workers as well as the rights they should have. In an interview, she stated how she sees her own sex work and the sex work of others as having the possibility to serve a higher, spiritual function in society. [ 30 ]


Sadomasochism  (BDSM) has been criticized by  anti porn  feminists for eroticizing power and violence and for reinforcing  misogyny  (Rubin, 1984). They argue that women who choose to engage in BDSM are making a choice that is ultimately bad for women. Sex-positive feminists argue that consensual BDSM activities are enjoyed by many women and validate these women's sexual inclinations. They argue that feminists should not attack other women's sexual desires as being "anti-feminist" or internalizing oppression and that there is no connection between consensual sexually  kinky  activities and sex crimes.


While some anti-porn feminists suggest connections between consensual BDSM  scenes  and  rape  and  sexual assault , sex-positive feminists find this to be insulting to women. It is often mentioned that in BDSM, roles are not fixed to  gender , but personal preferences. Furthermore, many argue that playing with power (such as rape scenes) through BDSM is a way of challenging and subverting that power, rather than reifying it.


While the negativities about BDSM are discussed a lot, sex-positive feminists are focusing on safety in the BDSM community. Consent is the most important rule when it comes to BDSM. [ 31 ]


Cara Dunkley and Lori Brotto discuss the importance of consent in their journal:


Consent represents an ongoing interactive and dynamic process that entails several precautionary measures, including negotiations of play, open communication of desires and boundaries, mutually defining terms, the notion of responsibility and transparency, and ensuring protection from harm through competence and skill. [ 32 ]


Critics discuss that communication with sexual partners is very important.


McElroy argues that many feminists have been afraid of being associated with  homosexuality . [ 17 ]   Betty Friedan , one of the founders of second-wave feminism, warned against  lesbianism  and called it "the lavender menace" (a view she later renounced). [ 33 ]  Sex-positive feminists believe that accepting the validity of all sexual orientations is necessary in order to allow women full sexual freedom. Rather than distancing themselves from homosexuality and  bisexuality  because they fear it will hurt mainstream acceptance of feminism, sex-positive feminists believe that women's liberation cannot be achieved without also promoting acceptance of homosexuality and bisexuality.


Some  trans exclusionary radical feminists , such as  Germaine Greer , have criticized  transgender  women ( male-to-female ) as men attempting to appropriate female identity while retaining  male privilege , and  transgender  men ( female-to-male ) as women who reject solidarity with their gender. One of the main exponents of this point of view is  Janice Raymond . [ 34 ]  In  The Whole Woman , [ 35 ]  Greer went so far as to explicitly compare transgender women to rapists for forcing themselves into women's spaces. [ 36 ]


Many transgender people see gender identity as an innate part of a person. Some feminists also criticize this belief, arguing instead that gender roles are societal constructs, and are not related to any natural factor. [ 37 ]  Sex-positive feminists support the right of all individuals to determine their own gender and promote  gender fluidity  as one means for achieving  gender equality .  Patrick Califia  has written extensively about issues surrounding feminism and transgender issues, especially in  Sex Changes: Transgender Politics . [ 38 ]


Like feminism itself, sex-positive feminism is difficult to define, and few within the movement (particularly the academic arm of the movement) agree on any one ideology or policy agenda. [ 39 ]


An example of how feminists may disagree on whether a particular cultural work exemplifies sex-positivity is Betty Dodson's critique of  Eve Ensler 's  The Vagina Monologues . Dodson argues that the play promotes a negative view of sexuality, emphasizing sexual violence against women rather than the redemptive value of female sexuality. Many other sex-positive feminists have embraced Ensler's work for its encouragement of openness about women's bodies and sexuality. [ 40 ] [ 41 ]


There is debate among sex-positive feminists about whether  statutory rape  laws are a form of  sexism . [ 42 ]  As illustrated by the controversy over "The Little Coochie Snorcher that Could" from the Vagina Monologues, some sex-positive feminists do not consider all consensual activity between young adolescents and older people as inherently harmful. There has been debate among feminists about whether statutory rape laws benefit or harm teenage girls and about whether the gender of participants should influence the law's treatment of sexual encounters. [ 42 ]  Some sex-positive feminists argue that statutory rape laws were made with non-gender neutral intentions and are presently enforced as such, with the assumption that teenage girls are naive, nonsexual, and in need of protection.


Sex-positive feminists with this view believe that "teen girls and boys are equally capable of making informed choices in regard to their sexuality" [ 43 ]  and that statutory rape laws are actually meant to protect "good girls" from sex. Other feminists are opposed or ambivalent about strengthening statutory rape statutes because these preclude young women from entering consensual sexual relationships, even if competent to consent. [ 44 ]


These feminists view statutory rape laws as more controlling than protective – and of course part of the law's historic role was protecting the female's chastity as valuable property. One writer also noted that, at that time, in some states, the previous sexual experience of a teenager could be used as a defense by one accused of statutory rape. She argued that this showed that the laws were intended to protect chastity rather than consent. [ 44 ]


Works that critique sex-positive feminism includes those of  Germaine Greer  and the essays by  Dorchen Leidholdt . [ 35 ] [ 45 ]  According to  Ann Ferguson , sex-positive feminists' only restriction on sexual activity should be the requirement of consent, yet she argues that sex-positive feminism has provided inadequate definitions of consent. [ 46 ]  Sex-positive feminism has also been criticized for focusing on young women, but ignoring middle-aged and elderly women who are unable or unwilling to direct most of their energy into sexuality. [ 47 ]


In her 2005 book  Female Chauvinist Pigs ,  Ariel Levy  does not oppose sex-positive feminism per se, though sees a popularized form of sex-positivity as constituting a kind of "raunch culture" in which women internalize  objectifying  male views of themselves and other women. Levy believes it is a mistake to see this as empowering and further holds that women should develop their own forms of sexual expression. [ 48 ]  The response by sex-positive feminists to Levy's book has been mixed;  Susie Bright  viewed the book quite favorably, stating that much of what can be seen as "raunch culture" represents a bastardization of the work of earlier sex-positive feminists such as herself. [ 49 ]   Rachel Kramer Bussel , however, sees Levy as largely ignoring much of the female-empowered sexual expression of the last 20 years, or misinterpreting it as internalization of male fantasy. [ 50 ] [ 51 ]


Authors and activists who have written important works about sex-positive feminism, and/or contributed to educating the public about it, include  Kathy Acker ,  Megan Andelloux ,  Susie Bright ,  Rachel Kramer Bussel ,  Diana Cage ,  Avedon Carol ,  Patrick Califia ,  Betty Dodson ,  Nancy Friday ,  Jane Gallop ,  Nina Hartley ,  Josephine Ho ,  Amber L. Hollibaugh ,  Brenda Howard ,  Laura Kipnis ,  Wendy McElroy ,  Inga Muscio ,  Joan Nestle ,  Erika Lust ,  Carol Queen ,  Candida Royalle ,  Gayle Rubin ,  Annie Sprinkle ,  Tristan Taormino  and  Ellen Willis . [ United States-centric ]  Several of these have written from the perspective of feminist women working in the sex industry.


Information on formal organizations that endorse sex-positive feminism seems lacking but one major outpost of sex-positive feminism is the former cooperative business  Good Vibrations  founded by  Joani Blank  in 1977 in order to sell sex toys and publications about sex in an environment welcoming to women. Blank also founded Down There Press which has published various educational publications inspired by sex-positivity. There are a number of other sex-positive feminist businesses who thrive on a combination of sex toy sales and distribution of educational materials. Good For Her, a woman-owned sex-toy shop in  Toronto, Ontario , holds an annual  Feminist Porn Awards . [ 52 ]


Nonprofit groups supporting sex-positive feminism include the currently defunct Feminist Anti-Censorship Task Force associated with Carole Vance and  Ann Snitow , Feminists for Free Expression, founded by Marcia Pally, and  Feminists Against Censorship  associated with anti-censorship and civil liberties campaigner  Avedon Carol . [ 53 ]


Feminist pornography  is a small but growing [ 54 ]  segment of the  pornography industry . A  Feminist Porn Award  was established in 2006. The equivalent in Europe is the  PorYes  award for feminist porn, established in 2009. The magazine  On Our Backs  was founded in 1986 to promote a more positive attitude towards erotica within the community of lesbian and bisexual women. It flourished until 1994, struggled with financial problems and changing ownership and the final edition was published in 2006.


Sexercise  is  physical exercise  performed in preparation for  sexual activity  and designed to tone, build, and strengthen  muscles . Sexercises are often performed as part of a sex diet lifestyle, which seeks to maximize the health benefits of regular sexual activity. Sexercise is known to improve and quicken the flow of oxygenated blood, in higher and consistent amounts, along with other beneficial chemical compounds, to the genitalia, which is important for fertility and important during intercourse. [ citation needed ]


Sexercises range from  kegel exercise  to  aerobic exercise  and  cardiovascular  routines.  Flexibility  for performing  contortion  specifically for erotic or sexual positions may also be practised.


Sexology  is the scientific study of  human sexuality , including human sexual interests,  behaviors , and functions. [ 1 ]  The term  sexology  does not generally refer to the non-scientific study of sexuality, such as  social criticism . [ 2 ] [ 3 ]


Sexologists apply tools from several academic fields, such as  anthropology ,  biology ,  medicine ,  psychology ,  epidemiology ,  sociology , and  criminology . [ 4 ] [ 5 ]  Topics of study include  sexual development  (puberty),  sexual orientation ,  gender identity ,  sexual relationships , sexual activities,  paraphilias , and atypical sexual interests. It also includes the study of sexuality across the lifespan, including  child sexuality ,  puberty ,  adolescent sexuality , and  sexuality among the elderly . Sexology also spans sexuality among those with mental or physical disabilities. The sexological study of  sexual dysfunctions  and disorders, including  erectile dysfunction  and  anorgasmia , are also mainstays.


Sex manuals  have existed since antiquity, such as  Ovid 's  Ars Amatoria , the  Kama Sutra  of  Vatsyayana , the  Ananga Ranga , and  The Perfumed Garden for the Soul's Recreation .   De la prostitution dans la ville de Paris  ( Prostitution in the City of Paris ), an early 1830s study on 3,558 registered prostitutes in  Paris , written by Alexander Jean Baptiste Parent-Duchatelet (published in 1837, a year after he died), has been called the first work of modern sex research. [ 2 ]  In England,  James Graham  was an early sexologist who lectured on topics such as the process of sex and conception. [ 6 ]


The scientific study of sexual behavior in human beings began in the 19th century with  Heinrich Kaan , whose book  Psychopathia Sexualis  (1844)  Michel Foucault  describes as marking "the date of birth, or in any case the date of the emergence of sexuality and sexual aberrations in the psychiatric field." [ 7 ]  The term  sexology  was coined for the first time in the United States by Elizabeth Osgood Goodrich Willard in 1867. [ 8 ]  Roughly simultaneously a group of homophile activists, not yet identifying themselves as sexologists, were responding to shifts in  Europe 's national borders, a crisis that brought into conflict laws that were sexually liberal and laws that criminalized behaviors such as homosexual activity.


Despite the prevailing social attitude of sexual repression in  the Victorian era , the movement towards sexual emancipation began towards the end of the nineteenth century in England and Germany. In 1886,  Richard Freiherr von Krafft-Ebing  published  Psychopathia Sexualis .  That work is considered as having established sexology as a scientific discipline. [ 9 ]


In England, the founding father of sexology was the doctor and sexologist  Havelock Ellis  who challenged the  sexual taboos  of his era regarding  masturbation  and  homosexuality  and revolutionized the conception of sex in his time. His seminal work was the 1897  Sexual Inversion , which describes the sexual relations of homosexual males, including men with boys. Ellis wrote the first objective study of homosexuality (the term was coined by  Karl-Maria Kertbeny ), as he did not characterize it as a disease, immoral, or a crime. The work assumes that same-sex love transcended age  taboos  as well as gender taboos. Seven of his twenty-one case studies are of inter-generational relationships. He also developed other important psychological concepts, such as  autoerotism  and  narcissism , both of which were later developed further by  Sigmund Freud . [ 10 ]


Ellis pioneered  transgender  phenomena alongside the German  Magnus Hirschfeld . He established it as new category that was separate and distinct from homosexuality. [ 11 ]  Aware of Hirschfeld's studies of  transvestism , but disagreeing with his terminology, in 1913 Ellis proposed the term  sexo-aesthetic inversion  to describe the phenomenon. [ 12 ] [ 13 ]


In 1908, the first scholarly journal of the field,  Journal of Sexology  ( Zeitschrift für Sexualwissenschaft ), began publication and was published monthly for one year. Those issues contained articles by Freud,  Alfred Adler , and  Wilhelm Stekel . [ 3 ]  In 1913, the first academic association was founded: the  Society for Sexology . [ 14 ]


Freud developed a theory of sexuality. These  stages of development  include:  Oral ,  Anal ,  Phallic ,  Latency  and  Genital . These stages run from infancy to puberty and onwards. [ 15 ]  based on his studies of his clients, between the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  Wilhelm Reich  and  Otto Gross  were disciples of Freud, but rejected his theories [ vague ]  because of their emphasis on the role of sexuality in the revolutionary struggle for the emancipation of mankind.


Pre-Nazi Germany, under the sexually liberal  Napoleonic code , organized and resisted the anti-sexual, Victorian cultural influences. The momentum from those groups led them to coordinate sex research across traditional  academic disciplines , bringing Germany to the leadership of sexology. Physician  Magnus Hirschfeld  was an outspoken advocate for sexual minorities, founding the  Scientific Humanitarian Committee , the first advocacy for homosexual and transgender rights. [ 16 ]


Hirschfeld also set up the first  Institut für Sexualwissenschaft  (Institute for Sexology) in Berlin in 1919. [ 17 ]  Its library housed over 20,000 volumes, 35,000 photographs, a large collection of art and other objects. People from around Europe visited the institute to gain a clearer understanding of their  sexuality  and to be treated for their sexual concerns and dysfunctions.


Hirschfeld developed a system which identified numerous actual or hypothetical types of sexual intermediary between heterosexual male and female to represent the potential diversity of human sexuality, and is credited with identifying a group of people that today are referred to as  transsexual  or  transgender  as separate from the categories of homosexuality, he referred to these people as  transvestiten  (transvestites). [ 18 ] [ 19 ]  Germany's dominance in sexual behavior research ended with the  Nazi regime . [ 2 ]  The Institute and its library were destroyed by the Nazis less than three months after they took power, May 8, 1933. [ 3 ]  The institute was shut down and Hirschfeld's books were burned.


Other sexologists in the early  gay rights movement  included  Ernst Burchard  and  Benedict Friedlaender .  Ernst Gräfenberg , after whom the  G-spot  is named, published the initial research developing the  intrauterine device  (IUD).


After World War II, sexology experienced a renaissance, both in the United States and Europe. Large scale studies of sexual behavior, sexual function, and  sexual dysfunction  gave rise to the development of  sex therapy . [ 3 ]  Post-WWII sexology in the U.S. was influenced by the influx of European refugees escaping the Nazi regime and the popularity of the  Kinsey studies . Until that time, American sexology consisted primarily of groups working to end  prostitution  and to educate youth about  sexually transmitted infections . [ 2 ]   Alfred Kinsey  founded the  Institute for Sex Research  at  Indiana University  at  Bloomington  in 1947. This is now called the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction. He wrote in his 1948 book that more was scientifically known about the sexual behavior of farm animals than of humans. [ 20 ]


Psychologist and sexologist  John Money  developed theories on sexual identity and  gender identity  in the 1950s. His work, notably on the  David Reimer  case has since been regarded as controversial, even while the case was key to the development of treatment protocols for  intersex  infants and children. [ 21 ] [ 22 ] [ vague ]


Kurt Freund  developed the  penile plethysmograph  in  Czechoslovakia  in the 1950s. The device was designed to provide an objective measurement of  sexual arousal  in males and is currently used in the assessment of  pedophilia  and  hebephilia . This tool has since been used with  sex offenders . [ 23 ] [ 24 ]


In 1966 and 1970,  Masters and Johnson  released their works  Human Sexual Response  and  Human Sexual Inadequacy,  respectively. Those volumes sold well, and they were founders of what became known as the  Masters & Johnson Institute  in 1978.


Vern Bullough  was a historian of sexology during this era, as well as being a researcher in the field. [ 25 ]


The emergence of  HIV/AIDS  in the 1980s caused a dramatic shift in sexological research efforts towards understanding and controlling the spread of the disease. [ 26 ] [ 27 ]


Technological advances have permitted sexological questions to be addressed with studies using behavioral genetics, [ 28 ]  neuroimaging, [ 29 ]  and large-scale Internet-based surveys. [ 30 ]


Sexology is a regulated profession in some jurisdictions. In Quebec, sexologists must be members of the Ordre professionnel des sexologues du Québec. They are one of the professions eligible to receive  psychotherapy  permits from the Ordre des psychologues du Québec. [ 31 ]


This is a list of sexologists and notable contributors to the field of sexology, by year of birth:


Sexophobia  is the fear of  sexual organs  or  sexual activities [ 1 ]  and, in a larger sense, the fear of sexuality. As such, it can be applied to the attitude of a person based on their educational background, personal experience, and psyche, or to general stigmatization from collective entities like religious groups, institutions and/or states. [ 2 ]


Sexophobia in the clinical talk has an effect on the way patients speak to their doctors, as it manifests itself in the communication strategies that are employed to speak about private health problems. [ 3 ]  In that sense, the use of neutral and veiled vocabulary by doctors can discourage patients to speak openly about their sexual issues. [ 3 ]


Otherwise, historian and sociologist  Cindy Patton  has identified sexophobia as one of the main trends that characterized the development of the second phase of the  HIV epidemics  in Great Britain, along with homophobia and  germophobia . [ 4 ]


Most women can continue to engage in  sexual activity during pregnancy , including  sexual intercourse . [ 1 ]  Most research suggests that during pregnancy both sexual desire and frequency of sexual relations decrease. [ 2 ] [ 3 ]  In context of this overall decrease in desire, some studies indicate a second-trimester increase, preceding a decrease during the third trimester. [ 4 ] [ 5 ]


Sex during pregnancy is a low-risk behavior except when the healthcare provider advises that sexual intercourse be avoided for particular medical reasons. [ 1 ]  For a healthy pregnant woman, there is a variety of safe ways to have sex during pregnancy. [ 1 ]


Most research suggests that, during  pregnancy , sexual desire and frequency of sexual relations decrease. [ 2 ] [ 3 ]   In context of this overall decrease in desire, some studies indicate a second-trimester increase, preceding a decrease. [ 4 ]  However, these decreases are not universal: a significant number of women report greater sexual satisfaction throughout their pregnancies. [ 6 ]


Sex during pregnancy is a low-risk behaviour except when the physician advises that sexual intercourse be avoided, because it may, in some pregnancies, lead to serious pregnancy complications or health issues such as a high-risk for premature labour or a ruptured uterus. [ citation needed ]  Such a decision may be based upon a history of difficulties in a previous childbirth. However, it has been observed that evidence in this area is lacking and physicians' advice is more likely to be based on supposition than scientific knowledge. [ 7 ]


During pregnancy, the  fetus  is protected from sexual thrusting and unwanted semen by the  amniotic fluid  in the womb and by the  cervical mucus plug  in the woman's  cervix , which forms shortly after conception. [ 8 ] [ 9 ]


Some studies in the 1980s and 1990s contend that it is useful for pregnant women to continue to be sexually active, specifically noting that overall sexual satisfaction was correlated with feeling happy about being pregnant, feeling more attractive in late pregnancy than before pregnancy, and experiencing  orgasm . [ 4 ]  Sexual activity has also been suggested as a way to prepare for induced labor; some believe the natural prostaglandin content of seminal liquid can favor the maturation process of the cervix making it more flexible, allowing for easier and faster dilation and effacement of the cervix. However, the efficacy of using sexual intercourse as an induction agent "remains uncertain". [ 10 ]


There is tentative evidence for  exposure to partner's semen as prevention for pre-eclampsia , largely due to the absorption of several immune modulating factors present in seminal fluid. [ 11 ] [ 12 ]


Sexual intercourse after giving birth can begin when the couple are both ready. However most American couples wait six weeks. [ 13 ]  Ovulation and thus pregnancy can begin prior to a return to regular menses.


Sexual bimaturism  describes a difference in developmental timing between males and females of the same species. Sexual bimaturism can result in  sexual dimorphism , but sexual dimorphism could also develop through differential rates of development. In many insects, the larval period of females is longer than that of males, and as a result of this extended growth period, these female insects are larger than their male conspecifics. [ 1 ]
Male  simian  primates are generally larger than females of the same species due in part to extended growth periods. [ 2 ]
 Gorillas  demonstrate a particularly high degree of sexual bimaturism. [ 3 ]


Bimaturism can refer to developmental differences within a sex related to  secondary sex characteristics . For example, male  orangutans  reach sexual maturity around age 15 but undergo an additional period of development later in life before they exhibit cheek flanges. Flanged males are generally preferred by females so that unflanged males need different mating strategies to compete with flanged males. [ 4 ] [ 5 ]
The onset of this second developmental phase varies greatly and may be influenced by the proximity of other flanged males. [ 6 ]


In humans, sexual bimaturism is evident in that males begin  puberty  later than females. This may be related to selection for later maturation in males in a polygynous mating system. [ 7 ]


Sexual consent  is  consent  to engage in  sexual activity . [ 1 ] [ 2 ]  In many jurisdictions, sexual activity without consent is considered  rape  or other  sexual assault . [ 1 ] [ 2 ]


In the late 1980s, academic Lois Pineau argued that society must move towards a more communicative model of sexuality so that consent becomes more explicit and clear, objective and layered, with a more comprehensive model than "no means no" or "yes means yes". [ 3 ]  Many universities have instituted campaigns about consent. Creative campaigns with attention-grabbing slogans and images that market consent can be effective tools to raise awareness of campus sexual assault and related issues. [ 4 ]


In Canada, "consent means [...] the voluntary agreement of the complainant to engage in sexual activity" without abuse or exploitation of "trust, power or authority", coercion or threats. [ 5 ]  Consent can also be revoked at any moment. [ 6 ]  The  Supreme Court of British Columbia  ruled that badgering alone, followed by an agreement, does not meet the threshold of coercion to vitiate consent. [ 7 ]


Since the late 1990s, new models of sexual consent have been proposed. Specifically, the development of "yes means yes" and affirmative and ongoing models of consent, such as Hall's definition: "the voluntary approval of what is done or proposed by another; permission; agreement in opinion or sentiment." [ 6 ]  Hickman and Muehlenhard state that consent should be "free verbal or nonverbal communication of a feeling of willingness' to engage in sexual activity." [ 8 ]  Affirmative consent may still be limited since the underlying, individual circumstances surrounding the consent cannot always be acknowledged in the "yes means yes", or in the "no means no", model. [ 1 ]


Within the scholarly literature, definitions surrounding  consent  and how it should be communicated have been contradictory, limited or without consensus. [ 1 ] [ 2 ]  Dr James Roffee,  a senior lecturer in criminology in the  Monash University  School of Social Sciences, argues that legal definition (see  Legal concept of consent ) needs to be universal, so as to avoid confusion in legal decisions. He also demonstrates how the moral notion of consent does not always align with the legal concept. For example, some adult siblings or other family members may voluntarily enter into a relationship, however the legal system still deems this as incestual, and therefore a crime. [ 9 ]  Roffee argues that the use of particular language in the legislation regarding these familial sexual activities manipulates the reader to view it as immoral and criminal, even if all parties are consenting. [ 10 ]  Similarly, some  minors  under the legal  age of consent  may knowingly and willingly choose to be in a sexual relationship. However, the law does not view this as legitimate. While there is a necessity for an age of consent, it does not allow for varying levels of awareness and maturity. Here it can be seen how a moral and a legal understanding do not always align. [ 11 ]


Some individuals are unable to give consent, or even if they can verbally indicate that they consent, they are deemed to lack the ability to make informed or full consent (e.g., minors below the age of consent or an intoxicated person). People may also consent to unwanted sexual activity. [ 12 ]


In Canada,  implied consent  has not been a defence for  sexual assault  since the 1999  Supreme Court of Canada  case of  R v Ewanchuk , where the court unanimously ruled that consent has to be explicit, instead of merely "implied". [ 13 ]  In the United States, the defense may have a chance to convince the court that consent was in some way implied by the victim. Many actions can be perceived by the court as implied consent: having a previous relationship with the alleged rapist (e.g. befriending, dating, cohabitating, or marrying), [ 14 ]  consenting to sexual contact on previous occasions, flirting, [ 15 ]  or wearing "provocative" clothing. [ 16 ]


Unwanted sexual activity can involve rape or other sexual assault, but it may also be distinguished from them. Jesse Ford, the author of a 2018 study that showed that men are having unwanted sex with women to "prove they are not gay", states that "[a]ll sexual assault is unwanted sex, but not all unwanted sex is sexual assault." [ 17 ]


A 1998 study showed that both men and women "consen[t] to unwanted sexual activity" in heterosexual dating; in these cases, they consented to unwanted sex to satisfy their partner, "promote intimacy", or avoid tension in the relationship. [ 18 ]  The authors argue that estimates of "unwanted (nonconsensual) sexual experiences" may confound nonconsensual sex and consensual sex. [ 18 ]


There can be verbal or nonverbal consent, or a mix of the two types, depending on different policies and laws. According to  Bustle  writer Kae Burdo, the maxim "only verbal consent counts" is limited, in that it fails to accommodate parties that can only consent non-verbally, such as people with disabilities and those in BDSM communities . [ 19 ]  Dartmouth College's rules on consent state that a communication in intimate encounters is often nonverbal cues such as smiling, nodding, and touching another person; however, it states that "...body language often isn't enough" because interpreting body language is risky, so the best option is to use "explicit verbal communication". [ 20 ]   The New York Times  reports that men typically use nonverbal indicators to determine consent (61 percent say they perceive consent through a partner's  body language ), but women typically wait till a partner verbally asks them before they indicate consent (only 10 percent say they indicate consent through body language), a differing approach that may lead to confusion in heterosexual couples' encounters. [ 21 ]


Mary Spellman, the dean of students at Claremont McKenna College, states that her college allows either verbal or non-verbal consent, with non-verbal consent being assessed by looking at whether the other person is "actively participating" and touching the other person when he is touching her or encouraging the first person", signs which indicate that a "...person is an active participant in whatever is going on." [ 22 ]


The  Daily Dot  states that verbal consent is best because both participants can clearly indicate what they want, ask questions and seek clarification; in contrast, nonverbal consent may not be clear, as people "...have different understandings of gestures, “vibes,” and nonverbal cues", which can lead to "ambiguity and misunderstanding". [ 23 ]   Lisa Feldman Barrett , a psychologist and neuroscientist, states that in a sexual consent context, "[f]ace and body movements aren't a language" that participants can rely on, because the human "brain is always guessing" about how to interpret smiles and expressions; as such, "...facial movements are terrible indicators of consent, rejection and emotion in general" and they are "not a replacement for words." [ 24 ]


It is widely accepted that non-human animals are unable to give consent. Consent is generally not considered with respect to its legality. Instead, laws that address this make it illegal with exceptions given for  Animal husbandry  and  Veterinarian  practices. [ 25 ]


Minors  below a certain age,  age of sexual consent  in that  jurisdiction , are deemed not able to give valid consent by law to sexual acts. The age of consent is the age below which a minor is considered to be  legally incompetent  to consent to  sexual acts . Consequently, an adult who engages in sexual activity with a minor younger than the age of consent cannot claim that the sexual activity was consensual, and such sexual activity may be considered  statutory rape . The person below the minimum age is regarded as the victim and his or her sex partner is regarded as the offender, unless both are underage. The purpose of setting an age of consent is to protect an underage person from sexual advances. Age of consent laws vary widely from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, though most jurisdictions set the age of consent in the range 14 to 18. The laws may also vary by the type of sexual act, the gender of the participants or other considerations, such as involving a  position of trust ; some jurisdictions may also make allowances for minors engaged in sexual acts with each other, rather than a single age.


Jennifer A. Drobac, who teaches law at Indiana University, states that young adults aged 16 to 21 should only be able to "offer “assent” to sex with a significantly older person", rather than consent, but then "permit them to revoke that assent at any time". [ 26 ]


Likewise, persons with  Alzheimer's disease  or similar disabilities may be unable to give  legal consent  to sexual relations even with their spouse. [ 27 ]  New York does not consider it to be consent in cases where people have a physical disability that makes them unable to communicate that they do not consent, either using words or physically or if they have a mental illness or other mental condition that makes them unable to understand the sexual activity. [ 28 ]   South Carolina  has a 10-year penalty for a person who has sex with a person who is mentally challenged or incapable of movement. [ 28 ]  Law professor  Deborah Denno  argues that people with some types of mental challenges should be able to consent to sex; she says they "...have the right to do so, and unnecessarily broad and moralistic restrictions infringe upon that right". [ 29 ]


In some jurisdictions, individuals who are intoxicated from alcohol or drugs cannot consent. For example, Michigan Criminal Sexual Conduct Laws states that it is a crime to have sex with a “mentally incapacitated” person who cannot control their conduct or consent. [ 30 ]


In Canada, intoxication is a factor that affects whether a person can legally consent to sexual activity. However, the level of intoxication that will make consent impossible varies according to circumstances, which include how intoxicated the person is and whether they voluntarily consumed the alcohol or drugs. [ 31 ]  The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that a person drunk to the point of unconsciousness cannot consent to sex; the court ruled that once a person loses consciousness, they cannot consent. [ 31 ]  There was public outrage after a Canadian judge ruled that an intoxicated person can consent; however, a legal expert interviewed by CBC stated that "a drunken consent is still a consent" under Canadian law. [ 31 ]


In Canada, a judge ruled in the 2011  R v JA  case that a person who is asleep or unconscious cannot consent to sex. [ 32 ]


When determining if a sexual encounter was consensual, Canadian courts will consider if the accused was in a "position of trust or authority" regarding the complainant, as this undermines consent. [ 31 ]  While this general principle is part of Canadian law, the courts are debating exactly what the definition of a position of trust and authority is. [ 31 ]  Some examples of people in positions of trust or authority include a teacher, employer or boss, camp counselor, health care professional, or coach.