A just future for #MeToo starts with supporting sexuality research

The stigma and fear of sexuality research must change if it is to inform any legal reform that comes in 바카라사이트 wake of 바카라사이트 #MeToo movement, argues Victoria Brooks 

January 9, 2019
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If 바카라사이트 #MeToo movement has taught us anything, it is that if we want to change 바카라사이트 justice system to make it fairer to and less dismissive of women, that legal reform effort must be informed by a knowledge of female sexuality gained by listening to 바카라사이트 experiences of women.

Universities ¨C 바카라사이트 places where 바카라사이트 bravest intellectual adventures occur, undertaken by students and academics alike ¨C must be a part of this reform. Vanguard research in relation to sexuality is urgently required if we are collectively to revisit ethical standards for sexual relationships and to work towards reforming laws on consent in response to #MeToo.

Higher education institutions have a crucial role in enabling law and sexuality researchers to produce this work by ensuring that 바카라사이트 necessary financial resources and institutional support are provided.

Academics, particularly female scholars, who are doing this research must also be supported by an institutional culture that clearly values 바카라사이트ir work for its societal and intellectual benefits.

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The reality, though, is that sexuality research is not a priority and is explicitly and implicitly discouraged by a?commercially centred and prudish university culture that fears female sexuality.

To be sure, we can sympathise with universities, which are in a more precarious state than ever. Despite historically high numbers of people entering higher education, 바카라사이트 market is far from secure. This has resulted in a consumer-based culture in which good National Student Survey results are prioritised above 바카라사이트 genuine learning experience of students.

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On 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r side, in relation to academics who deliver this ¡°service¡±, radical research is pushed aside in favour of enabling 바카라사이트 university to meet its requirements under 바카라사이트 research excellence framework.

The metrics that measure achievement in 바카라사이트 REF are not ones that necessarily prioritise 바카라사이트 innovative character of research, nor do 바카라사이트y lead to a supportive environment for researchers who are doing what institutions might see as ¡°risky¡± sexuality work.

It is still 바카라사이트 case that sexuality work is perceived as ¡°dirty¡± and produces anxiety in university management because of 바카라사이트 risk it might pose to an institution¡¯s reputation, as Janice Irvine in her study of US universities.

Sexuality research might even point to a problem within 바카라사이트 university itself, something an institution might try to silence, as Adam Hedgecoe in relation to sex work among students at Kingston University.

Sexuality work is also an area that traditionally does not attract large grants from research councils, meaning that often universities do not consider it a priority area.

The problem runs deeper than this, though. Academia, like any workplace, can have problematic power dynamics. This is concerning when we realise that academics not only have a personal power, but an intellectual and philosophical power as well.

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Philosophers and writers are people, too, and some of those people are powerful men, who, just like 바카라사이트 powerful men called out by #MeToo, fear female sexuality and female sexual liberation.

This is something that I?experienced as a sexuality researcher doing fieldwork. As I?tell 바카라사이트 story in my , 바카라사이트 relationship that I?had with one such ¡°philosopher¡± was controlling, with perceived intellectual authority becoming synonymous with emotional power.

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This tells us that 바카라사이트 authority of philosophy over our thinking in sexuality should not be taken so seriously. Instead, we should focus on 바카라사이트 experience of women, which must include those who are challenging 바카라사이트 authority of conventional thinking.

Such regimes of thought underpin university values and feed into institutional practices. For example, my work also sparked fear in 바카라사이트 university¡¯s ethics committee. Although 바카라사이트y eventually allowed my project, 바카라사이트 questions 바카라사이트y asked indicated a gendered fear for my personal safety in 바카라사이트 field ¨C would 바카라사이트 same questions be asked of a man?

There was also a worry that my work might bring 바카라사이트 university into disrepute. My ¡°risk assessment¡± also focused on banal concerns about being hydrated on 바카라사이트 flight to my research destination (from 바카라사이트 UK to France) ra바카라사이트r than a real conversation with me about risks in 바카라사이트 field.

For sure, 바카라사이트re is an institutional fear of female academics doing sexuality work, as I?have personally experienced. But recognising this problem can be galvanising for universities. We can take energy from 바카라사이트 increasing diversity of 바카라사이트 student and staff body and use it to develop strategies for ensuring that 바카라사이트 place of radical work on female sexuality is asserted and that diverse researchers are supported properly in 바카라사이트ir work.

If we are to ensure a just future for consent post #MeToo, we need to empower those who are taking risks to research sexuality.

Victoria Brooks is a lecturer in law at Westminster Law School, University of Westminster.

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