I am a feminist sociologist, with a longstanding interest in gender, sexuality, the body and risk as well as aspects of the sociology of consumption. I been a professor at the Universities of Stirling and Durham, where I was also Postgraduate Dean. I was Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences at Keele from 2005-9 and Pro Vice Chancellor at GCU 2009-13. Since 2013 I have in theory, but not in practice, been semi retired and have continued with my academic work as well as undertaking consultancy in the form of support for the REF and Department, Faculty, whole University and National research reviews in the UK, Finland and Portugal, as well as acting a a mentor to senior staff in a number of UK universities. I am a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and was President of the British Sociological Association 2007-9 and of the European Sociological Association 2017-19. I have written many articles and a book ('Theorising Sexuality' Open University Press 2010) on sexuality with Professor Stevi Jackson. Currently I am planning work on the BBC Radio4 Desert Island Discs archive and also continuing to interview feminist sociologists about the biographical intertwining of the academic and the political.
This article explores the possibility of developing a feminist approach to gendered and sexual em... more This article explores the possibility of developing a feminist approach to gendered and sexual embodiment which is rooted in the pragmatist/interactionist tradition derived from G.H. Mead, but which in turn develops this perspective by inflecting it through more recent feminist thinking. In so doing we seek to rebalance some of the rather abstract work on gender and embodiment by focusing on an instance of ‘heterosexual’ everyday/night life – the production of the female orgasm. Through engaging with feminist and interactionist work, we develop an approach to embodied sexual pleasure that emphasizes the sociality of sexual practices and of reflexive sexual selves. We argue that sexual practices and experiences must be understood in social context, taking account of the situatedness of sex as well as wider socio-cultural processes – the production of sexual desire and sexual pleasure (or their non-production) always entails interpretive, interactional processes.
It is widely assumed that late modern societies are becoming progressively more sexually liberal,... more It is widely assumed that late modern societies are becoming progressively more sexually liberal, regardless of whether this is seen as beneficial or not. However, ‘progress’ in this direction is, in actuality, very uneven and gives rise to a number of antinomies and associated anxieties. For example, in a society where erotic imagery is commonplace in the media, there are still enormous anxieties about preserving children’s sexual ‘innocence’ (i.e. ignorance); gay and lesbian chic exists alongside continued homophobic harassment and violence; queer destabilization of heterosexual norms co-exits with claims for inclusion into homosexual institutions; tolerance of pre-marital, even casual, sex and of marital breakdown and serial relationships coexists with intolerance of teenage pregnancy and the continuing reification of monogamy. This article will explore such tensions, raising questions about the continued ‘special status’ of sexuality and sexual relations.
Both public and academic debates on the sexualization of culture and its impact on children and y... more Both public and academic debates on the sexualization of culture and its impact on children and young people have a history. In this chapter, we locate current concerns about children and sex in historical context through a retrospective engagement with our own work, set against the backdrop of wider social changes since the 1970s. We write as feminist sociologists who have been actively engaged with the sociology of sexuality for four decades both separately and together. We reflect on our motivations for becoming and remaining academically interested in this area based on our own experience of changing sexual mores over time. We map changes but also highlight continuities in relation to the ways in which sexuality was, and continues to be, seen as a danger to children and especially to girls. Underlying our analysis is the argument that anxieties around children and sex and the challenges this poses for children and young people derive from constructions of sexuality as a special area of life and the child as a special category of person; we will argue for the need to question and disrupt the ways in which the former is seen as inimical to the well-being of the latter. This has been a recurrent theme in our work and, despite changes in the sexual landscape, remains relevant to contemporary critical analysis.
Amid ever more abstract theorizations of ‘the body’, calls are now frequently made for greater at... more Amid ever more abstract theorizations of ‘the body’, calls are now frequently made for greater attention to be given to the lived, fleshy experience of embodiment. Where sexuality, and especially hetero-sexuality, is concerned, such calls are currently more easily made than answered. On the one hand we have theories of the body and of the social construction of sexuality which say little about embodied sexual practices and on the other we have statistical data on who does what with whom and how often, but which tells us nothing about the processes involved.
Sex education is an interactive process in which young women actively engage with, resist and acc... more Sex education is an interactive process in which young women actively engage with, resist and accommodate a range of contradictory messages and models. In this paper the way young women experience 'learning about sex' related to their sexual practice and expectations of sexual ...
This article explores the possibility of developing a feminist approach to gendered and sexual em... more This article explores the possibility of developing a feminist approach to gendered and sexual embodiment which is rooted in the pragmatist/interactionist tradition derived from G.H. Mead, but which in turn develops this perspective by inflecting it through more recent feminist thinking. In so doing we seek to rebalance some of the rather abstract work on gender and embodiment by focusing on an instance of ‘heterosexual’ everyday/night life – the production of the female orgasm. Through engaging with feminist and interactionist work, we develop an approach to embodied sexual pleasure that emphasizes the sociality of sexual practices and of reflexive sexual selves. We argue that sexual practices and experiences must be understood in social context, taking account of the situatedness of sex as well as wider socio-cultural processes – the production of sexual desire and sexual pleasure (or their non-production) always entails interpretive, interactional processes.
It is widely assumed that late modern societies are becoming progressively more sexually liberal,... more It is widely assumed that late modern societies are becoming progressively more sexually liberal, regardless of whether this is seen as beneficial or not. However, ‘progress’ in this direction is, in actuality, very uneven and gives rise to a number of antinomies and associated anxieties. For example, in a society where erotic imagery is commonplace in the media, there are still enormous anxieties about preserving children’s sexual ‘innocence’ (i.e. ignorance); gay and lesbian chic exists alongside continued homophobic harassment and violence; queer destabilization of heterosexual norms co-exits with claims for inclusion into homosexual institutions; tolerance of pre-marital, even casual, sex and of marital breakdown and serial relationships coexists with intolerance of teenage pregnancy and the continuing reification of monogamy. This article will explore such tensions, raising questions about the continued ‘special status’ of sexuality and sexual relations.
Both public and academic debates on the sexualization of culture and its impact on children and y... more Both public and academic debates on the sexualization of culture and its impact on children and young people have a history. In this chapter, we locate current concerns about children and sex in historical context through a retrospective engagement with our own work, set against the backdrop of wider social changes since the 1970s. We write as feminist sociologists who have been actively engaged with the sociology of sexuality for four decades both separately and together. We reflect on our motivations for becoming and remaining academically interested in this area based on our own experience of changing sexual mores over time. We map changes but also highlight continuities in relation to the ways in which sexuality was, and continues to be, seen as a danger to children and especially to girls. Underlying our analysis is the argument that anxieties around children and sex and the challenges this poses for children and young people derive from constructions of sexuality as a special area of life and the child as a special category of person; we will argue for the need to question and disrupt the ways in which the former is seen as inimical to the well-being of the latter. This has been a recurrent theme in our work and, despite changes in the sexual landscape, remains relevant to contemporary critical analysis.
Amid ever more abstract theorizations of ‘the body’, calls are now frequently made for greater at... more Amid ever more abstract theorizations of ‘the body’, calls are now frequently made for greater attention to be given to the lived, fleshy experience of embodiment. Where sexuality, and especially hetero-sexuality, is concerned, such calls are currently more easily made than answered. On the one hand we have theories of the body and of the social construction of sexuality which say little about embodied sexual practices and on the other we have statistical data on who does what with whom and how often, but which tells us nothing about the processes involved.
Sex education is an interactive process in which young women actively engage with, resist and acc... more Sex education is an interactive process in which young women actively engage with, resist and accommodate a range of contradictory messages and models. In this paper the way young women experience 'learning about sex' related to their sexual practice and expectations of sexual ...
Uploads
Papers by Sue Scott