Resisting Sex Exceptionalism

Emily Tilton and Lauren Roe

Many people think that sex is high stakes: when having (or pursuing) sex with someone else, you must tread more cautiously than you normally do, because sexual wrongs are particularly weighty wrongs. This view has taken on an air of feminist significance: anyone who denies the special importance of sexual wrongs is aiding and abetting the patriarchal campaign of sexual violence against women. We resist this view and its feminist pretensions. We argue that this form of sex exceptionalism is a relic of patriarchal ideology that continues to function to restrict sexual autonomy while also making justice for sexual wrongdoing more difficult to secure. Making space for mild-to-moderate sexual wronging avoids the dangers of catastrophizing or of sweeping things under the rug.