This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Richardson, D. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

Claiming Citizenship? Sexuality, Citizenship and Lesbian/Feminist Theory

University of Newcastle

In this article I seek to examine some of the key issues arising from a relatively new and rapidly expanding literature on sexuality and citizenship, looking primarily at how lesbian and gay theorists have engaged with the concept of sexual citizenship in general and lesbian citizenship in particular. I shall explore the question of whether sexual citizenship is being used as a sexual/gender-neutral or a sexual/gender-differentiated concept. In addition, and in so far as citizenship is defined in terms of rights and duties, the question of sexual rights and obligations will be discussed. Overall, an attempt is made to critically assess the complex interrelationships between this new body of work and lesbian/feminist perspectives. I hope to demonstrate how within such theoretical frameworks the expansion of a concept of sexual citizenship is far from unproblematic. These theoretical developments in understanding sexual citizenship are located against a backdrop of changing notions of `sexual politics', more especially the increasingly dominant `equal rights' approach to claiming citizenship.

Key Words: citizenship • feminism • lesbian • sexual citizenship • sexuality

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. Kuntsman The Soldier and the Terrorist: Sexy Nationalism, Queer Violence Sexualities, February 1, 2008; 11(1-2): 142 - 170. [Abstract] [PDF]

				S. Monro and L. Warren Transgendering Citizenship Sexualities, August 1, 2004; 7(3): 345 - 362. [Abstract] [PDF]

				M. Rahman The Shape of Equality: Discursive Deployments during the Section 28 Repeal in Scotland Sexualities, May 1, 2004; 7(2): 150 - 166. [Abstract] [PDF]

				S. Wise and L. Stanley V. Beyond Marriage: 'The Less Said about Love and Life-Long Continuance Together the Better' Feminism Psychology, May 1, 2004; 14(2): 332 - 343. [PDF]

				I. Lttichau 'We are Family': The Regulation of 'Female-Only' Reproduction Social Legal Studies, March 1, 2004; 13(1): 81 - 101. [Abstract] [PDF]

				D. Langdridge and T. Butt A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Investigation of the Construction of Sadomasochistic Identities Sexualities, February 1, 2004; 7(1): 31 - 53. [Abstract] [PDF]

				S. Monro Transgender Politics in the UK Critical Social Policy, November 1, 2003; 23(4): 433 - 452. [Abstract] [PDF]

				M. Waites Equality at Last? Homosexuality, Heterosexuality and the Age of Consent in the United Kingdom Sociology, November 1, 2003; 37(4): 637 - 655. [Abstract] [PDF]

				C. Johnson Heteronormative Citizenship and the Politics of Passing Sexualities, August 1, 2002; 5(3): 317 - 336. [Abstract] [PDF]