We live – personally, politically, theoretically – in “exciting times”: environmental and socio-political crises; “post-truths”; nationalistic authoritarianism; convergence of business, politics and entertainment. So what does this all mean for the future of sexuality and violence? How are we think about this question? First, in macro terms, future scenarios for sexualities, and violence, are wildly divergent, perhaps operating in parallel: heteropatriarchies: greater gender/sexual difference and greater sexual or gender/sexual inequality; late capitalist: greater gender/sexual similarity and greater sexual or gender/sexual inequality; sexual differentiation: greater gender/sexual difference and greater sexual or gender/sexual equality; and sexual blurring: greater gender/sexual similarity and greater sexual or gender/sexual equality. Second, and more specifically, ten years ago, I highlighted six interconnecting dialectics for sexualities in the future, relating to: LGBTIQ+ movements, persistence of (sexual) violence, population ageing, environmental change, problematisation of sex and biology, and ICTs and virtualization – that together were likely to produce significant changes in sexualities. Now, these dynamics seem more complex still. Third, there seems to be a growing “zone of uncertainty” between sexualities, with all the desire, orientation, fantasy and practices involved, and what can be called ‘non-sexualities’. On one hand, societal sexualisation proceeds, in public space, pornographisation of media and culture, revenge pornography, deepfakes, and so on; proliferating ICTs facilitate new and diverse virtual/in-the-flesh sexual practices; Grindr, Tinder and sexting are normalised; talk of machinic sex robots almost mainstream; Tumblr lists some 90 different sexualities. Meanwhile, decline in ITF sexual activity is reported from, for example, Finland, Japan and the US, and amongst young people, married couples and older people. Maybe what sexuality is is becoming less clear.  

Speaker: Professor Jeff Hearn, Örebro University

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The Gendering in Research Network provides a platform for gender researchers and students at Aarhus University to discuss, collaborate, and exchange ideas. For further information about the Gendering in Research Network, please contact: Lea Skewes, IMC Theresa Ammann, IMC

The Gendering in Research Network provides a platform for gender researchers and students at Aarhus University to discuss, collaborate, and exchange ideas. For further information about the Gendering in Research Network, please contact: