Defining the Moral Panics of Sexuality
According to sociologist Stanley Cohen, a moral panic is a social movement against an exaggerated or fabricated threat from individuals or groups believed to undermine the safety and security of society (2011). Moral panics follow similar trajectories across history, with genres that vary according to important topics. These topics include traditional identities like race, ethnicity, religion, class, sexuality, gender, and nationality. Participants in moral panics appeal to traditional “values” against what they believe is an existential threat to specific groups, communities, or society at large. Primary responses to moral panics include social and political mobilization, strong moral regulation, legal and economic strictures, public shaming, and physical violence.
Moral panics of sexuality specifically focus on fear and anxiety around certain sexual practices and identities that go against social norms and accepted moral belief. These sexual...
References
Abcarian, R. (2022, April 20). Abcarian: The latest scare tactic to rile the GOP base? The word “groomer”. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2022-04-20/groomers-g-gop-lgbtq-sex-education-teachers
Center for Strategic and International Studies. (2021, October 28). Examining extremism: Qanon. Center for Strategic and International Studies. https://www.csis.org/blogs/examining-extremism/examining-extremism-qanon
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021a, December 22). HIV and STD criminalization laws. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/policies/law/states/exposure.html
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021b, July 23). Cancers caused by HPV. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/hpv/parents/cancer.html
Cohen, S. (2011). Folk devils and moral panics. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/978020382825
Critcher, C. (2009). Widening the focus: Moral panics as moral regulation. The British Journal of Criminology, 49(1), 17–34.
Eligon, J., & Shear, M. D. (2018, May 24). Trump pardons Jack Johnson, heavyweight boxing champion. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/24/sports/jack-johnson-pardon-trump.html
Eugenios, J. (2022, April 13). How 1970s Christian crusader Anita Bryant helped spawn Florida’s LGBTQ culture war. NBC News. Retrieved from https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/1970s-christian-crusader-anita-bryant-helped-spawn-floridas-lgbtq-cult-rcna24215
Evans, J. (2021, November 24). Folk devils and fear: Qanon feeds into a culture of moral panic. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/folk-devils-and-fear-qanon-feeds-into-a-culture-of-moral-panic-148606
Fahs, B., Dudy, M., & Stage, S. (2013). The moral panics of sexuality. Palgrave Macmillan.
Gallagher, J. (2021, November 4). HPV vaccine cutting cervical cancer by nearly 90%. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/health-59148620
Goode, E., & Ben-Yehuda, N. (2009). Moral panics the social construction of deviance (2nd ed.). Wiley-Blackwell.
Greer, W. R. (1986, November 23). Violence against homosexuals rising, groups seeking wider protection say. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/1986/11/23/us/violence-against-homosexuals-rising-groups-seeking-wider-protection-say.html
Haynes, S. (2020, June 19). The history behind the LGBTQ fight against police violence. Time. https://time.com/5855232/lgbtq-protest-history/
Hier, S. P. (2011). Tightening the focus: Moral panic, moral regulation and liberal government. British Journal of Sociology, 62(3), 523–541. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-4446.2011.01377.x
Hudson, J. (2013, October 26). Pat Robertson blames natural disaster victims. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2010/01/pat-robertson-blames-natural-disaster-victims/341489/
Johnson, D. K. (2004). The lavender scare: The Cold War persecution of gays and lesbians in the federal government. University of Chicago Press.
Karpman, B. (1951). The sexual psychopath. JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 146(8), 721–726. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.1951.03670080029008
Klas, M. E. (2022, March 29). A breakdown of the language in Florida’s so-called “don’t say gay” bill. Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved from https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/2022/03/29/a-breakdown-of-the-language-in-floridas-so-called-dont-say-gay-bill/
Lave, T. R. (2009). Only yesterday: The rise and fall of twentieth century sexual psychopath laws. Louisiana Law Review, 69(3), 549–591.
Lavietas, M. (2022, January 13). National blood crisis reignites calls for FDA to end gay donor restrictions. NBCNews.com. https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-politics-and-policy/national-blood-crisis-reignites-calls-fda-end-gay-donor-restrictions-rcna11918
Lipton, E. (2016, December 5). Man motivated by “Pizzagate” conspiracy theory arrested in Washington gunfire. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/05/us/pizzagate-comet-ping-pong-edgar-maddison-welch.html?_r=0
Morrow, D. F. (2019). Matthew Shepard 20 years later: Social, political, and hate crimes’ impact in rural America. In The legacies of Matthew Shepard (1st ed., pp. 49–56). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429053979-4
Neale, R. (1967). Working-class women and women’s suffrage. Labour History, 12, 16–34. https://doi.org/10.2307/27507859
Newkirk, V. R. (2016, June 13). What’s the public-health justification for bans on gay blood donations? There is none. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/06/homophobia-hiv-blood-ban-orlando-shooting/486818/
Ogles, J. (2022, March 6). DeSantis press secretary spews “unbridled hatred” of LGBTQ+ community. The Advocate. Retrieved from https://www.advocate.com/politics/2022/3/06/desantis-press-secretary-spews-unbridled-hatred-lgbtq-community
Park, H., & Mykhyalyshyn, I. (2016, June 16). L.G.B.T. people are more likely to be targets of hate crimes than any other minority group. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/06/16/us/hate-crimes-against-lgbt.html
Pateman, C. (1988). The sexual contract. Stanford University Press.
Price, J. (2018, February 9). Barnaby Joyce’s other betrayal. The Sydney Morning Herald. https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/barnaby-joyces-other-betrayal-20180209-h0vurf.html
Roose, K. (2020, August 12). Qanon followers are hijacking the #savethechildren movement. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/12/technology/qanon-save-the-children-trafficking.html
Shafer, S. (2018, November 27). 40 years after the assassination of Harvey Milk, LGBTQ candidates find success. KCUR 89.3 - NPR in Kansas City. Retrieved from https://www.kcur.org/2018-11-27/40-years-after-the-assassination-of-harvey-milk-lgbtq-candidates-find-success
Sheerin, J. (2018, October 26). Matthew Shepard: The murder that changed America. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-45968606
Singer, L. (1993). Erotic welfare: Sexual theory and politics in the age of epidemic. Routledge.
Sutherland, E. (1950). The sexual psychopath laws. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 40(5), 543–554. https://doi.org/10.2307/1137845
Tanne, J. H. (2007). Texas governor is criticised for decision to vaccinate all girls against HPV. BMJ, 334(7589), 332–333. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.39122.403044.DB
Tiffany, K. (2021, December 11). The great (fake) child-sex-trafficking epidemic. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2022/01/children-sex-trafficking-conspiracy-epidemic/620845/
United States Government Publishing Office. (2017). Federal Register. Presidential Documents, 82(13), 8128–8129. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2017-01-23/pdf/2017-01623.pdf
Young, I. M. (1993). Sexual ethics in the age of epidemic. Hypatia, 8(3), 184–193. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1527-2001.1993.tb00044.x
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Karger, M. (2022). Moral Panics of Sexuality. In: The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Sexuality Education. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-95352-2_5-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-95352-2_5-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-95352-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-95352-2
eBook Packages: Springer Reference EducationReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Education