Pure Romance: Unfastening the Sex Toy Stigma

The topic of sexuality generates a wealth of public discussion, disagreement, and social control, in addition to being an important political issue for feminists. According to Foucault (1978), the process of determining which activities and sensations are considered “sexual” is a historical and cultural process, and therefore represents a discourse that evolves as a response to social constructions. Sexuality has historically been repressed, with social institutions such as churches, the military, schools, and more broadly the state enforcing surveillance and control over bodies and sexuality (Foucault 1978). There is a need for sexuality to be discussed and analyzed sociologically, with particular attention to female sexuality and how the personal has become public. Responding to my interest in the social repression of female sexuality, I chose Pure Romance as a site for ethnographic research.