When legal scholars or judges approach the subject of sexuality, they are often constrained by theoretical frameworks and disciplinary boundaries. For instance, queer theorists focus on sexual liberty and the rights of sexual minorities but tend to ignore troubling issues such as sexual violence. Feminist theorists focus on sexual violence but often fail to recognize the joy of sexuality. Elaine Craig explores the possibility of devising a legal theory of sexuality that embraces both the good and the bad – a theory that ensures equality without assimilation, diversity without exclusion, and liberty without suffering. Her reading of the Supreme Court of Canada’s approach to sexuality in a wide range of cases – sex work, sexual violence, child and gay pornography, and discrimination claims based on sexual orientation – reveals that judges maintain an essentialist understanding of sexuality that limits legal remedies and renders certain harms invisible. However, the Court’s feminist-inspired approach to sexual violence, which recognizes the socially constructed nature of sexuality, holds the promise of producing legal reasoning that can both protect and promote sexual integrity as a common interest. Blending feminist theory with the inclusiveness of queer theory, Craig advances an iconoclastic approach to law and sexuality that has the power to transform both theory and practice. | Troubling Sex by Elaine Craig, Hardcover | Indigo Chapters