dans le feu de l'action

Why does sex play such an important role as a metaphor of moral panic? Sex seems dangerous because it crosses the borders of our bodies. Anthropologist Mary Douglas argues that the whole, inviolate body often symbolized the sanctity of society. In sex, people’s bodies are penetrated, they leak bodily fluids, and they might lose this sense of inviolation and wholeness. Sex therefore becomes a metaphor of people’s fears of other kinds of boundary violation. Sex often seems to be pollution, which Douglas defines as “matter out of place”, especially people, actions or substances which do not conform to the rigid categories set forth by society. More recently, theorists such as Ann Stoler have shown that fears about sexual trangression concern wider fears about social and especially racial boundaries.

The fear of sex tends to erupt when social boundaries are threatened, when plague threatens a city, when subaltern people demand their rights, when politicians need an enemy. For instance, when local uprisings or nationalist movements challenged imperial authorities, the fear of the “black rapist” emerged. This did not mean that there was an actual upsurge of indigenous men attacking white women; rather, the image of the black rapist became a metaphor for fear that colonized people would attack imperialism.

These anxieties about sexual boundaries sometimes explode into “moral panics”. Moral panics happen when moralists, activists or journalists concoct hysterical popular stereotypes of those they consider sexually deviant, and blame them for a crisis in society. They stir up popular concern through sermons and speeches, and demand action, such as expulsion or even execution… Moral panics are not necessarily a response to changes in sexual behaviour, but metaphors for these wider fears about social boundaries.