Is sexuality research ‘dirty work’? Institutionalized stigma in the production of sexual knowledge

Abstract

Sexuality research has a long history of controversy in the USA. This article examines sexuality research as a form of “dirty work,” an occupation that is simultaneously socially necessary and stigmatized. Using survey data of contemporary sociologists engaged in sexuality research, historical data on 20th century sexologists, and content analysis of top-tier sociology journals, I focus on the university system and its related functions of publishing, funding, and ethical review boards. I argue that sexuality research is constructed as dirty work by systematic practices of the university system, and further suggest that these practices impose stigma effects that are not simply individual but represent persistent patterns of institutional inequality. Further, I show how these institutional practices are shaped by cultural schemas regarding sexuality, enacted through cognitive and affective bias of institutional actors. The construction of sexuality research as dirty work affects not only researchers themselves but shapes the broad production of sexual knowledge.