Charmed Circle (Symbol)
In discussing the sexual hierarchy of the United States, Rubin turns to the symbol of the charmed circle. The inside of this circle is where she puts the kinds of sex America approves of, and on the outer ring of the circle, she puts the kinds of sex that is disapproved of. She explains:
According to this system, sexuality that is ‘good’, ‘normal’, and ‘natural’ should ideally be heterosexual, marital, monogamous, reproductive, and non-commercial. It should be coupled, relational, within the same generation, and occur at home. It should not involve pornography, fetish objects, sex toys of any sort, or roles other than male and female. Any sex that violates these rules is ‘bad’, ‘abnormal’, or ‘unnatural’. Bad sex may be homosexual, unmarried, promiscuous, non-procreative, or commercial. It may be masturbatory or take place at orgies, may be casual, may cross generational lines, and may take place in ‘public,’ or at least in the bushes or the baths. It may involve the use of pornography, fetish objects, sex toys, or unusual roles. (152)
This quote lists all the kinds of sex that get to be on the inside of the circle, where they are protected and cared for. In contrast, all the kinds of sex on the outside are marginalized, literally pushed away from the center of American respectability. These kinds of “bad, “abnormal,” and “commercial” sex are stigmatized and oppressed.
Drawing a Line (Motif)
In order to construct a sexual hierarchy, American society constantly “draws a line” between sex it approves of and sex it disapproves of. This is a motif, which means that it recurs both throughout American history and throughout Rubin’s essay. Societies always draw this line; what matters is, at a given time, what ends up on either side of the line. Rubin explains:
[A]nother aspect of the sexual hierarchy [is] the need to draw and maintain an imaginary line between good and bad sex. Most of the discourses on sex, be they religious, psychiatric, popular, or political, delimit a very small portion of human sexual capacity as sanctifiable, safe, healthy, mature, legal, or politically correct. The ‘line’ distinguishes these from all other erotic behaviors, which are understood to be the work of the devil, dangerous, psychopathological, infantile, or politically reprehensible. Arguments are then conducted over ‘where to draw the line,’ and to determine what other activities, if any, may be permitted to cross over into acceptability. (152)
Drawing a line serves not only to stigmatize “bad” sex, but also to construct the “goodness” of legitimized sex. People can say “well at least I don’t have sex like that,” where that refers to something on the other side of the line. This is a constant activity of dividing society into spheres of approval.
