Overview

Revisits the sex wars of the 1970s and ’80s and examines their influence on how we think about sexual harm in the #MeToo era #MeToo’s stunning explosion on social media in October 2017 radically changed—and amplified—conversations about sexual violence as it revealed how widespread the issue is and toppled prominent celebrities and politicians. But, as the movement spread, a conflict emerged among feminist supporters and detractors about how punishment should be doled out and how justice should be served. The New Sex Wars reveals that these clashes are nothing new. Delving into the contentious debates from the ’70s and ‘80s, Brenda Cossman traces the striking echoes in the feminist divisions of this earlier period. In exploring the history of past conflicts—the resistance to finding common ground, the media’s pleasure in portraying the debates as polarized cat fights, the simplification of viewpoints as pro- and anti-sex—she shows how they have come to shape the #MeToo era. From the ’70s to today, Cossman examines tensions between the need for recognition and protection under the law, and the colossal and ongoing failure of that law to redress historic injustice. By circumventing law altogether, #MeToo has led us to question whether justice can be served outside of the courtroom. Cossman argues for a different way forward—one based on reparative models that focus on shared desired outcomes and the willingness to understand the other side. Thoughtful and compelling, The New Sex Wars explores what can been learned from these stories, what traps we repeatedly fall into, how we have been denied our anger, and where to begin to make law work.

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9781479802708

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Reviews

If anyone has the potential to upend the recursive logic of the sex wars it is Brenda Cossman, whose writing has for years used nuance, empathy, and humor to offer confident, innovative queer critiques that nonetheless speak to feminist sensibilities. Here she takes on that project of repair or reconciliation in earnest, and connects it to a set of controversies that will garner her a wide range of readers. Cossman's clear-eyed, imaginative reconceptualization should by all rights transform this debate, but will in any case deeply enrich its participants.--Kathryn Abrams, Herma Hill Kay Distinguished Professor of Law, University of California Berkeley School of Law The New Sex Wars is essential reading for those interested in a nuanced evaluation of feminist contestations over sex, both present and past.--Aya Gruber, author of The Feminist War on Crime: The Unexpected Role of Women's Liberation in Mass Incarceration The New Sex Wars is extremely well mapped and well conceived. Cossman's capacity to wrestle an unwieldy social problem to the ground and apply a clear and analytic eye is unparalleled. This book will make a significant contribution to gender studies, especially in law but also more generally.--Libby Adler, author of Gay Priori: A Queer Critical Legal Studies Approach to Reform Brenda Cossman clears a fabulously feminist path out of the 'sex wars of infinite regress.' By reconstructing the polarizing flashpoints of our contemporary sexual politics, The New Sex Wars impresses upon us the urgency of reading for repair. Too much ink has been spilt charting the alleged antipathies across feminisms; Cossman instead mines generative contestations within feminist formations so that we might countenance rather than caricature our comrades' definitions of, and proposed remedies against, sexual violence. Taking sexual harm seriously, Cossman shows, will require unlinking anger from vengeance and decoupling justice from the carceral.--Joseph Fischel, Yale University

The New Sex Wars is extremely well mapped and well conceived. Cossman’s capacity to wrestle an unwieldy social problem to the ground and apply a clear and analytic eye is unparalleled. This book will make a significant contribution to gender studies, especially in law but also more generally. -- Libby Adler, author of Gay Priori: A Queer Critical Legal Studies Approach to Reform Brenda Cossman clears a fabulously feminist path out of the ‘sex wars of infinite regress.’ By reconstructing the polarizing flashpoints of our contemporary sexual politics, The New Sex Wars impresses upon us the urgency of reading for repair. Too much ink has been spilt charting the alleged antipathies across feminisms; Cossman instead mines generative contestations within feminist formations so that we might countenance rather than caricature our comrades’ definitions of, and proposed remedies against, sexual violence. Taking sexual harm seriously, Cossman shows, will require unlinking anger from vengeance and decoupling justice from the carceral. -- Joseph Fischel, Yale University If anyone has the potential to upend the recursive logic of the sex wars it is Brenda Cossman, whose writing has for years used nuance, empathy, and humor to offer confident, innovative queer critiques that nonetheless speak to feminist sensibilities. Here she takes on that project of repair or reconciliation in earnest, and connects it to a set of controversies that will garner her a wide range of readers. Cossman’s clear-eyed, imaginative reconceptualization should by all rights transform this debate, but will in any case deeply enrich its participants. -- Kathryn Abrams, Herma Hill Kay Distinguished Professor of Law, University of California Berkeley School of Law The New Sex Wars is essential reading for those interested in a nuanced evaluation of feminist contestations over sex, both present and past. -- Aya Gruber, author of The Feminist War on Crime: The Unexpected Role of Women’s Liberation in Mass Incarceration Cossman provides a nuanced and illuminating analysis of the role of due process talk in #MeToo discussions, and of contestations regarding ‘sexual misconduct’ … The New Sex Wars is an excellent exercise in how to think about contemporary feminist issues. * Criminal Law and Criminal Justice Books * In The New Sex Wars: Sexual Harm in the #MeToo Era, Brenda Cossman, a law professor, dubs #MeToo 'Sex Wars 2.0' even as she aims to disrupt 'binary antagonisms' by building on the insights of 'sex-positive feminism, queer theory, and anti-carceral feminism'... [she] provide[s] us with important insights about the interrelationships among feminism, sexuality, harm, pleasure, and race. * Journal of the History of Sexuality *

The New Sex Wars is extremely well mapped and well conceived. Cossman's capacity to wrestle an unwieldy social problem to the ground and apply a clear and analytic eye is unparalleled. This book will make a significant contribution to gender studies, especially in law but also more generally. -- Libby Adler, author of Gay Priori: A Queer Critical Legal Studies Approach to Reform Brenda Cossman clears a fabulously feminist path out of the 'sex wars of infinite regress.' By reconstructing the polarizing flashpoints of our contemporary sexual politics, The New Sex Wars impresses upon us the urgency of reading for repair. Too much ink has been spilt charting the alleged antipathies across feminisms; Cossman instead mines generative contestations within feminist formations so that we might countenance rather than caricature our comrades' definitions of, and proposed remedies against, sexual violence. Taking sexual harm seriously, Cossman shows, will require unlinking anger from vengeance and decoupling justice from the carceral. -- Joseph Fischel, Yale University If anyone has the potential to upend the recursive logic of the sex wars it is Brenda Cossman, whose writing has for years used nuance, empathy, and humor to offer confident, innovative queer critiques that nonetheless speak to feminist sensibilities. Here she takes on that project of repair or reconciliation in earnest, and connects it to a set of controversies that will garner her a wide range of readers. Cossman's clear-eyed, imaginative reconceptualization should by all rights transform this debate, but will in any case deeply enrich its participants. -- Kathryn Abrams, Herma Hill Kay Distinguished Professor of Law, University of California Berkeley School of Law The New Sex Wars is essential reading for those interested in a nuanced evaluation of feminist contestations over sex, both present and past. -- Aya Gruber, author of The Feminist War on Crime: The Unexpected Role of Women's Liberation in Mass Incarceration

Author Information

Brenda Cossman is the Goodman-Schipper Chair and Professor of Law at the University of Toronto. She is the author of The New Sex Wars: Sexual Harm in the #MeToo Era and Sexual Citizens: The Legal and Cultural Regulation of Sex and Belonging.

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