ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that in matters of sex and love there are conflicts among liberty, justice, and equality. In the domains of sex and love, mutuality, generosity, and caring are thought to be crucial, but these expectations directly contradict the liberal model of people as self-interested, utility-maximizing individuals. The gendered aspect of much sex work can support gender norms in which men are expected to be dominant and women passive, and that make sex an accomplishment for a man and sullying for a woman. Historically, love, sex, and family life were thought to be protected from norms of self-interest, negotiation, and competition. Domestic life could then serve as a refuge where the caring and other-regardingness naturally associated with love and the generosity and mutuality often associated with sex would make sense. A form of sexuality that was outlawed–and that is condemned by some religious authorities–seems unproblematic to most Americans, provided only that all participants are freely-consenting adults.
