Thesis: I will examine laws regulating homosexuality and sex work in both the U.S. and in Singapore. I will also analyze, compare, and contrast the reasons for the criminalization and the changing decriminalization of non-heteronormative marriage and sex as described by Rubin’s “Charmed Circle” to better understand how people view forms of love in these two locations.

Outline is below:

Introduction: Rubin’s Charmed Circle

• Rubin, G. “Thinking Sex: Notes for a Radical Theory of the Politics of Sexuality,” in Pleasure

and Danger: Exploring Female Sexuality, edited by Carole S. Vance (Boston: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1984), 267-331

Summary: Rubin’s article is the initial reason why I decided to take this research topic. It explores the accepted and unaccepted forms of love that is determined by society through law. Not only does it lay the foundation for my own paper, but it also gives useful examples of sodomoy laws and other criminalized forms of love.

Paragraph 1:

• Laws in Singapore on homosexuality
  • Source 1: Decriminalization of Male Homosexual Sex in Singapore.” Asian-Pacific Law & Policy Journal, vol. 20, no. 1, Dec. 2018, pp. 50–95. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=134593689&site=ehost-live.
  • Yi’s article explores homosexuality within Singapore as being criminalized by the state. Not only that but it also gives the possible ways that the legal system can change based on its own constitution. This is useful for finding ways to decriminalized certain forms of love in a country that views them outside the charmed circle.

Paragraph 2:

• Laws in Asian on sex work

• Source 2: Faqir, Fadia. “Intrafamily Femicide in Defence of Honour: The Case of Jordan.” Third World
• Quarterly, vol. 22, no. 1, Feb. 2001, pp. 65–82. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/713701138.
• Faqir’s article looks at the case of legal honor killings where national laws allow for the killing of women based on their perceived transgressions against the family’s honor. This article analyzes the honor-bound laws in the Middle East that criminalize certain
• Source 3: Crimes’ Against Women.” Asia-Pacific Journal on Human Rights & the Law, vol. 5, no. 2, July 2004, pp. 63–78. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1163/157181504774852050.
• Similar to Faqir’s article, this also looks at honor crimes against women based on sexual activity outside of marriage and other restrictions placed on women. This is useful because it actually analyzes honor killings across the country throughout the Middle east, Asia, and even the US with varying levels of legality. actions by women in society. This will be useful for my paper because it shows how different forms of sex and romance are criminal in certain parts due to tradition.

Paragraph 3:

• Laws regulating homosexuality/other forms of love in the U.S.
  • Source 4: Vance, C. “Social Construction Theory: Problems in the History of Sexuality.” Pp. 13-34 in Which Homosexuality? Ed. By Dennis Altman et al. Amsterdam: Dekker-Schorer. 1989.
  • Vance’s article discusses the social construction theory and how it forms acceptable practices of love. I think that it is useful to show how certain criminal behavior is determined by society with no real scientific basis.
  • Source 5: Faucon, Casey E. “Decriminalizing Polygamy.” Utah Law Review, vol. 2016, no. 5, Sept. 2016, pp. 709–778. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=120269571&site=ehost-live.
  • Faucon’s article discusses the legal battle for polygamy for a family in Utah that argues for polygamy to be legal on the grounds of Free Speech within the country. This will be useful to analyze how some forms of marriage are legal but others are not within the United States and to see how polygamy supporters are combating it within the legal system by using certain arguments about the constitution.

Paragraph 4:

• Laws regulating sex work in the U.S.
• Source 6: Bernstein, E. “Buying and Selling the ‘Girlfriend Experience’: The Social and Subjective Contours of Market Intimacy.” Pp. 186-203 in Love and Globalization: Transformations of Intimacy in the Contemporary World, eds. Mark Padilla, Richard Parker, et. al. Vanderbilt University Press.
• Bernstein’s article discusses sex work within the modern globalized world. This is useful to show the personal ways that sex workers provide a useful service within their communities and how this has been stigmatized by society.
• Source 7: ARMSTRONG, LYNZI. “Decriminalisation and the Rights of Migrant Sex Workers in Aotearoa/New Zealand: Making a Case for Change.” Women’s Studies Journal, vol. 31, no. 2, Dec. 2017, pp. 69–76. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=127189418&site=ehost-live.
• Armstrong’s article talks about New Zealand’s the Prostitution Reform Act (PRA) as it is internationally regarded as an ideal model for prioritizing sex workers’ rights and safety. This article is useful because it not only helps protect sex worker’s rights, but also goes against sex trafficking. For my paper, it gives a legal framework on how to decriminalize sex work.
• Faqir, Fadia. “Intrafamily Femicide in Defence of Honour: The Case of Jordan.” Third World

Paragraph 5:

• How we regulate female bodies, how we regulate bodies of different races?
• Source 8: Davis, A. “Racism, Birth Control and Reproductive Rights” in Women, Race, and Class. New York: Random House, 1983 pp. 117-127
• Davis’ article discusses the women’s movement and the fight for reproductive rights as being part of their fight for independence. I think this is a good article to show the journey women had to take so that they can be taken seriously on the political stage from the beginning of how marital rape was considered legal.
• Source 9: A Taste for Brown Sugar — black bodies
• To combat these unfair treatments/sexism, feminist porn: source 10 “The Feminist Porn”

Conclusion