What do we really mean when we say that someone is “bad in bed”? The idea sounds self-evident, yet it rests on a simplified and often misleading understanding of sexuality as performance rather than interaction. In practice, it creates insecurity, constrains agency, and makes intimacy more controlled and less free. It is time to stop rating people and start talking about compatibility instead. “I have a very high sex drive and need good partners to be satisfied. I’d never risk developing feelings for someone who later turned out to be bad in bed or poorly endowed.” Some people have a…
Posts published in “Culture, Norms and Social Order”
Culture, Norms and Social Order
Societies are held together not only by laws and institutions, but also by norms, assumptions and informal rules. Culture defines what is considered normal, deviant, desirable or unacceptable—and, in doing so, determines which lives are granted space and legitimacy.
This theme brings together analyses of cultural systems of norms and social order. The focus is on sexuality, relationships, moral panics, identity, gender and power, as well as the unspoken agreements that shape everyday life and social interaction. The articles explore how norms are reproduced, how they are defended, and how deviations are sanctioned.
Here, culture is understood as a structuring framework for social life. The analysis encompasses both explicit conflicts and more subtle forms of social control: shame, respectability, boundary-making and belonging.
This theme creates space for analysing phenomena that are often individualised or psychologised, but are in fact collective and structural in nature. It is concerned with understanding how culture functions as a form of power—and how that power can be challenged.
Trelleborg’s decision not to employ people who refuse to shake hands with members of the opposite sex is entirely reasonable. Refusing to shake hands is an ideological statement, and ideological special interests should not be allowed to take precedence over secular values. In Sweden, we make a fist and raise our thumb to signal approval. Try the same gesture in parts of the Middle East and it may be perceived as obscene or deeply offensive. A gesture, in other words, is never merely a gesture. It carries connotations and cultural associations that shape its meaning and determine how it is…
Today’s parents are often forced to choose between teaching their children to do the right thing and giving them the best possible chance of succeeding in life. That is the consequence of a society in which being moral, diligent, kind and fair is far from always rewarded. People often say that your views on parenting change once you have children of your own. As an expectant parent, I expected as much. What I did not expect was the constant tension between conventional morality and giving my children the tools they need to succeed in contemporary society. Time and again, it…
Our tendency to attribute human characteristics to animals has contributed to strong standards of animal welfare. Yet it also has a troubling downside. Equating human beings with animals diminishes the relative status of human beings and contributes to their dehumanisation—a prerequisite for many of the worst things people are capable of doing to one another. “In suffering, humans and animals are equal. There is no difference. A pig is as intelligent as a child with an intellectual disability.” It has been twenty years since a former spokesperson for the Green Party Youth of Sweden compared people with intellectual disabilities to…
A sex doll brothel has opened in Helsinki, and the phenomenon of sex robots provokes reactions so strong that some are calling for them to be banned. Yet creating and maintaining moral taboos around sexuality is a far greater offence than having sex with a doll, argues Hanna-Karin Grensman. A protruding stomach beneath a creased shirt. A dark line of dirt and skin residue visible inside the collar. An ill-fitting polyester suit carrying the unmistakable smell of sweat embedded deep within the fabric. Thin black hair combed carefully across a balding scalp. Glasses with narrow metal frames that constantly slide…
Traditions matter, and denying or downplaying their significance is a profoundly misguided position. When the media fills with arguments about cancelled Saint Lucia celebrations and banned gingerbread costumes, the resulting concern reflects something genuine: a fear that important values are being lost. That concern deserves to be taken seriously. The script is almost painfully predictable. It begins with reports that a school has restricted or cancelled some aspect of a traditional celebration. The familiar cast of characters soon appears: the outraged parent, the upset child, and the teacher who explains and defends the decision. In the next act, a senior…