Genevieve Couvret
Genevieve Couvret is an MPhil in Law student at Brasenose College, University of Oxford. Her research develops a phenomenological account of the value of sex that moves beyond the traditional focus on consent. Drawing on legal philosophy and feminist legal theory, her work explores what makes sex valuable, how sexual value can be understood in the context of gender injustice, and the broader implications of this understanding for the legal regulation of sexual activity.
- What is the title of your research, and what is it about?
My research is titled The Value of Sex: Subjectivity, Objectification, and the Limits of Consent. I develop a positive theory of the value of sex rooted in phenomenology. I distinguish this from a theory of consent and argue that sexual value should not be collapsed into questions of consent. My aim is to provide an account of sexual value that can withstand ongoing circumstances of gender injustice and encompass the diverse ways in which people engage in sexual activity.
- Who is your supervisor?
Dr Kate Greasley
- How did you come up with your research topic?
There is a lacuna in legal theory on sex when it comes to what makes sex good. I previously published research on the limitations of the consent paradigm in the context of affirmative consent reforms. In continuing to explore these ideas in developing my MPhil thesis, I noticed that the preoccupation with consent has left the question of what makes sex valuable relatively unexplored. I considered that a theory about what makes sex valuable would not only be instructive from an individual standpoint but might help inform the level of social importance that we place on sex and, in turn, the limits and bounds of sexual regulation beyond the consent framework.
- Why did you choose Oxford to undertake research in Criminal Law?
The Oxford Faculty of Law is one of the best in the world. In particular, Oxford casts a long shadow over jurisprudence and legal philosophy from H.LA. Hart and Ronald Dworkin to John Gardner and I was particularly drawn to how Oxford provides the space to take legal philosophy and feminist approaches to the law seriously.
- How do you hope your research will contribute to law and society?
The questions of whether sex can or should be circumscribed, the extent to which it should be protected, and whether it exists as a right or privilege not only dominate the culture wars but have become a metric for whether current social and legal conditions enable individuals to live a meaningful life. My hope is that a theory of value contributes to answering some of these questions and provides some sort of framework for individuals to think beyond consent and work towards value.