Neoliberal Enticements, Neoliberal Dangers: An Ethnographic Content Analysis of Everyday Sexuality in Fresh Meat, Greek, and Sweet Vicious

Abstract

This chapter uses ethnographic content analysis to examine how universities are constructed as sites of neoliberal, everyday sexuality in three comedy dramas all set in universities: Fresh Meat in the UK, and Greek and Sweet/Vicious in the USA. It argues that they largely though not entirely portray controversial and dangerous aspects of everyday sexuality in universities, for example a sexualised audit culture, as existing on a continuum with its enticing aspects, and not as deviant or criminal outliers. Foucauldian neoliberalism provides a conceptual framework to explore this continuum, and two dimensions of it are examined: universities as sexual markets and sexual agency. The mediated nature of contemporary sexuality makes such an analysis important. Ideas are also offered on how to incorporate pop cultural analysis into efforts which combat everyday sexuality’s problematic elements in universities.