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Rebecca S Whisnant

Professor; Chair of the Department of Philosophy

Full-Time Faculty

College of Arts and Sciences: Philosophy

Contact

Email: Rebecca S Whisnant
Phone: 937-229-2937
HM 421A

Degrees

  • Ph.D., University of North Carolina

Profile

Dr. Whisnant's primary research is in ethical theory and feminist social theory. She received her M.A. and Ph.D in philosophy from UNC-Chapel Hill. From 2001-03, she taught at the University of Southern Indiana, and she joined the University of Dayton in 2003. Dr. Whisnant served previously as the director of the Women's and Gender Studies Program. She is currently the chair of the Department of Philosophy.

Faculty perspective

"I especially enjoy research and teaching that is interdisciplinary and that combines my interests in philosophical thinking and social justice. It is a privilege to be able to introduce students to perspectives and ways of thinking that bear directly on their own lives and choices."

Research interests

  • Ethical theory
  • Feminist social theory
  • Sexual ethics
  • Ethics of war and peace
  • Ethics of reproduction
  • Nonviolence theory
  • Morality and self-concern
  • Sexual violence and exploitation

Selected publications

“[Not] Buying It: Prostitution as Unwanted Sex.” Dignity: A Journal on Sexual Exploitation and Violence: Vol. 2: Iss. 2, June 2017.

“Pornography, humiliation, and consent.” Sexualization, Media, and Society (July-September 2017).

“Our blood: Andrea Dworkin on race, privilege, and women’s common condition.” Women’s Studies International Forum 58, 2016.

"But what about feminist porn? Examining the work of Tristan Taormino.” Sexualization, Media, and Society (April 2016).

“Not your father’s Playboy, not your mother’s feminist movement: Feminism in a porn culture.” In Meagan Tyler and Miranda Kiraly, eds., Freedom Fallacy: The Limits of Liberal Feminism, Connor Court Publishing, 2015.

"From Jekyll to Hyde: The Grooming of Male Pornography Consumers" in Karen Boyle, ed., Everyday Pornography (Routledge 2010)

"'A Woman's Body is Like a Foreign Country': Thinking About National and Bodily Sovereignty," in Whisnant and DesAutels, eds., Global Feminist Ethics (Rowman and Littlefield 2008).

Rebecca Whisnant and Peggy DesAutels, eds., Global Feminist Ethics (Rowman and Littlefield 2008).

Rebecca Whisnant and Christine Stark, eds., Not for Sale: Feminists Resisting Prostitution and Pornography (Spinifex Press 2004).

"Woman Centered: A Feminist Ethic of Responsibility," in Moral Psychology: Feminist Ethics and Social Theory, edited by Margaret Walker and Peggy DesAutels (Rowman and Littlefield 2004).