Rate My Professor Theodore Bennett

Dr Theodore Bennett is a Senior Lecturer in Sexology in the Curtin School of Population Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, at Curtin University. An interdisciplinary socio-legal scholar, he focuses on the areas of sex, gender, and sexuality, drawing on disciplines including law, criminology, and health sciences. His academic background includes a PhD from the University of Western Australia, a Master of Sexology (MSexol), Bachelor of Laws with Honours (LLB Hons), and Bachelor of Arts (BA). Before joining Curtin, Bennett was a Lecturer at the University of Western Australia Law School, where his research interests in criminal law, sexuality, and the human body were cultivated. At Curtin, he contributes to population health research and teaching in sexology.

Bennett's scholarship critically examines the legal regulation of sexual practices, consent paradigms, body modifications, kink communities, sex positivity, and related social stigmas. His book Cuts and Criminality: Body Alteration in Legal Discourse (Routledge, 2016) provides a comprehensive analysis of how legal discourses frame body alterations as criminal. Key peer-reviewed articles include 'Beauty and the beast: Analogising between cosmetic surgery and female genital mutilation' (Flinders Law Journal, 2012); 'Persecution or play? Law and the ethical significance of sadomasochism' (Social & Legal Studies, 2015); 'Unorthodox rules: The instructive potential of BDSM consent for law' (Journal of Positive Sexuality, 2018); 'A fine line between pleasure and pain: Would decriminalising BDSM permit nonconsensual abuse?' (Liverpool Law Review, 2021); 'Positive potential: How sex positivity can benefit legal thinking and sex work regulation in Australia' (Monash University Law Review, 2022, with Z Stardust); 'A Record of Violence: The Continuing Criminalization of BDSM Activities' (book chapter, 2023); 'The marginalization of kink: Kinkphobia, vanilla-normativity and kink-normativity' (Journal of Homosexuality, 2025); and '“Switch it up”: A qualitative analysis of BDSM switches' (Sexualities, 2025). With more than 220 citations on Google Scholar, his work influences ongoing discussions on enthusiastic consent standards, decriminalization of consensual kink practices, and protections against discrimination based on sexual orientations and practices. Bennett delivers public lectures, including on kink and consent, enhancing academic and community understanding of these topics.