Culture Society And Sexuality

This work offers an introduction to the central debates in sexuality research. Among the issues examined are the social and cultural dimensions of sex, human sexuality and sex research.

This new and revised edition of Culture, Society and Sexuality brings together and makes accessible a broad and international selection of readings to provide insights into the social, cultural, political and economic dimensions of sexuality and relationships, and emerging discourses around sexual and reproductive rights. Clearly structured and presented, the book makes an extremely useful reference for students and researchers. Section one focuses on the social and cultural construction of sexuality as an emerging field of inquiry over the course of recent decades, and examines some of the most important theoretical insights and areas of investigation that have emerged as this field has developed. Section two links research on the construction of sexuality to a growing body of work on gender and sexuality in relation to a wide range of practical issues and contemporary social policy debates. It is an essential reader not only for students and researchers in these areas, but also for activists, health workers and service providers, who daily confront practical and policy issues related to sexuality, sexual health and sexual rights.

Using case-studies from East and Southeast Asia, this book examines sexuality and AIDS-related sexual risk in the context of Asian cultures. It offers a complementary perspective, documented with sociological and anthropological data, to historical studies and looks at commercial sex work, kinship systems, matrimonial strategies, gender, power relations, and the relevance of cultural constructs such as Confucianism and Taoism for the analysis of sexual cultures in Asia.

The last twenty years have seen a growth in multi-disciplinary work in the area of sexuality, culture and health. What was once a set of specialist concerns has been steadily mainstreamed. Alongside this, a broader interest has developed in ‘social’ and 'cultural’ factors relating to sexuality and sexual health, from family planning and STI management to gender and intimate partner violence and the technologisation of sex. This book offers a research-based overview of key topics relevant to social and cultural perspectives on sexuality and sexual health. Beginning with an extended introduction and divided into six sections, it looks at culture, sex and gender, sexual diversity, sex work, migration and sexual violence. Each section opens with an editorial discussion which places the theme, and the chapters that follow, in a contemporary context. Six additional substantive chapters can be accessed online at www.routledge.com/cw/aggleton. Including cutting-edge conceptual and empirical material from around the world, this is a key resource for students in, and across, a variety of academic disciplines in the social and health sciences. It is especially suitable for readers from sexuality studies, gender studies, development studies, anthropology and sociology as well as those with public health and social work backgrounds.

In this multidisciplinary study of human sexuality, an international team of scholars looks at the influences of nature and nurture, biology and culture, and sex and gender in the sexual experiences of humans and other primates. Using as its center the idea that sexual pleasure is the primary motivational force behind human sexuality and that reproduction is simply a byproduct of the pleasurability of sex, this book examines sexuality at the individual, societal, and cultural levels. Beginning with a look at the evolution of sexuality in humans and other primates, the essays in the first section examine the sexual ingenuity of primates, the dominant theories of sexual behavior, the differences in male and female sexual interest and behavior, and the role of physical attractiveness in mate selection. The focus then shifts to biological approaches to sexuality, especially the genetic and hormonal origins of sexual orientation, gender, and pleasure. The essays go on to look at the role of pleasure in different cultures. Included are essays on love among the tribespeople of the Brazilian rain forest and the regulation of adolescent sexuality in India. Finally, several contributors look at the methodological issues in the study of human sexuality, paying particular attention to the problems with research that relies on people's memories of their sexual experiences. The contributors are Angela Pattatucci, Dean Hamer, David Greenberg, Frans de Waal, Mary McDonald Pavelka, Kim Wallen, Donald Symons, Heino Meyer-Bahlburg, Jean D. Wilson, Donald Tuzin, Lawrence Cohen, Thomas Gregor, Lenore Manderson, Robert C. Bailey, Alice Schlegel, Edward H. Kaplan, Richard Berk, Paul R. Abramson, Paul Okami, and Stephen D. Pinkerton. Spanning the chasm of the nature versus nurture debate, Sexual Nature/Sexual Culture is a look at human sexuality as a complex interaction of genetic potentials and cultural influences. This book will be of interest to a wide range of readers—from scholars and students in psychology, anthropology, sociology, and history to clinicians, researchers, and others seeking to understand the many dimensions of sexuality. "If we ever expect to solve the sexually based problems that modern societies face, we must encourage investigations of human sexual behavior. Moreover, those investigations should employ a broad range of disciplines—looking at sex from all angles, which is precisely what Sexual Nature, Sexual Culture does."—Mike May, American Scientist "...This timely and relevant book reminds us that we cannot rely on simple solutions to complex problems. It represents a transdiciplinary approach integrating knowledge from diverse fields and provides the reader with a challenging and rewarding experience. Especially for those who are involved in teaching human sexuality to medical students and other health care professionals, this book is highly recommended."—Gerald Wiviortt, M.D., Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease "In short, this volume contains much to stimulate, inform, and amuse, in varying proportions. What more can one ask?"—Pierre L. van den Berghe, Journal of the History of Sexuality "...the book succeeds in bring together some of the sharpest thinkers in the field of human sexuality, and goes a long way toward clarifying the diverse perspectives that currently exist."—David M. Buss and Todd K. Shackelford, Quarterly Review of Biology

As the anthropological study of sex becomes more focused within the discipline, this volume offers a cross-section of current research that examines the biological and cultural interface of sexuality. Through articles dealing with the difficulties in obtaining observational data and the relationship between biological and cultural influences, the contributors seek to understand why anthropology has not been better able to integrate behavioral and ideological approaches. Contributions range from methodological concerns such as the proposal for more holistic studies and the problem of relying strictly on people’s reports of their sexual behavior, to substantive issues such as cultural implications of biological research and how different cultures distinguish between romantic love and erotic sex. Integrating a wide range of viewpoints, the volume demonstrates that the study of sexuality is becoming more relevant to anthropology and provides a touchstone for scholars confronted with an increasingly bewildering array of approaches to this topic.

How do contemporary young people construct their sexual identities? Are young people sexually liberated, or is human sexuality increasingly controlled and manipulated by commercial forces? Thomas Johansson explores the construction of sexual identities by young people as part of a wider process of identity construction, combining the work of key authors such as Elias and Foucault with original and revealing empirical material drawn from an extensive survey of the views of 1300 sixteen to nineteen year olds, combined with a number of qualitative in-depth interviews with different sexual subcultures. Topics covered include fidelity and infidelity, love, homosexuality, pornography and beauty ideals. Designed to look beyond media images and popular prejudices the book illustrates how young people of both genders, of different nationalities and of different group allegiances view and relate to their own sexuality.