The book confronts the anxieties associated with sexuality in the late modern, western world and engages with wider debates on social transformations in late modernity. As such, it provides both an overview of the field of sexuality as well as setting a new agenda for debating the topic.
This book explores heterosexualities in their complex and everyday expressions. It engages with theories about the intersection of sexuality with other markers of difference, and gender in particular. The outcome will productively upset equations of heterosexuality with heteronormativity and accounts that cast heterosexuality in "sex critical, sex as danger" terms. Queer/feminist ‘pro-sex’ perspectives have become prevalent in analyses of sexuality, but in these approaches queer becomes the site of subversive, transgressive, exciting and pleasurable sex, while heterosex, if mentioned at all, continues to be seen as objectionable or dowdy. It challenges heterosexuality’s comparative absence in gender/sexuality debates and the common constitution of heterosexuality as nasty, boring and normative. The authors develop an innovative analysis showing the limits of the sharply bifurcated perspectives of the "sex wars". This is not a revisionist account of heterosexuality as merely one option in a fluid smorgasbord, nor does it dismiss the weight of feminist/pro-feminist critiques of heterosexuality. This book establishes that if relations of domination do not constitute the analytical sum of heterosexuality, then identifying its range of potentialities is clearly important for understanding and helping to undo its "nastier" elements.
Despite its centrality to much of contemporary personal and public discourse, sexuality remains infrequently discussed in most composition courses, and in our discipline at large. Moreover, its complicated relationship to discourse, to the very languages we use to describe and define our worlds, is woefully understudied in our discipline. Discourse about sexuality, and the discourse of sexuality, surround us—circulating in the news media, on the Web, in conversations, and in the very languages we use to articulate our interactions with others and our understanding of ourselves. It forms a core set of complex discourses through which we approach, make sense of, and construct a variety of meanings, politics, and identities. In Literacy, Sexuality, Pedagogy, Jonathan Alexander argues for the development of students' "sexual literacy." Such a literacy is not just concerned with developing fluency with sexuality as a "hot" topic, but with understanding the intimate interconnectedness of sexuality and literacy in Western culture. Using the work of scholars in queer theory, sexuality studies, and the New Literacy Studies, Alexander unpacks what he sees as a crucial--if often overlooked--dimension of literacy: the fundamental ways in which sexuality has become a key component of contemporary literate practice, of the stories we tell about ourselves, our communities, and our political investments. Alexander then demonstrates through a series of composition exercises and writing assignments how we might develop students' understanding of sexual literacy. Examining discourses of gender, heterosexuality, and marriage allows students (and instructors) a critical opportunity to see how the languages we use to describe ourselves and our communities are saturated with ideologies of sexuality. Understanding how sexuality is constructed and deployed as a way to "make meaning" in our culture gives us a critical tool both to understand some of the fundamental ways in which we know ourselves and to challenge some of the norms that govern our lives. In the process, we become more fluent with the stories that we tell about ourselves and discover how normative notions of sexuality enable (and constrain) narrations of identity, culture, and politics. Such develops not only our understanding of sexuality, but of literacy, as we explore how sexuality is a vital, if vexing, part of the story of who we are.
This book re-examines political, conceptual and methodological concerns of 'intersectionality', bringing these into conversation with sexuality studies. It explores sexual identifications, politics and inequalities as these (dis)connect across time and place, and are re-constituted in relation to class, disability, ethnicity, gender and age.
Theorizing Gender Violence introduces students to critical sociological theories used to understand and respond to gender violence. The text emphasizes feminist theory and demonstrates how other theories have supported, challenged, and expanded upon feminist theory to shape and enrich various approaches to and perspectives regarding the subject. The text examines multiple types of gender violence, including physical, psychological, emotional, and sexual, as well as a range of contexts of violence, including domestic violence, campus sexual assault, stalking, and more. Dedicated chapters examine theories commonly used by researchers and practitioners, including Johnson's typology, male peer support theory, intersectionality, queer theory, ecological frameworks, and routine activities theory. For each, students read a vignette, learn the background of the theory, examine an analysis of the theory, and then engage more deeply with the material through reflection questions, a case example, and a reflection contributed by a scholar in the field. The text concludes by summarizing the theories, identifying their similarities and differences, and discussing the current state and the future of the field. Theorizing Gender Violence is part of the Cognella Series on Family and Gender-Based Violence, an interdisciplinary collection of textbooks featuring cross-cultural perspectives, cutting-edge strategies and interventions, and timely research on family and gender-based violence.
Most of us are programmed into thinking of our sexuality as a wholly natural feature of life. But sexual relations are just one form of social relations. Sexuality has both a history and a sociology -- it is not simply a matter of biological or psychological drives. Drawing on the analysis of Michel Foucault and other key thinkers, this new edition of Sexuality examines the subject in terms of social, moral and political issues, and features new material on AIDS, queer theory and postcolonial perspectives on race. This book provides an indispensable, comprehensive introduction to the sociology of sexuality, discussing its cultural and socio-historical construction, its relationship with power, and the state's involvement in its rationalization and regulation.
How did classical sociology emerge and take shape? What is the significance of classical sociology for current theoretical debates? How can the classical tradition in social theory inform our understanding of the crisis of modernity? Social theory has been formed through elaboration and critique of the classical tradition, and this introductory volume illuminates current theoretical terrain by examining major classical theories - of Saint-Simon, Comte, Marx, Durkheim, Dilthey, Tonnies, Simmel and Weber - highlighting recurring themes and debates. It explains how classical sociology emerged through a debate with the Enlightenment, in which the concept of the 'social' took shape. This was constructed around various themes emphasizing contrasting components of social life - including material, cultural, rational and moral factors. These divergent theorizations set the scene for the play of theoretical oppositions that characterize much subsequent theoretical dispute. Along with these debates there were questions about the very identity of sociology, which in turn relate to a core issue in the discipline - grasping the crisis of modernity. This authoritative text introduces the key issues of classical sociology to undergraduates, making use of student-friendly features such as clear summaries, further reading and a glossary. It lays the foundations for an understanding of contemporary discussion, and will also be recognized at the postgraduate level as a key reference in the field.