Sexuality Issues

In few areas of the social disciplines are theory and methodology so frought with political and ideological overtones than in the study of the creation of sexuality. Political issues are reached not simply when plunging deep into theory; they may be encountered from the very first assumptions we make, for example that we are dealing with innate (rather than socially adopted) "male" and "female" genders (Stoltenberg, 1989). At a slightly less immediate level, enormous assumptions about how sexuality develops in men and in women are contained within the choice to classify "lesbian" and "gay" together (Rich, 1983).

Similar political questions arise when dealing with methodology. What does it mean, for example, if we carry out a study of gay and non-gay adolescent boys, and find (for example) that gay boys suffer more from self-image difficulties? Does this correlation mean that poor self-image in boys leads to gayness, or (more probably, perhaps) that it is hard for a teenage boy to be gay in our society? There is no way to approach such issues apolitically; sexuality and how it is created is a political subject. All we can hope to do is be continually aware of the political assumptions and political consequencies of our theories and methodologies alike.

Topic 2: It is difficult to identify a single central question in the interrelationship of social issues and sexuality, save perhaps to say that sexuality itself is central to our social life. The question arises ac

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espect to innate biological causation; our concern is whether the observed gender-specific differentiation is directly driven by a social stereotype, or has some deeper and more complex causation, whether that deeper causation is social, biological, or combines elements of both. In the following discussion, we will first discuss the behaviors associated with gender-specific differences in the desire for casual sex as against relationship-based sex, alongside the stereotypes that are associated with them. We will consider whether the findings support our hypothesis, and finally ask what measures, if any, can (or should) be taken to modify the pattern identified. To begin our analysis, consider a hypothetical situation. Let us suppose that you could open a sex-o-rama, an establishment combining a bar, saunas and hot-tubs, and cubicles containing beds, with provision of towels and other similar conveniences. The purpose of this establishment would be to provide an attractive, safe, exciting environment in which men and women could meet, have a drink or two, and then go to engage in uncomplicated sex, without playing dating games, pretending to form a "relationship," or even learning one another's names. If any such establishm

Category: Psychology - S