Sexuality And Culture

Sexualidad en parejas con problemas de fertilidad

by Jorge Alberto Álvarez-Díaz

The Women of Durban's Dockside Sex Industry

by Henry Trotter

in Rob Pattman and Sultan Khan (eds.), Undressing Durban (Durban: Madiba Press, 2007), 441-452.

This article, "The Women of Durban's Dockside Sex Industry," looks at the lives of female prostitutes in... more This article, "The Women of Durban's Dockside Sex Industry," looks at the lives of female prostitutes in Durban's dockside sex sector. They solicit at a nightclub catering to foreign sailors. The paper considers their experiences as sex workers and how they deal with stigmatization, family concerns, chemical abuse, moral dilemmas, diseases, and violence. It assesses their fears and frustrations. And it ponders their dreams and longings for what they hope to achieve through this work.

The article concludes with the idea that dockside women are relatively empowered compared to their streetwalking & brothel-working counterparts. Since most hail from upcountry locales, they successfully live "double lives" that protect them from family and communal reprisal. Since their clients are foreign transients, the men pose no threat to their identities (they have no social power outside the dockside world). Since the women solicit from a safe nightclub, they retain the right of refusal. And because they're the knowledgeable locals, they choose the location of sex, which enhances their power to insist on condom-use.

Ironically, these upcountry women are perhaps the most cosmopolitan citizens of Durban as they entertain dozens of nationalities every evening.

‘Sexuality, Cultural Perspectives’, in Marshall Cavendish Corporation, Sex and Society (3 vols.; New York: Marshall Cavendish, 2010), vol. 3, pp. 783-86

by Anthony Heacock

The meaning of sex and sexuality becomes increasingly important over the course of human development. This is a comprehensive guide to current knowledge and expert analysis of sex and sexuality.

Informing readers is the shared objective of the many educators, medical specialists, therapists, healthcare experts, and editors who contributed to this collection of 254 articles on the profound and popular subject of sex. Moving beyond a partial view of only biology and psychology, this work also examines the wide sociological dimensions of sex, looking at various types of relationships, complex family issues, parenting, the equality of women and men, and the challenge of making good personal choices during times when bodies mature, cultures collide, and values emerge.

Mindful of the need to advise readers young and old to stay safe from ignorance, prejudice, sexual abuse, violence, and disease, as well as reminding them of the option to delay sexual intercourse on personal grounds, this work nonetheless reports frankly on each of its subjects, avoiding the reticence often associated with the dissemination of ideas about human sexuality.

ISBN 978-0761479055

‘Sexuality, Biblical Perspectives’, in Marshall Cavendish Corporation, Sex and Society (3 vols.; New York: Marshall Cavendish, 2010), vol. 3, pp. 780-82

by Anthony Heacock

The meaning of sex and sexuality becomes increasingly important over the course of human development. This is a comprehensive guide to current knowledge and expert analysis of sex and sexuality.

Informing readers is the shared objective of the many educators, medical specialists, therapists, healthcare experts, and editors who contributed to this collection of 254 articles on the profound and popular subject of sex. Moving beyond a partial view of only biology and psychology, this work also examines the wide sociological dimensions of sex, looking at various types of relationships, complex family issues, parenting, the equality of women and men, and the challenge of making good personal choices during times when bodies mature, cultures collide, and values emerge.

Mindful of the need to advise readers young and old to stay safe from ignorance, prejudice, sexual abuse, violence, and disease, as well as reminding them of the option to delay sexual intercourse on personal grounds, this work nonetheless reports frankly on each of its subjects, avoiding the reticence often associated with the dissemination of ideas about human sexuality.

ISBN 978-0761479055

Transliberación de la corporalidad: Transitando la transexualidad desde la bioética

by Jorge Alberto Álvarez-Díaz

Anatomy of a Cargo Cult: Virginity, Relic Envy, and Hallowed Boxes

by Ryan Byrne

Resurrecting the Brother of Jesus, eds. Ryan Byrne and Bernadette McNary-Zak (University of North Carolina Press, 2009) pp. 137-186

‘Thank god she’s a midget, not a dwarf’: dissociative behaviour of proportional short-statured people constructing a fantasy of normality

by etienne boumans

Submission to Conference on Sensualising Deformity: Communication and Constructions of Monstrous Embodiment @ The University of Edinburgh

In early modern times, dwarfs were considered deformed and, hence, socially discriminated, by average-statured... more In early modern times, dwarfs were considered deformed and, hence, socially discriminated, by average-statured individuals as well as by other little folks we used to call 'midgets', who were conceptualized as “no freaks, no dwarfs but perfectly normal.”
We found that accounts and personal memoirs by hypopituitary little persons suggest that they perceived dwarfs as disproportionate human oddities, monstrosities with grotesque heads, arms and legs, and, therefore, belonging to a different species. Throughout the history of popular entertainment, midgets – who were preferred in show-business - were cast in a way that positively enhanced their status while dwarfs were relegated to the back stage or freak shows.
In search of social acceptance, midgets rejected their impaired self in an attempt to construct a portrayal reinforcing the illusion of normality, fabricated for their audience. This proved somewhat successful, as the public, at least partially, concurred with this fantasy of normality, although the social construction of the midget as (close to) normal rather validated the normality of the audience, eager to rationalize the socio-cultural imagery of marginalized or impaired individuals.
The spectator’s weariness to associate short-statured people to sexual behaviour may stem from a subconscious association of littleness with childishness. Traditionally, achondroplastic dwarfs were depicted as asexual, in line with the aversion of portraying sexual activity of people with disabilities; the more socially accepted midgets were represented as closely resembling the average-statured men and women with their sensuality, sexual desires and activity. In an effort of complaisance to demanding audiences, promoters frequently constructed fallacious midget couples, sometimes accompanied by a narrative involving babies or infants.
In the 1930s, movies challenged the proportional little people’s illusionary world of normality regarding sensuality and sexuality in relation to average-statured people, often portraying a – tragic - love affair between individuals from both sides.

ISDP Short-Term Mating Interests

by David Schmitt

Review of The Beggar’s Benison: Sex Clubs of Enlightenment Scotland and their Rituals, by David Stevenson.

by Corey E. Andrews

Eighteenth-Century Scotland 16 (2002): 42-43.

‘Sex’, ‘networks’, HIV and religion: Basic concepts concerning the value of sex and its exchange in networks

by Robert Thornton

CONFERENCE PRESENTATION:
Sexuality, AIDS and religion: transnational dynamics in Africa
(Oxford, 28-30 September 2011)
Convenors:  Nadine Beckmann, Catrine Christiansen, Alessandro Gusman, Rijk van Dijk (Fertility and Reproduction Studies Group (FRSG) and the International Network on Religion and AIDS in Africa)

This paper seeks to raise a number of fundamental questions about concepts of sex, networks, sexual networks, and... more This paper seeks to raise a number of fundamental questions about concepts of sex, networks, sexual networks, and institutional responses to these in the kind of moral climate and epidemiological environment that has been created by the presence of HIV, AIDS and associated infections.  I assert, first, that HIV is an infection of a social network, not just of individuals. These networks have specific and determinable structure.  These structures in turn determine the rate of transmission of any virus transmitted through very close social contact that involves exchange of bodily fluids.  Since such social contact also involves exchange of much else, including love, wealth, and valuables (both concrete things and intangible values), the epidemiological issue is deeply embedded in other structures that are fundamental to having any society at all.  Thus, a thorough understanding of HIV should involve a deep understanding—probably amounting to a radical reinterpretation—of basic concepts concerning the nature of society.  Since sexual and religious values and acts are generally taken to be elemental (functional primitives) in the constitution of social life, we need to ask why sex and religion are so closely related to each other.  Why, for instance, should sex appear to be a ‘moral issue’, and why should religion in particular (instead of law, politics, administration, or just ‘custom’) be so concerned with its regulation?  What is the moral role of abstinence (or ‘erotic asceticism’) in religion’s use of sex and sexuality?  Why are sexual networks (the social structure of sexual relation-sets) so often tied to religious institutions, and why are institutional forms of regulation so often impotent in the regulation of sexual action?  Answers to these questions—raised and partially answered here—are likely to contribute considerable power to public health interventions related to sexually transmitted infections generally, in addition to permitting a more nuanced anthropological research practice.

Book Review of Andrew Asibong's François Ozon (2008)

by Ger Zielinski

“Andrew Asibong's François Ozon (2008).” French Film Directors Series. Manchester and New York: Manchester University Press. Film-Philosophy 14.2, 2010, 146-152.

Ger Zielinski in Conversation with Stephen Kent Jusick, Executive Director of MIX Festival of Queer Experimental Film and Video

by Ger Zielinski

FUSE Art Culture Politics (summer issue, 2010), pp. 16-23.

Interview with Stephen Kent Jusick from MIX Festival.

(Posted for interest and easier accessibility.) Interview with Stephen Kent Jusick from MIX Festival.

(Posted for interest and easier accessibility.)

Normative sexuality development: A decade in review

by Deborah Tolman

Asserts that "normative sexuality development" has now been established as an arena of empirical study and proposes that all research agendas on adolescent sexuality incorporate both benefits and risks rather than one or the other to provide a full understanding of sexuality development (distinct from and encompassing "sexual development") in adolescence

Sex in the Digital Age: Media Ecology and Megan's Law

by Brett Lunceford

Lunceford, Brett. "Sex in the Digital Age: Media Ecology and Megan's Law." Explorations in Media Ecology, 9, no. 4 (2010): 239-44.

This essay considers adolescent sexting from a media ecology standpoint, suggesting that in addition to the... more This essay considers adolescent sexting from a media ecology standpoint, suggesting that in addition to the technologizing of sexuality one must also begin to consider the sexualizing of technological systems.

Emotional expression in tsukiau dating relationships in Japan

by James Farrer

This paper uses qualitative interviews with 135 Japanese in their twenties to discover the meanings and purposes they... more This paper uses qualitative interviews with 135 Japanese in their twenties to discover the meanings and purposes they associate with tsukiau (“going steady”) relationships. Relating our findings to Sternberg’s triangular component theory of love, we find that all three components of intimacy, commitment, and passion are emphasized in tsukiau relationships, though in culturally specific ways. The findings suggest that in a society in which people marry later than before, dating relationships can be a new type of comfort zone for young Japanese adults redefining the boundaries of the “inner” and “outer” self, often replacing or displacing family ties as the context for displaying a backstage “true self.” The tsukiau relationship thus represents a transitional life stage for heterosexual Japanese young people.

From Kama Sutra to dot.com: the history, myths and management of premature ejaculation

by Dr. Edna Astbury-Ward PhD, M.Sc, Dip. H. Ed., RGN.

Published in the Journal of the British Association for Sexual and Relationship Therapy, 2002

As long as man has breathed, his quest for the perfect sexual experience seems to have eluded him. Often the... more As long as man has breathed, his quest for the perfect sexual experience seems to have eluded him. Often the experience has been brought to an abrupt end by the misery of premature
ejaculation. This paper will look at the history of premature ejaculation, charting the importance of this event throughout the years and across cultures. It will look at all modern day therapies and will discuss the implications of introducing pharmocotherapy to a problem that has been traditionally
treated by sex therapy.

Why and How to Penetrate… the Meanings: Some Reflections On Porn and Porn Studies [Prečo a ako penetrovať… významy: zopár úvah o porne a porn studies]

by Michal Bočák

Bočák, Michal. 2011. "Why and How to Penetrate… the Meanings: Some Reflections On Porn and Porn Studies." Konstrukt 2011, Vol. 2, No. 5 (Porn or How deep is your throat). http://www.konstruktmag.cz/preco-a-ako-penetrovat-vyznamy-zopar-uvah-o-porne-a-porn-studies/ [Non-Academic Journal Article in Slovak.]

Google Translate [English] - http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.konstruktmag.cz%2Fpreco-a-ako-penetrovat-vyznamy-zopar-uvah-o-porne-a-porn-studies%2F

Keywords: porn – porn studies – pornographication – sex – sexuality – identity – body – web – porn 2.0 Keywords: porn – porn studies – pornographication – sex – sexuality – identity – body – web – porn 2.0

Many Guises, One Mask: The State of Homosexuality in India

by Jerry Johnson

A brief overview of homosexuality and sexual rights in India

A brief look at the state of sexual minority rights in India--along with views on the psychology of gay men in India. A brief look at the state of sexual minority rights in India--along with views on the psychology of gay men in India.

The New Pornographers: New Media, Sexual Expression, and the Law

by Brett Lunceford

Lunceford, Brett. “The New Pornographers: New Media, Sexual Expression, and the Law.” In The Ethics of Emerging Media: Information, Social Norms and New Media Technology, edited by Kathleen German and Bruce Drushel, 99-118. New York: Continuum, 2011.

Scholars have long noted the role of the media in the sexualization of children and adolescents. However, with the... more Scholars have long noted the role of the media in the sexualization of children and adolescents. However, with the advent of new media technologies such as the internet and cellular phones, children and adolescents are no longer merely consumers of this sexual ideology, but also creators of digital content that performs this ideology. Such content can range from the relatively tame “girls making out” images found on sites such as collegehumor.com to sexually explicit photographs transmitted through cellular phones within a circle of friends that draws the attention of law enforcement. In this essay, I discuss the practice of adolescent sexting (the practice of sending sexually explicit text messages) by reviewing some of the more prominent cases covered in the media; next, I explore the legal aspects surrounding the practice of sexting; finally, I consider the ethical issues surrounding sexting, exploring the issue of harm to both the individual and society by rooting the practice within a culture that celebrates, yet remains suspicious of, adolescent sexuality.

The Body and the Sacred In the Digital Age: Thoughts on Posthuman Sexuality

by Brett Lunceford

Lunceford, Brett. “The Body and the Sacred in the Digital Age: Thoughts on Posthuman Sexuality.” Theology and Sexuality, 15, no. 1 (2009): 77-96.

Considerable scholarly discussion has been given to the idea that we are moving toward a state of “posthumanism.” This... more Considerable scholarly discussion has been given to the idea that we are moving toward a state of “posthumanism.” This essay examines some possible implications of a posthuman existence, specifically as it relates to that most basic of human needs—sexuality. I explore the spiritual aspects of sexuality to see what is lost and what is gained in technologically mediated forms of sexuality. To that end, I consider the interplay between sexual behavior and our conceptions of the sacred, how technologies are changing our views of—and realities concerning—our bodies, and the potential for a sacred posthuman sexuality.