Conceiving Sexuality

Book excerpt: First Published in 1995. After widespread neglect over many years, the study of human sexuality has recently come to the forefront of many of the most important debates in contemporary society and culture. The continued development of feminist theory, the emergence of gay and lesbian studies, and the impact of the international AIDS pandemic have combined to focus new attention on the ways in which gender and sexuality are shaped in different social and cultural settings, and on the complex interactions betwen sexuality and health in the late twentieth century. Edited by two of the leading figures in contemporary sex research, ConceivingSexuality brings together the contributions of writers from a wide range of social science disciplines and cultural traditions who are working at the cutting edge of contemporary sex research. Focusing on key areas of concern such as gender power relations, the formation of sexual identities, the dynamics of sexual desire, and the social construction of sexual risk, the essays in Conceiving Sexuality provide an important overview of the most pressing topical and theoretical issues currently shaping debate in international and cross-cultural research on sexuality.