Speaking of Sexuality : Interdisciplinary Readings

by J. Kenneth Davidson (Editor), Nelwyn B. Moore (Editor)

Speaking of Sexuality features leading works in sexuality research and theory, both contemporary and classic, with a balance of in-depth articles about timely topics from the popular press. This combination of features enables students in their quest to become more savvy consumers of sexuality related materials in the mass media. The framework for this anthology, as in the First Edition, is sexual health--an organizing principle based on two assumptions: (1) sexuality is an inseparable part of an individual's persona; and (2) sexuality spans the life cycle from birth to death.
In the Second Edition, editors Davidson and Moore provide an alternative for instructors who prefer a student-friendly, yet rigorous and less sensationalized set of readings. This edition offers 17 new articles. The articles, drawn from both research journals and the popular press, address an array of sexuality issues at the academic and personal levels. New topical coverage includes:
* An expose from Judith Levine's controversial book Harmful to Minors: The Perils of Protecting Children from Sex, describing the politics of fear in the war against AIDS.
* Venus in Furs, a fascinating chapter from Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Natalie Angier's book, Woman: An Intimate Geography, revealing a scientific fantasia of womanhood.
* From Pepper Schwartz and Virginia E. Rutter's book The Gender of Sexuality, persuasive arguments calling for an end to polemics that distort the opposing views of gender and sexual desire.
* An original treatise exploring philosophies and practices of sexuality education from Terrance D. Olson.
* An odyssey of the sexual development that shapes a person's sexual identity, attitudes, and behavior by John D. DeLamater and William N. Friedrich.
* A review of theoretical and methodological advancements in sexuality research in the 1990s by F. Scott Christopher and Susan Sprecher.

401 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Melissa Lee-Tammeus]

A conglomeration of research regarding many different aspects of culture and sex. In reading this book, it left me a bit perplexed. It compartmentalizes people which only serves to confirm and instigate stereotypes. Granted, it is great information to have in a counselor's repertoire, but one has to be very careful to realize that just because there is one report on a culture does not make it so about everyone you encounter in that culture.