Sex Is Not A Natural Act & Other Essays

by Leonore Tiefer

Revisits and updates the centrality of the social construction of sexuality, especially in the age of Viagra, FSD (female sexual dysfunction) and the media saturation of sex. Leonore Tiefer is one of the foremost sexologists working in the United States today; she is a well-known and respected scholar who writes engagingly and humorously about a wide array of topics in sexuality to appeal to both students and general readers. Revised and updated with new pieces on the medicalization of sex, FSD (female sexual dysfunction) and the politics of sex, as well as classic pieces found in the original edition, such as "Am I Normal?: The Question of Sex."

Genres: Nonfiction, Sexuality, Essays, Psychology, Feminism, Gender, Sociology

320 pages, Paperback

First published December 5, 1994

Reviews

[Shayla Trowbridge · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is phenomenal, I would highly recommend anyone who is looking to gain a better understanding at how our social constructions of sexuality really can impact and impede so many areas of exploration and research, both personal and academic. So so close to five stars, some of the information is a little bit outdated since it's a little over 20 yrs old, but is still relevant enough to warrant a glowing review.

[Sophia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sex is not an natural act and other essays is a compilation of feminist sexologist Lenore Tiefer's writings. Starting out studying hormones and mating behaviors in hamsters, Dr. Tiefer later re-specialized in clinical psychology, and was at one time seeing erectile dysfunction patients and their sexual partners at the urology department at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx. Thus, she speaks from a unique vantage point, clearly, passionately, and articulately.
According to her website, her career shift was prompted by "the call of feminist politics and the world of sexology for people" which also motivates her critique of the medicalization of sexuality. Instead of an essential, natural biological reductionistic model (i.e., men are from mars, women are from venus, and this is the way it has always and will always be everywhere), her approach is based social constructionism, and her toolkit includes deconstructionism, à la Michel Foucault.
While her arguments about how Masters and Johnson's biases influence their findings on the human sexual response cycle, which carried over into the DSM's classification of sexual dysfunction, is based on solid ground, I found other strands of her work dated and incomplete. Her critique of "impotence" is not as relevant as "erectile dysfunction (ED)" has become more popular. The treatment options for ED have broadened and improved beyond her quoted statistics. While it is always important to be reminded to treat the entire patient, especially when sexuality is concerned, referring to the "imperialism of urologists" seems going a bit too far. Everywhere around her she sees everyone else as biased individual actors in service of their own ends acting in bad faith—sexologists seeking more scientific methodology in order to gain more prestige in the academic hierarchy, urologists and pharmceutical/medical device companies cornering a lucrative market, the media and society in general suppressing female sexuality—but fails to point out that her own position and its adherents similarly privilege one set of ideas over another, and doesn't truly attempt to flesh out her vision. Nonetheless, I think Tiefer superbly fulfilled the deconstructionist's agitator role in this thought-provoking work.

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic! Tiefer is as formidable a feminist theorist as she is a psychologist, plus funny to boot. This is a fascinating book exploring how sexuality is socially constructed in contemporary American culture and how medicalization and the pharmaceutical industry are doggedly at work to erase the contexts that make sexuality as complicated and nuanced as it really is. This would be an easy and accessible read even if you have no background in sex research or feminist theory, but incredibly insightful nonetheless. Tiefer is who I want to be when I grow up, combined with Sue Johanson from "Talk Sex." I wish I could make everyone read this book.

[Otto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aunque hay algunos puntos menores con los que no estoy completamente de acuerdo, me sorprendió gratamente el enfoque que presenta la autora sobre las preocupaciones en torno a la sexualidad. Según su perspectiva, estas preocupaciones no responden a una naturaleza fija, sino que son construcciones sociales que varían de una cultura a otra. No existe una ley natural que determine qué es “normal”; esa definición depende de contextos culturales y personales. Además, la autora subraya que estas inquietudes no deben entenderse como enfermedades ni tratarse con fármacos, ya que forman parte de la diversidad y complejidad propias de la experiencia humana.

[Leslie · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book would make me legitimately angry, except it's gotten to the point where it's just a joke. The very biased message is pounded into the reader over and over with no real basis or reasoning, is very femminaziesque, and doesn't even take into account other points of view except to completely bash on them.

[Patrick Landazuri · Rating 3 out of 5]

my goodness, one of the best books i had to read in undergrad. i read this for Psych 690: Scientific and Cultural Perspectives of Sexuality (cross listed as a women studies class and easily the best title of a course I took). It was a goodin'

[Madelyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wish I had my copy of this book here with me in Oxford; it's just pop psychology and easy-Foucaultian analysis, but I like a little ease in all honesty.