1st Edition

Forms of Desire Sexual Orientation and the Social Constructionist Controversy

Edited By Edward Stein Copyright 1990
    366 Pages
    by Routledge

    366 Pages
    by Routledge

    Perhaps the foremost issue in the emerging area of inquiry known as lesbian and gay studies is the social constructionist controversy. Social constructionism is the view that the categories of sexual orientation are cultural constructs rather than naturally universal categories.
    Forms of Desire brings together important essays by social constructionists and their critics, representing several disciplines and approaches to this debate about the history and science of sexuality.

    Chapter 1: Introduction; Chapter 2: The Perverse Implantation; Chapter 3: The Homosexual Role; Chapter 4: Sexual Matters:On Conceptualizing Sexuality in History; Chapter 5: Making Up People; Chapter 6: Sex and the Emergence of Sexuality; Chapter 7: Categories, Experience and Sexuality; Chapter 8: Reality or Social Construction?; Chapter 9: Wrestling with the Social Boa Constructor; Chapter 10: Gay Politics, Ethnic Identity: The Limits of Social Constructionism; Chapter 11: Social Constructionism and the Study of Human Sexuality; Chapter 12: Conclusion: The Essentials of Constructionism and the Construction of Essentialism

    Biography

    Edward Stein is Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Research Fellow in the College of Arts and Sciences at New York University. A specialist in the philosophy of mind, philosophy of science, and gay and lesbian studies, he is co-founder of the Boston area Gay and Lesbian Academic Study Seminar.