Publisher: American Psychological Association, Washington DC, 2000.
432 pages. Language: English.
Date, rape, sexual harassment, and teen pregnancy are topics that ignite hot debate in our society, but at their root is a subject we barely understand. Science and conventional wisdom have yet to scrape the surface of understanding women's sexuality. What "knowledge" they have produced thus far tends to bolster the inequities in our society but relates little to how women experience sexuality throughout the life span. Sexuality, Society, and Feminism is a call for feminist scholars to begin to mold conceptual models and methods of inquiry and to carve out a feminist agenda that will shape this science for and about women. In this edited book, top feminist scholars apply a feminist lens to the ways American society defines and shapes women's sexuality. Sexuality, while experienced at the individual level, is a social phenomenon: Its meaning is dynamic and emerges from social context. Power and politics tend to define what sexual attitudes and behaviors are considered normal and typical for girls and women, frequently with negative consequence. This book offers an alteative, more positive approach to understanding this vital area of human behavior.
Date, rape, sexual harassment, and teen pregnancy are topics that ignite hot debate in our society, but at their root is a subject we barely understand. Science and conventional wisdom have yet to scrape the surface of understanding women's sexuality. What "knowledge" they have produced thus far tends to bolster the inequities in our society but relates little to how women experience sexuality throughout the life span. Sexuality, Society, and Feminism is a call for feminist scholars to begin to mold conceptual models and methods of inquiry and to carve out a feminist agenda that will shape this science for and about women. In this edited book, top feminist scholars apply a feminist lens to the ways American society defines and shapes women's sexuality. Sexuality, while experienced at the individual level, is a social phenomenon: Its meaning is dynamic and emerges from social context. Power and politics tend to define what sexual attitudes and behaviors are considered normal and typical for girls and women, frequently with negative consequence. This book offers an alteative, more positive approach to understanding this vital area of human behavior.