Sex Matters

Feminists increasingly recognize that “sex,” as a reference to embodied male–female difference, is no less socially constructed than “gender.” Like all signifiers, the meaning of these terms is produced through contingent and particular historical processes; yet histories of “how sex was made” are rare. This essay draws on extensive, multidisciplinary research – focused through a lens of early (archaic) state making – to render a partial and provisional genealogy of sex. The schematic history begins with early human social formations and the “agricultural revolution” that marked a shift from food gathering to food producing. It then reviews the defining characteristics – in particular, the invention of writing – and attendant inequalities of early/archaic state-formation (urbanization; the “rise of civilization”). The centralization of Greek city-states has particular, indeed profound, relevance for what is conventionally called the “western tradition.” The essay then directs attention to the Athenian polis, not only because it exemplifies features of early states, but because modern interpretations of classical texts and Athenian practices uniquely shaped European political theory/practice; in particular, by naturalizing hierarchies of gender, sexuality, ethnicity/race, class and national “difference.”     

Adolescent American Sex

SUMMARY

Though there has been a decline in the percentage of sexually active high school students in the past decade in the United States, the rate of adolescents engaging in sexual behavior leading to orgasm has actually increased. Such orgasms are achieved without penetration and penetration is how most American adolescents define sex. Most adolescent sex also occurs within intimate relationships with partners at or near their own age but definitions of what constitutes intimacy is different than in the past. Sexuality is very important in the life of adolescents in the United States, and sexual activity broadly defined begins fairly early among teenagers although actual sexual intercourse usually takes place much later.     

青少年性教育的有效抓手：同伴性教育

通过对我国青少年性教育现状的分析,发现父母和老师都没能很好地承担起青少年性教育的重任,造成这一状况的一个重要原因是两代人之间存在着沟通障碍.这就需要大力推广以同辈群体的影响力为基础的同伴性教育.     

Managing the Sex Industry

This paper consists of a panel discussion of the merits and demerits of the regulation or legalization of the sex industry. The contributors are an academic researcher, a policy adisor, an agency network co-ordinator and a sex-worker representative. The debate covers sex work and the law; attitudes of courts, police and public; the conditions and exploitation of sex workers; the distinction between voluntary and non-voluntary sex work. The sex industry, it is argued, is a challenging arena for exploration by management and organization theory.     

Is Sex Work Sex or Work? Forming Collective Identity in Bangalore

While sex worker activism grows increasingly vibrant around the world, the forms and practices of sex work vary widely, and are often secret. How do sex workers come to see themselves as sex worker activists? What tensions emerge in the formation of collective identity within sex worker activist organizations, especially when the term “sex work” has often traveled linked to transnational organizations and funding? To answer these questions, this article analyzes in-depth interviews and participant observation on sex worker activism in Bangalore, India. Focusing on an organization I call the Union, I argue that it was first within the “shop floor” of transnationally funded HIV prevention organizations, and then within the activist work of the Union, that sex workers came to identify collectively as activists at a large scale. However, distinct configurations of practice among gendered groups of sex workers in Bangalore meant each group related differently to the formation of a sex worker activist collective identity. Two aspects of sex workers’ practice emerged as particularly central: varying experiences of sex work as “sex” or as “work,” and varying levels of anonymity and visibility in public spaces. Organizing through transnationally funded HIV prevention programs helped solidify these categories of differentiation even as it provided opportunities to develop shared self-hood.     

农村留守女童性安全与性教育问题

近年来，随着外出务工人员的日益增多，农村留守女童数量也急剧上升。由于缺乏必要的监护及性安全教育，不少留守女童成为性侵害的对象。农村留守女童性安全与性教育问题成为舆情分析的焦点。从留守女童性侵案件呈现出的三大特征，即性侵主体多元化、性侵手段多样化、性侵意识淡漠化，可以看出农村留守女童性安全问题情势不容乐观。究其原因，突出地表现在三个方面：亲子教育的缺失影响到性知识的传授、监护人缺乏性安全防范与教育的意识以及学校性安全教育的重视力度较为薄弱。因此，要整合学校、家庭和社会力量，对农村留守女童系统而科学地实施性安全教育，以期能够促进她们身心健康和谐发展。     

Casual Sex and Women

Abstract

Our objectives were to delineate important measurement issues involved in the study of casual sex and to determine women's motivations for engaging or not engaging in casual sex. Four different measures of casual sex were used with a Canadian university sample of 230 women. Thirteen percent reported having experienced sexual intercourse with someone they had just met and 36% had experienced intercourse with someone with whom they were not in a committed relationship. More had experienced non-coital casual sex. Sexual health concerns were the strongest deterrents to engaging in casual sex. Sexual pleasure was given as the most appealing aspect of casual sex. Researchers need to be aware of the differing interpretations of casual sex when measuring this type of sexual behavior.     

More Than Just Sex

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to identify behaviors in addition to those of an explicitly sexual or romantic nature that men and women define as unfaithful acts in the context of committed dating relationships. We also sought to identify possible gender differences in the proportions of men and women who have engaged in these unfaithful behaviors while in dating relationships. We examined 219 college men's and women's reported involvement in sexual behaviors, romantic attachments, sexual and nonsexual fantasies, sexual attraction, romantic attraction, flirting, and social participation in dyads and groups with someone other than their current or past dating partner. A sizable proportion of both men and women reported engaging in one or more of the behaviors at some point in their dating history. Proportionately more men than women indicated having engaged in sexual fantasies of various types about someone other than their primary partner and reported “hitting on” someone else while in a dating relationship. No other gender differences emerged. A unique aspect of this study is that we asked young men and women to determine what kinds of behaviors they considered to be unfaithful rather than only examining sexual and emotional behaviors as has been the case in past research. Further, the few significant gender differences we found indicates that the convergence of men's and women's attitudes about sexuality may now be show in their behavior.     

The Current Role of Post-Conviction Sex Offender Polygraph Testing in Sex Offender Treatment

SUMMARY

Polygraph testing is becoming increasingly important in sex offender treatment. Polygraph advocates cite dramatic increases in historical disclosures that presumably allow more precise targeting of treatment interventions, earlier detection of risky behaviors that often lead to new offenses, and improved treatment and supervision compliance. Based on this, they believe the procedure supports desirable behavior that continues to various degrees after treatment and supervision end. Opponents cite ethical problems related to inaccurate results, unproven accuracy rates, and the risk that examinees may be coerced into making false admissions. To counter these criticisms, proponents have developed standards, best practices, and examiner training and certification programs intended to reduce error rates and address ethical issues. Opponents argue that these measures have not been tested and that empirically established error rates and best practices may not be possible for a variety of reasons. This article reviews the current situation, leaving readers to decide the wisdom and ethics of using polygraph testing in their own practices.     

Love and Sex in Constructing Identity Among Men Who Have Sex with Men

Interviews were conducted with 102 Ontario men who have sex with men who identify themselves as gay, bisexual, and not gay, concerning the meanings and satisfactions associated with their sexuality. Sexual discourses of men who identify themselves in different ways reveal some common criteria for placing self and others into the gay category. Gay, in the everyday speech of these men, appears to refer to an elaborated discourse around the potential for emotional involvement and relationships rather than a reference to an essentialized sexuality. Comparison of men who place themselves inside and outside sexual identity categories shows that many find gay identity to be a horizon of increased possibilities, rather than the limitation critiqued by queer theory. These findings are contextualized in recent debates in identity theory.     

Sex in a mental institution

Broderick, Carlfred B. and Jessie Bernard. The Individual, Sex, and Society. Baltimore, The Johns Hopkins Press, 1969. 406 pages, $4.50 (paperback).

Fink, Paul J., M.D. and Van Buren O. Hammet, M.D. (Ed.) Sexual Function and Dysfunction. Philadelphia: F. A. Davis Co., 1969. 216 pages. $9.00.

Mazur, Ronald M.: Commonsense Sex: A Basis for Discussion and Reappraisal. Beacon Press, Boston, 1968. 109 pages. Price: $3.95.

Mehlan, K.‐H. (Edit.) Arzt und Familienplanung. Berlin, VEB Verlag Volk und Gesundheit, 1968. 214 pages, no price indicated.

Sherwin, Robert Veit. Compatible Divorce. New York: Crown Publishers, 1969. Pages: X + 298 + Index. $5.95.

Sigusch, V. Das Antipathiegefälle gegenüber sexuell devianten Gruppen. Der Nervenarzt, 1968 39: 3, 114–123     

Willingness to Have Unprotected Sex

Little is known about people's willingness to engage in sex without protection from unwanted pregnancy. This study surveyed 1,497 women and men at 75 clinics and physician offices across California after their reproductive health care visits in late 2007 and early 2008. When asked if they would have sex without contraception, 30% said definitively that yes, they would have unprotected sex, and 20% indicated they would “sometimes” or “maybe” engage in unprotected sex. In multivariate models, compared to non-Latino White respondents, Latinos who responded to the survey in English were 52% more likely and African Americans were 75% more likely to report willingness to have unprotected intercourse. Wanting a child within the next three years was associated with increased willingness to have unprotected sex. Age, gender, parity, and relationship status were not significant in multivariate models. A considerable proportion of women and men may be willing to have unprotected sex, even with access to subsidized contraceptive services and even when recently counseled about birth control. The dominant behavioral models of contraceptive use need to acknowledge the widespread likelihood of occasional unprotected sex, even among people motivated to usually use contraceptives. Findings underscore the need to make contraceptive methods accessible, easy to use, and even pleasurable.     

The Biopolitics of Sex:

Contrary to the environmental determinism presumed by most social science commentators, and to the genetic determinism propounded by advocates of hardcore "sociobiology," the postion of this paper is the transactional, epigenetic approach commonly accepted in the life sciences. For the study of humans, this last approach requires a focus upon the reciprocal effects between genotype and both physical and sociocultural environments throughout development. Discussed are: the biology of human sexuality, sex roles and political behavior. The conclusion proposes the development of political models and practices that will take better advantage of the characteristic differences between female and male brains in political thinking and behavior and that will require a major reversal of the contemporary ratio in sex representation in political roles.