Love is a dominant theme in Western popular culture. It has become central to the meaning of everyday life, propagated through the media and the market. Being in love has become idealised. With the demise of institutional religion in the West, romantic love has become the dominant form of inner-worldly salvation. In Foucault's terms, it has become a key component in the 'arts of existence' and the care of self. In this highly accessible introduction to love of all kinds, Tom Inglis gives a clear, concise picture of how love shapes, and is shaped by, society. How is romantic love linked to capitalism? What is the difference between romantic love and loving? How is love connected to separation, loss and grief? Inglis addresses all these questions, and looks at how today's changing circumstances - globalisation, mobile lives and a new rugged individualism - have changed our perceptions of love and relationships. Love is an engaging, thoughtful introduction to the subject for students, academics and general readers alike.

This book is the first to focus on why and how foreign Western women engage in cross-border sexual and intimate relations as tourists travelling, or temporarily dwelling, in a Central American country. As an in-depth ethnographic account, the book traces the experiences of heterosexual North American and European women s transnational encounters, and examines new sexual and social practices arising from contemporary global tourism, shifting sexual cultures both at home and abroad, consumer culture, and women s increasing mobility. The book combines descriptions of women s travels and sexual relations across racial and class boundaries with feminism, postcolonial theory, and poststructuralist theories of gender and sexuality, to show how tourism as a wide range and set of desires serves as a central shaping force in the formation of women s sexual subjectivities in contemporary life in postindustrial capitalism. In doing so it offers new insights into how tourist women express heterosexuality shaped by gender, race, class, and identities.

This fascinating book, focusing on the structure of tourism and role of local culture and social organization in the shoring-up of desire, develops a unique contribution to the understanding of sex tourism. It will be of interest not only to tourism scholars, but also to those interested in sexuality, anthropology, sociology, cultural studies, women studies, gender studies, and geography.

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 'An intoxicating mixture of poetry and prose, Slug is a taboo-busting delight' SCOTSMAN 'One of the best poets we have' MATT HAIG 'She writes with honesty, conviction, humour and love' KAE TEMPEST The bestselling collection of poetry and prose from the Ted Hughes Award-winning author of Nobody Told Me From Finnish saunas and soppy otters to grief, grandparents and Kellogg's anti-masturbation pants, Slug is a book which holds a mirror lovingly up to the world, past and present, through Hollie's driving, funny, hopeful poetry and prose. Slug is about the human condition: of birth and death and how we manage the possibilities in between. 'The inimitable words of poet/goddess Hollie McNish once again hold up honest, damn funny and refreshing takes on the everydayness of our lives . . . Never have we needed her more' STYLIST 'Hollie always articulates exactly how I feel' CHARLY COX 'A tribute to life itself' RED

Better sex in ten steps: renowned sex therapist and bestselling author Ian Kerner shares the program he uses to help thousands of couples achieve more intimacy and enjoyment. Think about the last time you had sex. Who initiated it? When and where did it happen? What was off-limits and why? Did you lose yourself in pleasure and connection, or did you come away feeling disappointed, or even ashamed? In this book, Kerner shows you how to create a sex life that works for you. He helps you figure out what's working, what's not, where you might be missing some elements, and how to construct a sex life that is mutually satisfying. He also discusses many common sexual problems - such as low desire, issues with climaxing, and erectile unpredictability - and how to resolve them. Drawing on the latest research and informed by his own experience of overcoming sexual problems, he lays out an easy-to-follow step-by-step process that has transformed the lives of his many clients, and can do the same for you.

Beginning with the spectacle of hysteria, moving through the perversions of fetishism, masochism, and sadism, and ending with paranoia and psychosis, this book explores the ways that conflicts with the Oedipal law erupt on the body and in language in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, for Chaucer's tales are rife with issues of mastery and control that emerge as conflicts not only between authority and experience but also between power and knowledge, word and flesh, rule books and reason, man and woman, same and other - conflicts that erupt in a macabre sprawl of broken bones, dismembered bodies, cut throats, and decapitations. Like the macabre sprawl of conflict in the Canterbury Tales, this book brings together a number of conflicting modes of thinking and writing through the surprising and perhaps disconcerting use of "shadow" chapters that speak to or against the four "central" chapters, creating both dialogue and interruption.

Emily Witt is single and in her thirties. Until recently she had always imagined she would meet the right person and fall in love. But, as we all know, things are more complicated than that. Love is rare and frequently unreciprocated; sexual acquisitiveness is risky and can be hurtful. Having experienced the familiar disappointments that come with online dating and one-night stands, Witt decides to find her own path. The result is an open-minded, honest account of the contemporary pursuit of connection and pleasure - open, forgiving and unafraid.

The goal of this book is to investigate why there are two distinct notions of liability in the legal and ethical systems of different societies; the relationship between two sets of criteria of liability and the individual's evolution from childhood adolescence. The specific ways in which different societies cope with the transition from childhood to adolescence are important because a sense of responsibility, consonant with the goals of the society and survival of family and culture, is implanted in the growing child.

The ways in which incest taboos are taught constitute one of the crucial modes by which a sense of responsibility is implanted within an individual during his transition from childhood to adolescence. The author places most of his focus on social systems, the transition from childhood to adolescence. Theoretical concerns are with the ways in which human biology and human social structures impact each other.

The fact that wide variations do exist among societies in connection with certain types of incest taboos does not lead inevitably to the conclusion that there is no biological basis for the incest taboo. The immediate impression of variability can be misleading; extreme differences between cultures in the same institutional realm, as between individuals, often reveals remarkable regularity and consistency. These regularities are seen in the cultural phenomena; the assumption that biology and culture are bound up in their manifestations is fundamental in understanding their nature

The issue of Childhood Sexual Experiences (CSEs) is highly controversial, and has generated considerable disagreement and conflict. Such experiences are often framed as child sexual abuse (CSA) within a discourse of child maltreatment. Sexual activity between adults and young children is indeed abuse, and fully merits the moral stance taken by therapists, health professionals and society. However, Childhood Sexual Experiences presents evidence that viewing all CSEs through the same prism of abuse, victimhood and commonly-held perceptions of gender socialisation may not always allow those affected to tell the whole story. Not all those who experienced sexual activity as children view themselves as victims, believe that their experiences had a profoundly or irrevocably negative impact on their lives, or view their experiences as 'abusive'. Others do not want their identities to be linked to specific events in childhood. Applying a positive psychology approach, Childhood Sexual Experiences recounts and explores the stories of those who have shown an ability to come to terms with or overcome the difficulties that they have faced, exploring the insights these narratives of resilience present to therapists and health and social care professionals. 'I would encourage you to read this book with an open mind and to look for the strength and determination to be found in these narratives, remembering that those who are resilient may teach us how better to help those who are less fortunate.' - Sally V

When we talk about sex, we talk about women as mysterious, deceptive, and - above all - untrustworthy. Women lie about orgasms. Women lie about being virgins. Women lie about who got them pregnant, about whether they were raped, about how many people they've had sex with and what sort of experiences they've had - the list goes on and on. Over and over we're reminded that, on dates, in relationships, and especially in the bedroom, women just aren't telling the truth. But where does this assumption come from? Are women actually lying about sex, or does society just think we are? In Faking It, Lux Alptraum tackles the topic of seemingly dishonest women; investigating whether women actually lie, and what social situations might encourage deceptions both great and small. Using her experience as a sex educator and former CEO of Fleshbot (the foremost blog on sexuality), first-hand interviews with sexuality experts and everyday women, Alptraum raises important questions: are lying women all that common - or is the idea of the dishonest woman a symptom of male paranoia? Are they trying to please men, or just trying to trick and trap them? And what affect does all this dishonesty - whether real or imagined - have on women's self-images, social status, and safety? Through it all, Alptraum posits that even if women are lying, we're doing it for very good reason--to protect ourselves ("My boyfriend will be here any minute," to a creep who won't go away, for one), and in situations where society has given us no other choice.

In Bureaucratic Manoeuvres, John Grundy examines profound transformations in the governance of unemployment in Canada. While policy makers previously approached unemployment as a social and economic problem to be addressed through macroeconomic policies, recent labour market policy reforms have placed much more emphasis on the supposedly deficient employability of the unemployed themselves, a troubling shift that deserves close, critical attention. Tracing a behind-the-scenes history of public employment services in Canada, Bureaucratic Manoeuvres shows just how difficult it has been for administrators and frontline staff to govern unemployment as a problem of individual employability. Drawing on untapped government records, it sheds much-needed light on internal bureaucratic struggles over the direction of labour market policy in Canada and makes a key contribution to Canadian political science, economics, public administration, and sociology.

The archive has assumed a new significance in the history of sex, and this book visits a series of such archives, including the Kinsey Institute's erotic art; gay masturbatory journals in the New York Public Library; the private archive of an amateur pornographer; and one man's lifetime photographic dossier on Baltimore hustlers. Shedding new light on American sexual history, the topics covered are both fascinating and wide-ranging: the art history of homoeroticism; casual sex before hooking-up; transgender; New York queer sex; masturbation; pornography; sex in the city. This book will appeal to a wide readership: those interested in American studies, sexuality studies, contemporary history, the history of sex, psychology, anthropology, sociology, gender studies, queer studies, trans studies, pornography studies, visual studies, museum studies, and media studies. -- .

Expand your knowledgewith theories and concepts that may challenge your assumptions about sexual attraction Human sexuality can be better understood by knowing how sexual psychologies may have evolved throughout the ages. Handbook of the Evolution of Human Sexuality presents a detailed examination of human sexuality, the assumptions about concepts and terms pertaining to sexuality, and the latest theories on the evolution of human sexual attraction. Leading experts explore various aspects of evolutionary theory, with a focus on Evolutionary Psychology (EP). Discussions include mate preferences, mating behavior, mate signaling, pheromones, and same-sex attraction. This comprehensive source also presents three groundbreaking theories of the evolution of same-sex attraction. Handbook of the Evolution of Human Sexuality takes current assumptions about human sexuality, explains each in turn, and then offers fresh perspectives on conventional concepts of sexual orientation. This extensive resource provides ample evidence to argue that researchers should investigate sexual relationships based on a person's characteristics such as personal traits, complementary roles/status, sexual acts, or situational context rather than simply the sex of the partner. The book provides a discussion of evolutionary theory, evolution of human sexual culture, evolution of sexual pleasure, and detailed analysis of assumptions about sexual orientation. The text is carefully referenced. Some of the topics explored by Handbook of the Evolution of Human Sexuality include: links to non-human primate sexual behaviors and the emergence of human (sexual) nature EP research on consensual adult human sexual behaviors studies of evolved male and female mating strategies, mate preferences, and sexual psychologies a brief history of the theory of evolution ancient culture, archeology, and an overview of premodern human sexuality evolutionary history of sexual pleasure human mating strategies development of mate preferences sexual signals, such as distinctive physical features, material wealth, etc. theories of the evolution of same-sex sexual attraction and behavior Primatologist Paul Vasey's observations of female Japanese macaques and their female-female sexual encounterswith an examination of human male-male behavior evolutionary history of female-female affectional bonding with a new theory on the behavior evolutionary history of male-male sexual behaviorwith intriguing thoughts on why it happened evolutionary history of pheromones as chemical messengers much more Handbook of the Evolution of Human Sexuality is an important, thought-provoking resource perfect for evolutionary psychologists, sexologists, educators, researchers, scholars, and graduate students.

A book that dispels the myths about those who prefer to go beyond vanilla sex Sadomasochism: Powerful Pleasures is a comprehensive exploration of the entire sexual subculture that lies on the cutting edge of society. The mental health professions and society have marginalized people who practice sadomasochism (SM).This interdisciplinary collection dispels myths surrounding SM, bringing together leading scholars from the fields of sexology, psychology, sociology, and medicine, alongside queer studies and sexual minority advocacy. Experts such as Thomas S. Weinberg, PhD, Susan Wright, MA, Margaret Nichols, PhD, Odd Reiersol, PhD, Svein Skeid, Rebecca F. Plante, PhD, Niklas Nordling, MPsych, and N. Kenneth Sandnabba, PhD, among other stellar authorities, reveal research findings, clinical data, and critical thinking about sexuality that lies beyond vanilla. To gain a broader understanding of human sexuality, the study of SM is crucial for what it reveals about us as sexual beings. The text discusses the results of research into practitioners' behaviors and perspectives, the prevalence of SM behaviors in today's culture, and stresses the need for greater tolerance and understanding. The realization of SM desires and their acceptance are explored in detail. This unflinching look at the world and the people of SM will guide scholars and lay people alike into a more sensitive, sex-friendly viewpoint of the people society calls kinky. Sadomasochism: Powerful Pleasures answers questions such as: What is the nature of SM relationships? What are the values and motives of SM participants? How do mental health professionals regard and treat SM practitioners? Should sadomasochism continue to be classified as a mental illness? What is the legal status of SM and what are the consequences of discrimination against SM practitioners? Does increasing visibility of SM imagery decrease stigma or create added problems? What can ordinary lovers learn from those we have marginalized about the farther reaches of human erotic potential? Sadomasochism: Powerful Pleasures is valuable, insightful reading for mental health professionals, students, sex educators, sex counselors, sex therapists, sex researchers, sexual health workers, sociologists, sexual minority groups, and anyone interested in learning more about the sexual pleasures that lie beyond the traditional.

"I need a little sugar in my bowl, I need a little hot dog, on my roll I can stand a bit of loving, oh so bad, I feel so funny, I feel so sad". (Bessie Smith). When it comes to sex, what do women want? In this eye-opening and courageous collection, Erica Jong reveals that every woman has her own answer. Susan Cheever talks about the excruciating hazards of casual sex, while Gail Collins recounts her Catholic upbringing in Cincinnati and the nuns who passionately forbade her from having carnal relations. In "Everything Must Go", Jennifer Weiner explores how, in love, the body can play just as big a role as the heart. The octogenarians in Karen Abbott's sharp-eyed piece possess a passion that could give Betty White a run for her money. Molly Jong-Fast reflects on her unconventional upbringing and why a whole generation of young women have rejected free love in favor of Bugaboo strollers and Mommy-and-me yoga. Sex, it turns out, can be as fleeting, heavy, mundane, and intense as the rest of life. Indeed, Jong states in her powerful introduction the truth is-sex is life. Contributors: Karen Abbott, Elisas Albert, J. A. K. Andres, Susie Bright, Susan Cheever, Gail Collins, rosemary Daniell, Eve Ensler, Molly Jong-Fast, Susan Kinsolving, Julie Klam, Jean Hanff Korelitz, Min Jin Lee, Ariel Levy, Margaret Magowan, Marisa Acocella Marchetto, Daphne Merkin, Honor Moore, Meghan O'Rourke, Anne Roiphe, Linda Gray Sexton, Liz Smith, Jann Turner, Barbara Victor, Rebecca Walker, Jennifer Weiner, Fay Weldon, and Jessica Winter.

This book is a collection of essays written during the 1980s and 1990s, generated as parts of other, larger activist efforts going on at the time. Read together, the essays trace the progress of the conversations between different activist groups, and between the authors of the pieces, Lisa Duggan and Nan Hunter, creating a bridge between feminists, gay activists, those in politics, and those in the law.

Since the 1995 publication of Sex Wars, the political landscape has altered significantly. Yet the issues (and essays) are still relevant today. The anniversary edition contains a new chapter dealing with the changes in the law since the book's publication (Lawrence v. Texas, for example).

Erotic Subjects demonstrates that if we treat sixteenth- and seventeenth-century erotic literature as part of English political history, both fields of study will look rather different. In this important new book, Sanchez traces some surprising implications of two early modern commonplaces: first, that love is the basis of political consent and obedience, and second, that suffering is an intrinsic part of love. Rather than dismiss such commonplaces as mere convention, Sanchez uncovers the political import of early modern literature's fascination with erotic violence. Focusing on representations of masochism, sexual assault, and cross-gendered identification, Sanchez re-examines the work of politically active writers from Philip Sidney to John Milton. She argues that political allegiance and consent appear far less conscious and deliberate than traditional historical narratives allow when Sidney depicts abjection as a source of both moral authority and sexual arousal; when Edmund Spenser and William Shakespeare make it hard to distinguish between rape and seduction; when Mary Wroth and Margaret Cavendish depict women who adore treacherous or abusive lovers; when court masques stress the pleasures of enslavement; or when Milton insists that even Edenic marriage is hopelessly pervaded by aggression and self-loathing. Sanchez shows that this literature constitutes an alternate tradition of political theory that acknowledges the irrational and perverse components of power and thereby disrupts more conventional accounts of politics as driven by self-interest, false consciousness, or brute force. Erotic Subjects will be of interest to students and scholars of early modern literary and political history, as well as those interested in the histories of gender, sexuality, and affect more generally.

In this volume, Romance and Sex in Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood: Risks and Opportunities, top scholars in the field of family research examine the nature and origin of adolescents' contemporary patterns of sexual and romantic relationships, spanning such diverse topics as the evolutionary roots of these behaviors, as well as policies and programs that represent best practices for addressing these issues in schools and communities. The text offers interdisciplinary expertise from scholars of psychology, social work, sociology, demography, economics, human development and family studies, and public policy. Adolescents and young adults today face very different choices about family formation than did their parents' generation, given such societal changes as the rise in cohabitation, the increase in divorce rates, and families having fewer children. These demographic trends are linked in important ways and provide a backdrop against which adolescents and emerging adults form and maintain romantic and sexual relationships. Editors Crouter and Booth address such questions as: *What are the ways in which early family and peer relationships give rise to romantic relationships in the late adolescent and early adult years? *How do early romantic and sexual relationships influence individuals' subsequent development and life choices, including family formation? *To what extent are current trends in romantic and sexual relationships in adolescence and emerging adulthood problematic for individuals, families, and communities, and what are the most effective ways to address these issues at the level of practice, program, and policy? Romance and Sex in Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood: Risks and Opportunities is an enlightening compilation of essays for academicians and upper-lever undergraduate and graduate students in the fields of human development and family studies, sociology, and psychology, as well as for practitioners in those fields who work with families and adolescents. The chapters are accessible to a wide variety of audiences.

Studying a broader period than its contemporaries, this comprehensive study reveals a neglected tradition of British women 's writing from the Victorian era to the sexual revolution of the 1960s. Outspoken Women brings together the many and varied non-fictional writings of British women on sexual attitudes and behaviour, beginning nearly a hundred years prior to the second wave of feminism.

Commentators cover a broad range of perspectives and include Darwinists, sexologists, and campaigners against the spread of VD, as well as women writing about their own lives and experiences. Covering all aspects of the debate from marriage, female desire and pleasure, to lesbianism, prostitution, STDs, and sexual ignorance, Lesley A. Hall studies how the works of this era didn t just criticise male-defined mores and the dark side of sex, but how they increasingly promoted the possibility of a brighter view and an informed understanding of the sexual life.

Hall 's remarkable anthology is an engaging examination of this fascinating subject and it provides students and scholars with an invaluable source of primary material.

The Sexual Alarm System: Women s Unwanted Response to Sexual Intimacy and How to Overcome It by Judith Leavitt explores the shield that develops around many women s bodies to protect them from real and perceived sexual intrusions and dangers. From a young age, women are socialized to regard their sexuality as something that puts them in danger. However, the Sexual Alarm System interferes with a woman s ability to be sexual when she wants to be. Leavitt discusses how the Alarm functions, how it develops, what triggers it, and how it interferes with a woman s ability to be sexual in an intimate partnership. In addition, this book presents specific body exercises for therapists to give to women to work through this Alarm and to develop the ability to enjoy their sexuality."

Why is it that successful black men--black men who are "at the top of their game" in the arts, entertainment, politics and athletics--are four times as apt to be married to or dating a woman who is not an African American than they were only thirty years ago? And why are twice as many black men involved in interracial relationships as black women? In addition to their celebrity status, which includes widespread popularity and wealth, black men from Charles Barkley to James Earl Jones to Russell Simmons to Bryant Gumbel share something else in common; something that also characterizes the experiences of more than 250,000 less well-known black men in the United States. They happen to be involved in interracial intimate relationships. Less than fifty years ago such relationships were next to impossible, leading to severe social sanctions. The fact that this is no longer the case is concrete evidence of changes in the quality and character of contemporary race relations. Drawing on her own observations, and her examination of the responses of a small, diverse group of black men who date (in some cases exclusively), have sexual relations with, and marry women who are not of African descent, the book provides insight into the continuing ways that race and ethnic status affect the choices people make in their lives. Until this book, though, these types of relationships have received scant serious attention. Craig-Henderson forthrightly addresses the taboo, interspersing analysis with verbatim accounts from black men involved in such relationships. Grounded in serious research, interviews, and analysis of census data, "Black Men in Interracial Relationships "examines why such relationships appear to be so popular among black male elites. In the process, the author unravels the mystery behind the apparent absence of black women in black men's lives. It will be of interest to specialists in race, gender, family, and sexual issues, and appropriate for courses in these areas. It is also highly readable and thought-provoking for the general public, who will find its observations and findings fascinating. "Kellina M. Craig-Henderson" is a faculty member in the Department of Psychology at Howard University in Washington, DC. Her research program includes studies of groups, cross-cultural, gender and race stereotyping, and aggression.

How did the Scottish government respond to sexual attitudes and behaviour in the period 1950 to 1980? In exploring the role of the state in the regulation of modern sexuality, historians have largely overlooked the policy-making process in Scotland. Davidson and Davis lead us through the Scottish sexual landscape leading up to the global crisis of HIV/AIDS, analysing post-war state policy towards issues such as abortion, family planning, homosexuality, pornography, prostitution, sex education and sexual heath. How progressive were Scottish policy makers during this period of rapid social change? The book examines to what extent the policy mindset shifted from a moral and legalistic approach to one that was more permissive. How far did the puritanical elements of Scottish Presbyterianism continue to inhibit policy and to what degree did policy makers empower a broader range of sexual behaviours and moderate the traditional surveillance and censure of female sexuality? Finally, in what respects did Scotland's national identity affect the engagement of the Scottish state with sexual issues? Key Words Abortion, censorship, contraception, family planning, government, homosexuality, homosexual law reform, morality, obscenity, policy-making, pornography, prostitution, Scottish, sex, sexuality, sex education, sexual health, sexual offences, sexual reproduction, sexually transmitted diseases, state Key features * Adds an important Scottish perspective to the study of sexuality and policy-making in modern society. There are few resources for the student of Scotland's sexual history and its political and social context. * Provides a significant addition to the history of sexuality in 20th-century Britain * Makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the later 20th-century Scottish state, and especially the local state * Adds to our knowledge of the shaping of policy on key issues relating to sexual morality in modern society including abortion, censorship, family planning, homosexuality, prostitution, sex education, and sexually transmitted diseases

What are the archives of gay and lesbian leather histories, and how have contemporary artists mined these archives to create a queer politics of the present? This book sheds light on an area long ignored by traditional art history and LGBTQ studies, examining the legacies of the visual and material cultures of US leather communities. It discusses the work of contemporary artists such as Patrick Staff, Dean Sameshima, Monica Majoli, AK Burns and AL Steiner, and the artist collective Die Kranken, showing how archival histories and contemporary artistic projects might be applied in a broader analysis of LGBTQ culture and norms. Hanky codes, blurry photographs of Tom of Finland drawings, a pin sash weighted down with divergent histories - these become touchstones for writing leather histories. -- .

The Gender of Sexuality serves as a fun and informative guide on how to approach the topics of gender and sexuality-two areas fraught with stereotypes and misinformation. The second edition of this book features significant new material on the changing status of gender, same sex marriage, and transgender. After introducing key concepts in gender and sexuality, the authors explore topics such as sexual desire, the role of biology, sexual behavior, uncommitted sexual relationships and "hooking up," marriage and cohabitation, and the politics of sexuality. Examples from popular culture, film, and media invite readers to engage with key concepts. This is an ideal book for courses on gender, sexuality, marriage and family, or social problems.

At 30, Laura Doyle, like millions of women, was miserable in her marriage, but she couldn't put her finger on the cause. 'I was lonely and I was exhausted from trying to do everything myself. When I learned to stop controlling and criticising my husband and practised receiving graciously, something magical happened. The union I had always dreamed of appeared. The man who had wooed me was back,' writes Doyle. In THE SURRENDERED WIFE, Laura Doyle presents a radical and controversial approach to relationships: women can enjoy great sex, harmony and the intimacy they crave when they stop controlling their partner. Surrendering, she says, is the simplest principle for a great marriage and thousands of women swear by it. Covering both the emotional and practical aspects of marriage, it teaches women valuable lessons including how to respect the man they married, how to resist the temptation to bicker and how to trust their man. But most importantly, it shows how you can fall in love with your man all over again. With marriages and relationships fast becoming the first casualty of modern life, THE SURRENDERED WIFE could be the key to 'happy ever after'.