FEMINIST THEORIZING OF SEXUALITY III
Most people think of certain body parts as either sexual or not. We think of penises and breasts as sexual, for example, but probably think of feet as not sexual. Most of the time, we think that sexual body parts are sexual for natural or biological reasons. But in this part of the book we will be exploring the way that body parts become sexual through a variety of social forces. What counts as ssex depends on how the body is defined or viewed. . . .
What is considered a sexual body part chantes over time. What is considered a legitimate sexual act is not related to nature as much as to social forces. As you’ll learn, even something as seemingly simple as an orgasm changes over time and is experienced in remarkably different ways in different cultures.
—Steven Seidman, New Sexuality Studies (79-80)
Required Readings
Fausto-Sterling, Sexing the Body, Ch. 5 “Sexing the Brain”
(115-45), Ch. 6 “Sex Glands, Hormones, and Gender Chemistry” (146- 69), Ch. 7 “Do Sex Hormones Really Exist? (Gender Becomes Chemical)” (170-94), Ch. 8 “The Rodent’s Tale”
(195-232), Ch. 9 “Gender Systems: Toward a Theory of Human Sexuality” (233-55)
Seidman et al. New Sexuality Studies Part 3: Sexual bodies and behaviors, Chs. 15-18 (107-132)
Additional Resources
Sample journal entry 1
Sample journal entry 2
Due This Week
Weekly journal entry including main points from readings, to be submitted electronically, and observations about your own sexuality and understanding of sexuality, to be kept in a private journal.