Wide-ranging research suggests that partners in gay male and bisexual relationships do not necessarily expect monogamy, or see it as an important issue. Although the frequency of gay male and bisexual non-monogamous partnerships tends to be widely acknowledged in social science literature, these relationships have rarely been explored in more detail. By providing rich empirical data, thoughtful analysis and theoretical debate, this book makes a significant contribution to the sociological literature on sexual and intimate relationships. More specifically it explores the diversity of gay male and bisexual relationship practices in the context of heteronormative citizenship and intra-social movement conflict, and highlights the complexity of power relations that circumscribe queer people's relationships and sexual lives. Written in an accessible and engaging manner, The Spectre of Promiscuity provides important insights for further studies on sexual culture, discourse, citizenship, politics and ethics.

Wide-ranging research suggests that partners in gay male and bisexual relationships do not necessarily expect monogamy, or see it as an important issue. Although the frequency of gay male and bisexual non-monogamous partnerships tends to be widely acknowledged in social science literature, these relationships have rarely been explored in more detail. By providing rich empirical data, thoughtful analysis and theoretical debate, this book makes a significant contribution to the sociological literature on sexual and intimate relationships. More specifically it explores the diversity of gay male and bisexual relationship practices in the context of heteronormative citizenship and intra-social movement conflict, and highlights the complexity of power relations that circumscribe queer people's relationships and sexual lives. Written in an accessible and engaging manner, The Spectre of Promiscuity provides important insights for further studies on sexual culture, discourse, citizenship, politics and ethics.

Poet and novelist Charles Bukowski described promiscuity as "feast and feast and feast." The promiscuous person is having fun, getting away with it, and showing no signs of stopping. More often, though, promiscuity has been seen as demonic, as the sign of an uncivilised race, or as a symptom of mental disorder. Promiscuity in Western Literature capitalises on the fact that literature gives us deep and varied resources for reflecting on this controversial aspect of human behaviour. Drawing on authors from Homer to Margaret Atwood, it explores recurrent ideas and scenarios: Why does the literature of promiscuity evoke ideas of the animal? Why does it so often turn upon the image of the "excessive" woman? How and why does promiscuity feature in comic writing? How does the emergence of the modern city change representations of promiscuity? And, in the present day, what impact have ecological concerns had on the way writers depict promiscuity?

With twenty-five essays, fourteen of which are new to this edition, this best-selling volume examines the nature, morality, and social meanings of contemporary sexual phenomena. Topics include sexual desire, masturbation, sex on the Internet, homosexuality, transgender and transsexual issues, rape, and promiscuity. New chapters discuss polyamory, transgender issues, queer issues, paraphilia, drugs and sex, objectification, BDSM, cybersex, and sex and race. Updated and new discussion questions offer students starting points for debate in both the classroom and the bedroom.

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.

Clearly presenting complex ideas, this absorbing book, is a compendium of one hundred words which are key to the understanding of contemporary sexualities and intimacies, and shows how they can be 'magical' in the unfolding of sexual meanings.

The new edition of Sexuality displays the qualities which have made this book a key text for understanding human sexuality. Jeffrey Weeks blends deep empirical knowledge with theoretical sophistication and a sensitivity to the politics of sexuality. Framing and shaping the analysis is an acute understanding of the world-wide changes that are remaking sexuality and gender, dramatized by the globalization of sex and the rise and rise of cybersex. These changes have opened unprecedented opportunities for sexual interaction and sexual choice, but also posed new sexual dangers and anxiety. Debates about the regulation and control of sexuality, and the intersection of various dimensions of power and domination are contextualised by a sustained argument about the importance of agency in remaking sexual and intimate life, above all for women and for LGBTQ people. Particular attention is given to the debates about same-sex marriage which symbolize the transformations that have taken place. These controversies in turn feed into debates about intimate citizenship and human sexual rights in a rapidly changing world.

Introducing the New Sexuality Studies is an innovative, reader-friendly anthology of original essays and interviews that introduces the field of sexuality studies to undergraduate students. Examining the social, cultural, and historical dimensions of sexualities, this anthology is designed to serve as a comprehensive textbook for sexualities and gender-related courses at the undergraduate level. The book’s contributors include both well-established scholars, including Patricia Hill Collins, Jeffrey Weeks, Deborah L. Tolman, and C.J. Pascoe, as well as emerging voices in sexuality studies. This collection will provide students of sociology, gender, and sexuality with a challenging and broad introduction to the social study of sexuality that they will find accessible and engaging.

Against the background of the law reform debates around sexuality in Britain and America, Bamforth examines what functions it is legitimate for the law to serve and how effective law can be in achieving social goals. He provides a new and cogent argument for protecting lesbian and gay rights through law, but is sceptical about how useful law can be in eradicating discriminatory social practices. This work sheds new light on the equal rights debate and raises issues of central importance to the role of law in society.

This book re-examines political, conceptual and methodological concerns of 'intersectionality', bringing these into conversation with sexuality studies. It explores sexual identifications, politics and inequalities as these (dis)connect across time and place, and are re-constituted in relation to class, disability, ethnicity, gender and age.