Sexuality has long been the ultimate subject of moral regulation projects. In Hunt’s Governing Morals, the regulation of sexuality is introduced via Hunt’s description of the historical timeline of various phases of moral regulation campaigns. Conversely, in Kinsman’s “The Creation of Homosexuality as a Social Problem”, Marxist’s analogies, as well as the role social relations and are utilized to explain the regulation of sexuality. While there are commonalities between the two authors in their approach to the governance of sexuality, each provides their own unique twist on the topic of such regulation. To understand Hunt’s approach to the regulation of sexuality, it is critical to have a historical understanding of the 19th century, a time …show more content…
Kinsman makes the key argument that class, economy and sexuality are not mutually exclusive concepts, but are actually interconnected. The idea of historical materialism dominates Kinsman’s approach to regulation of sexuality. Historical materialism is parallel to the Marxist’s concept of dialectical materialism: the history of struggle for control over material. Thus, when historical materialism is applied to “queers,” it demonstrates a vast amount of historical conflict oppression under the ‘natural’ appearance of heterosexuality. Thus, sexuality is historically and socially made, and there is a struggle maintain the status quo. The ‘normalization’ of certain sexual relationships demonstrates the social nature of sexuality and is the crux of Kinsman’s argument: sex is primarily a social activity and is subsequently moulded via social relations. For example, homosexuality in contemporary society is more socially accepted than it was in the 19th century, even though homosexuality has existed since time …show more content…
For example, we are assigned our gender based on physiology at birth, but the gendered identity roles society expects us to adhere to are entirely socially created. Hence, the social expectation of our gendered identities creates a ‘natural attitude’ toward sexuality, one based on hegemonic heterosexuality. It can be deduced that this social context underlining sexuality is so engrained in society that it almost becomes invisible, thus, comes to be seen an ‘innate.’ However, this invisibility is threatened when something comes to violate the ‘natural’ attitude, namely
Moral regulation has been – and still is – a very heated topic for discussion. In chapters two and three of his book, Governing Morals: A Social History of Moral Regulation, author Alan Hunt speaks of various social organizations and their different attempts at moral regulation projects from the late 18th to early 20th century. Although the two chapters flow into each other, and time turns from one century to the next, various and complex societal changes, and in turn, approaches to moral regulation are noted. Said changes to society and regulatory approaches include evolving civil associations, the incorporation of character and females into the social sphere, and shifts away from the church. As society changes, so does the approach to, and implication of, moral regulation projects.
At the beginning of the 1900s, there was a “sexual revolution” in New York City. During this time, sexual acts and desires were not hidden, but instead they were openl...
For example, “sociological and popular understanding of gay and lesbian relationships has been greatly distorted by the false presumption that only heterosexual relationships are normal ways of expressing sexual intimacy and love” (Andersen 1997, 95). This explains how society helps in influencing and identifying people sexual identities throughout their lifetime. Andersen admits that “heterosexual identity includes the belief that men have an overpowering sex drive and that women are considered more loving, soft and are link to sex [… and] contemporary sexual attitudes are shaped by phallocentric thinking-that which sees men as powerful and women as weak” (Andersen 1997, 94, 96). Although, society is lead to believe that men should be the dominant figure of the family. The reality is that, in gay and lesbian relationships, no one individual displays the behavior of an authoritative
Halperin, David. "Is There a History of Sexuality?." The Lesbian and Gay Studies Reader. Ed. Henry
Milstein, Susan A. Taking Sides Clashing Views in Human Sexuality. Ed. William J. Taverner and Ryan W. McKee. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2009. Print.
The construction of human sexuality has been and remains an enigma in today’s society. The prominent and well fought debate can be compacted into one simple title: Nature vs. Nurture. There is no clear answer to how our human sexuality is formed.
Essay #1: Sexual Politics It has been said that “Society has always defined for us what it means to be a man and what it means to be a woman, what a man should be like and what a woman should be like, and these traditional definitions of gender roles have limited and even harmed individuals”. The theme of sexual politics comes to mind in this quote. One can define sexual politics as the relationship of the sexes, male and female, regarding power. Society’s definition of this can limit an individual in their gender role and restrain a person from being themselves.
Foucault, Michel. The History of Sexuality. Trans. Random House, Inc. Vol. Volume 1: An Introduction. 3 vols1978. Print.
Sexuality is a fundamental part of our self-discovery, involving much more than just being genetically or anatomically male and female and it is not defined solely by one 's sexual acts (Ministry of Education 1989, p.79 cited in Gourlay, P 1995). The notion that sexuality is fixed and innate disregards the social aspects that impact ones’ sexualities. Gagnon and Simon (1973) further commented that sexuality is a feature of social
Osmundson, Joseph. "'I Was Born This Way': Is Sexuality Innate, and Should It Matter?" Harvard Kennedy School. N.p., 2011. Web. 11 Feb. 2014. .
The dominant norm in the nineteenth century was a heterosexual monogamous relationship, but during this periods of time many groups of people came out like the gays, lesbians, transgender, and many more, who challenged the social norm . In the 1820’s the transcendental movement began. This movement was compose of a group of activist, who believed that society, religion, and politics prevented people from being and acting how they wanted. Instead this activist believed that people should be independent and self-reliant, when choosing how to live their lives. Then there was the free love movement, which supported casual sexual encounters with little to no commitment. In the twentieth century there where many sexual revolutions began, “Gays and
Somerville, Siobhan. "Scientific Racism and the Invention of the Homosexual Body." Gender, Sex, and Sexuality. New York: Oxford University, 2009. 284-99. Print.
This field of Sexology, developed from German and French influences, developed a taxonomy and categorization of sexual ‘deviance,’ in which homosexuality was at first seen as pathological and unnatural. This notion of a ‘degenerate’ sexuality and deviances, political, legal and social groups began to understand homosexuality in medicalized terms. Krafft-Ebbing, Ulrichs, Freud. Paedophilia and greeks.
Gender and sexuality can be comprehended through social science. Social science is “the study of human society and of individual relationships in and to society” (free dictionary, 2009). The study of social science deals with different aspects of society such as politics, economics, and the social aspects of society. Gender identity is closely interlinked with social science as it is based on an identity of an individual in the society. Sexuality is “the condition of being characterized and distinguished by sex” (free dictionary, 2009). There are different gender identities such as male, female, gay, lesbian, transgender, and bisexual that exists all around the world. There is inequality in gender identities and dominance of a male regardless of which sexuality they fall under. The males are superior over the females and gays superior over the lesbians, however it different depending on the place and circumstances. This paper will look at the gender roles and stereotypes, social policy, and homosexuality from a modern and a traditional society perspective. The three different areas will be compared by the two different societies to understand how much changes has occurred and whether or not anything has really changed. In general a traditional society is more conservative where as a modern society is fundamentally liberal. This is to say that a traditional society lists certain roles depending on the gender and there are stereotypes that are connected with the genders. One must obey the one that is dominant and make decisions. On the other hand, a modern society is lenient, It accepts the individual’s identity and sexuality. There is no inequality and everyone in the society is to be seen as individuals not a part of a family unit...