We are almost programmed into thinking of our sexuality as a wholly natural feature of life. But sexual relations are but one form of social relations, as Jeffrey Weeks makes clear in his book. Drawing on the analyses of Michel Foucault, amongst others, the book examines the social, moral and political issues raised by contemporary forms of sexuality. Weeks provides an authoritative introduction to the sociology of sexuality, discussing its cultural and socio-historical construction, it's relationship with power and the State's involvement in its rationalisation and regulation. This second edition is also updates to include global and postcolonial perspectives on sexuality, queer theory, the internet and cybersex, AIDS as a global phenomenon and international debates on the politics of sexuality. This book is an indispensable introduction to this complex and expanding field.

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.

Product Description: A provocative, deeply moving, and often absurdly funny memoir about how a young woman came to understand love and sexuality through the work of Shakespeare.Jillian Keenan's childhood was shaped by broken relationships and the manufactured romance of movies and television shows...read more

Few things come more naturally to us than sex―or so it would seem. Yet to a chimpanzee, the sexual practices and customs we take for granted would appear odd indeed. He or she might wonder why we bother with inconveniences like clothes, why we prefer to make love on a bed, and why we fuss so needlessly over privacy. Evolution and Human Sexual Behavior invites us into the thought-experiment of imagining human sex from the vantage point of our primate cousins, in order to underscore the role of evolution in shaping all that happens, biologically and behaviorally, when romantic passions are aroused.Peter Gray and Justin Garcia provide an interdisciplinary synthesis that draws on the latest discoveries in evolutionary theory, genetics, neuroscience, comparative primate research, and cross-cultural sexuality studies. They are our guides through an exploration of the patterns and variations that exist in human sexuality, in chapters covering topics ranging from the evolution of sex differences and reproductive physiology to the origins of sexual play, monogamous unions, and the facts and fictions surrounding orgasm.Intended for generally curious readers of all stripes, this up-to-date, one-volume survey of the evolutionary science of human sexual behavior explains why sexuality has remained a core fascination of human beings throughout time and across cultures.

It is a truism that as we age there are a number of underlying physiological changes conspiring to alter our level of behavioral and cognitive function­ ing. Despite the inherent interrelatedness of these behavioral and cognitive changes, all too often the papers we read confine themselves to specific, isolated components of the developing process. Although exceptions nat­ urally exist, we believe that these exceptions should become rule. Although an integrated approach is important in all areas of adult devel­ opment, it is perhaps particularly germane in the study of atypical aging. Here, changes in overall functioning can occur in rapid succession, with the synchrony of decline between different subprocesses making it difficult to factor changes in one process from changes in another. For example, because changes in cognitive functioning co-occur with other dramatic changes in (motoric) response capacities, it is unclear how one can effec­ tively study changes in the ability to cognize independent of changes in the very mechanisms (ability to execute motor sequences) so often used to index cognitive performance.

Product Description: Practice makes perfect! Everyone knows sex in a long-term relationship can get stale sometimes. But isn't the same true for masturbation? Just like a familiar sexual relationship, where you fall into a pattern using the same moves and positions, masturbation can become routine and frankly boring...read more