Gender
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What is Sexuality?
Sexuality is a major theme in contemporary identity informed through the help of feminism and other major groups. The term is related to but distinct from “sex” (used to refer both to the physical distinction between men and women and sexual intercourse) and “gender” (the social and cultural distinctions between men and women). Sexuality is used to refer to “erotic desires, practices and identities” or “aspects of personal and social life which have erotic significance” (Weeks, 1985). Debates on sexuality in the recent period are marked above all by an increased awareness of this tension; between an acceptance or affirmation of diversity on the one hand and a defence of the established norms on the other. This discussion has been shaped by the continuing issue of whether sexual identity is a biological given, determined by genes or anatomy, or is completely constructed in society and culture. These alternatives define “essentialist” and “social-constructionist” positions. Fairly evidently, in viewing sexuality as given by nature and thus fixed and unalterable, an essentialist view will reinforce heterosexual norms such that an aggressive masculine sexuality is accepted as “the way things are”. Nevertheless, essentialist arguments have been evoked by feminists who feel it necessary to argue for the autonomy and fundamental difference of women from men or by lesbian feminists who wish to mark their difference from both heterosexual men and women (Weeks, 1985).
The essentialist position argues that there are basic differences in male and female nature deriving from sex differences in biology interacting with the very early experiences of childhood. Freud placed a great emphasis on sexuality as a wellspring of human behaviour. Sexuality was mediated through an energising force he called libido. This is felt as birth and from then throughout the human life span, this energy needs to be discharged in some manner. Freud held the possibility
What is Sexuality?
Sexuality is a major theme in contemporary identity informed through the help of feminism and other major groups. The term is related to but distinct from “sex” (used to refer both to the physical distinction between men and women and sexual intercourse) and “gender” (the social and cultural distinctions between men and women). Sexuality is used to refer to “erotic desires, practices and identities” or “aspects of personal and social life which have erotic significance” (Weeks, 1985). Debates on sexuality in the recent period are marked above all by an increased awareness of this tension; between an acceptance or affirmation of diversity on the one hand and a defence of the established norms on the other. This discussion has been shaped by the continuing issue of whether sexual identity is a biological given, determined by genes or anatomy, or is completely constructed in society and culture. These alternatives define “essentialist” and “social-constructionist” positions. Fairly evidently, in viewing sexuality as given by nature and thus fixed and unalterable, an essentialist view will reinforce heterosexual norms such that an aggressive masculine sexuality is accepted as “the way things are”. Nevertheless, essentialist arguments have been evoked by feminists who feel it necessary to argue for the autonomy and fundamental difference of women from men or by lesbian feminists who wish to mark their difference from both heterosexual men and women (Weeks, 1985).
The essentialist position argues that there are basic differences in male and female nature deriving from sex differences in biology interacting with the very early experiences of childhood. Freud placed a great emphasis on sexuality as a wellspring of human behaviour. Sexuality was mediated through an energising force he called libido. This is felt as birth and from then throughout the human life span, this energy needs to be discharged in some manner. Freud held the possibility
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