SOCI 210 - Sociology of Sexuality

What is social about sexuality? Sexuality and its components (desire, pleasure, love, the body) are more than personal or individual characteristics. Sexuality is socially constructed. Sexuality has been configured during different historical time periods as sin, as a means of fostering alliances between powerful families, as perversion, as a means to pleasure, as a symbol of love, and as personal identity. These different sexual configurations are connected with larger social-historical trends such as the development of capitalism, the use of rationalized technologies, and the expansion of scientific-medical discourse. In this course, we explore how sexuality has been constructed through history. We examine how categories shape our understanding of sexuality such as male/female, heterosexual/homosexual/queer. We also will address issues such as children’s sexuality, sex work, queer and trans representation in the media and heteronormativity. Every year. (4 Credits)