Overview

"The first edition of Sexual Conduct, published in 1973, swiftly became a landmark text in the sociology of sexuality. It went onto profoundly shape the ideas of several generations of scholars and has become the foundation text of what is now known as the ""social constructionist"" approach to sexuality. The present edition, revised, updated, and containing new introductory and concluding materials, will introduce a classic text to a new generation of students and professionals. Traditional views of human sexuality posit models of man and woman in which biological arrangements are translated into sociocultural imperatives. This is best summarized in the phrase ""anatomy is destiny."" Consequently, the almost exclusive concern has been with the power of biology and nature in sexual conduct as opposed to understanding the significance and impact of social life. In Sexual Conduct, Gagnon and Simon lucidly argue that sexual activities, of all kinds, may be understood as the outcome of a complex psychosocial process of development. Using the social script theory, the authors trace the ways in which sexuality is learned and fitted into particular moments in the lifecycle and in different modes of behavior. Sexual Conduct is a major attempt to consider sexuality within a non-biological, social psychological framework. It is a valuable addition to the study of human sexuality, and will be of interest to students of sociology, psychology, psychiatry, social work, and medicine."

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9780202306643

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Reviews

With the continuing attention to the study of sexualities, readers now have the opportunity to revisit--or encounter for the first time--a classic in the field. Rereading Gagnon and Simon's Sexual Conduct reminds us of its importance in having established over thirty years ago the foundation for understanding the social dimensions of sexuality while also providing us with creative insights relevant to today's issues and theoretical debates. This is a key book everyone doing research and writing about sexuality must read in order to learn how the social meanings of sexuality are developed, organized, and maintained in a culture. --Peter M. Nardi, author of Gay Men's Friendships: Invincible Communities and professor of sociology, Pitzer College <br> When I read the first edition of Sexual Conduct it literally changed my life. I was just beginning my sociological career and this book shook my worldview to the core and made me into a symbolic interactionist, and committed me to a lifelong study of the sociology of sexuality. Bill Simon and John Gagnon wrote a book that was so revelatory that nothing has been the same since it's publication. Simon and Gagnon brought the theory of social scripts home to sociology and allowed us to see the role of culture and gender in the construction of meaning about our sexual lives. The authors intellectually destroyed categorical ways of thinking about sex acts and sexual actors and showed how culture created our perceptions, norms, and feelings. Way before gender became one of the cornerstones of sociological analysis, Simon and Gagnon helped sociology and other behavioral sciences (not to mention students and other disciplines) understand how social norms created gender and now gender molded sexual behavior. Simon and Gagnon were the first wave of resistance to essentialism, ' the belief that all major sexual feelings, from sexual arousal to partner choice are biologically based. No one can read this book and imagine tha

With the continuing attention to the study of sexualities, readers now have the opportunity to revisit--or encounter for the first time--a classic in the field. Rereading Gagnon and Simon's Sexual Conduct reminds us of its importance in having established over thirty years ago the foundation for understanding the social dimensions of sexuality while also providing us with creative insights relevant to today's issues and theoretical debates. This is a key book everyone doing research and writing about sexuality must read in order to learn how the social meanings of sexuality are developed, organized, and maintained in a culture. --Peter M. Nardi, author of Gay Men's Friendships: Invincible Communities and professor of sociology, Pitzer College When I read the first edition of Sexual Conduct it literally changed my life. I was just beginning my sociological career and this book shook my worldview to the core and made me into a symbolic interactionist, and committed me to a lifelong study of the sociology of sexuality. Bill Simon and John Gagnon wrote a book that was so revelatory that nothing has been the same since it's publication. Simon and Gagnon brought the theory of social scripts home to sociology and allowed us to see the role of culture and gender in the construction of meaning about our sexual lives. The authors intellectually destroyed categorical ways of thinking about sex acts and sexual actors and showed how culture created our perceptions, norms, and feelings. Way before gender became one of the cornerstones of sociological analysis, Simon and Gagnon helped sociology and other behavioral sciences (not to mention students and other disciplines) understand how social norms created gender and now gender molded sexual behavior. Simon and Gagnon were the first wave of resistance to 'essentialism, ' the belief that all major sexual feelings, from sexual arousal to partner choice are biologically based. No one can read this book and imagine that our s

Author Information

John H. Gagnon is professor emeritus of sociology and psychiatry at the State University of New York, Stony Brook. He is a coauthor of The Social Organization of Sexuality: Sexual Practices in the United States and Sex in America, and a coeditor of Encounters with AIDS: The Impact of the HIV/AIDS Epidemic on the Gay and Lesbian Communities. William Simon (1930-2000) was professor of sociology at the University of Houston. He also taught at Indiana University and from 1968 to 1975 was program supervisor at the Institute for Juvenile Research in Chicago. A pioneer in the development of the social constructionist approach to sexuality, Simon was a recipient of the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality's Award for Distinguished Scientific Achievement.

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