The Sexual Person

The Sexual Person
Author: Todd A. Salzman
Publisher: Georgetown University Press
Total Pages: 354
Release: 2008-05-21
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1589017269

Two principles capture the essence of the official Catholic position on the morality of sexuality: first, that any human genital act must occur within the framework of heterosexual marriage; second, each and every marriage act must remain open to the transmission of life. In this comprehensive overview of Catholicism and sexuality, theologians Todd A. Salzman and Michael G. Lawler examine and challenge these principles. Remaining firmly within the Catholic tradition, they contend that the church is being inconsistent in its teaching by adopting a dynamic, historically conscious anthropology and worldview on social ethics and the interpretation of scripture while adopting a static, classicist anthropology and worldview on sexual ethics. While some documents from Vatican II, like Gaudium et spes ("the marital act promotes self-giving by which spouses enrich each other"), gave hope for a renewed understanding of sexuality, the church has not carried out the full implications of this approach. In short, say Salzman and Lawler: emphasize relationships, not acts, and recognize Christianity's historically and culturally conditioned understanding of human sexuality. The Sexual Person draws historically, methodologically, and anthropologically from the best of Catholic tradition and provides a context for current theological debates between traditionalists and revisionists regarding marriage, cohabitation, homosexuality, reproductive technologies, and what it means to be human. This daring and potentially revolutionary book will be sure to provoke constructive dialogue among theologians, and between theologians and the Magisterium.

Sexual Ethics

Sexual Ethics
Author: Todd A. Salzman
Publisher: Georgetown University Press
Total Pages: 282
Release: 2012-05-18
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1589019415

Two principles capture the essence of the Catholic tradition on sexual ethics: that each and every marriage act must remain open to the transmission of life, and that any human genital act must occur within the framework of marriage. In the Catholic tradition, moral sexual activity is institutionalized within the confines of marriage and procreation, and sexual morality is marital morality. But theologians Todd Salzman and Michael Lawler contend that there is a disconnect between many of the Church’s absolute sexual norms and other theological and intellectual developments explicitly recognized and endorsed in the Catholic tradition, especially since the Second Vatican Council. These developments include the shift from a primary static worldview to a historically conscious worldview, one that recognizes reality as dynamic, evolving, changing, and particular. By employing such a historically conscious worldview, alternative claims about the moral legitimacy of controversial topics such as contraception, artificial reproduction, and homosexual marriage can faithfully emerge within a Catholic context. Convinced of the central role that love, desire, and fertility play in a human life, and also in the life of Christian discipleship, the authors propose an understanding of sexuality that leads to the enhancement of human sexual relationships and flourishing. This comprehensive introduction to Catholic sexual ethics—complete with thought-provoking study questions at the end of each chapter—will be sure to stimulate dialogue about sexual morality between Catholic laity, theologians, and the hierarchy. Anyone seeking a credible and informed Catholic sexual ethic will welcome this potentially revolutionary book.

The Sexual Man

The Sexual Man
Author: Archibald D. Hart
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Total Pages: 0
Release: 1995-03
Genre: Health & Fitness
ISBN: 9780849936845

This groundbreaking report of men and sex in the 90's refutes the current myths surrounding male sexuality and offers a sane view of what it means to be male, sexual and normal. Combining Dr. Hart's 25 years of counseling with results from a nationwide survey, The Sexual Man offers honest, carefully documented answers to men's questions about male sexuality.

The Sexual Century

The Sexual Century
Author: Ethel Spector Person
Publisher: Yale University Press
Total Pages: 420
Release: 1999-01-01
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 9780300147278

Over the course of the past century, sexual liberation has transformed the way in which most of us regard our bodies and live our sexual lives. Now a preeminent psychoanalytic theoretician on sex and gender discusses what has gone into this unquiet revolution-the roles played by sexologists and psychoanalysts, antibiotics and birth control, the liberation movements, and Freud’s insight that sex has as much to do with the mind as with the genitals.In this collection of new and previously published papers, Ethel Person writes of the centrality of sexuality to our identity. She describes the role of fantasy in desire, its different expression in the sexes, and the way in which desire is inevitably intertwined with power. Her classic papers on transvestism, transsexualism, and cross-dressing homosexuals, written with Lionel Ovesey, help us to understand how gender and sex develop in all of us. The public acceptance of the transsexual, says Person, is emblematic of the profound scientific and intellectual shifts that have taken place in the past hundred years. The way that sex and gender develop and are experienced and expressed is the resultnot only of nature and nurture but also of the cultural zeitgeist, its unspoken values and biases.

Understanding Sexual Identity

Understanding Sexual Identity
Author: Mark A. Yarhouse
Publisher: Zondervan
Total Pages: 190
Release: 2013-10-22
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0310516196

Today’s youth struggle with difficult questions of sexual identity. How can a youth worker offer wise care and counsel on such a controversial and confusing subject? Mark Yarhouse, Director of the Institute for the Study of Sexual Identity, writes to equip youth ministers so they can faithfully navigate the topic of sexual identity in a way that is honest, compassionate, and accessible. Reframing the focus away from the culture wars, Yarhouse introduces readers to the conversation beginning with the developmental considerations in the formation of sexual identity—all of which occurs in the teen years. He offers practical and helpful ways to think about people who experience same-sex attraction. Sections of the book are also dedicated to helping parents respond to their children and teens who struggle with questions of sexual idenity, as well as how youth ministry can become more relevant in the lives of youth who are navigating these issues.

The Sexual Brain

The Sexual Brain
Author: Simon LeVay
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 196
Release: 1994-07-25
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 9780262620932

Written with the same clarity, directness, and humor that have made Simon LeVay one of the most popular lecturers at Harvard Medical School and at the University of California, San Diego, The Sexual Brain examines the biological roots of human sexual behavior. It puts forward the compelling case that the diversity of human sexual feelings and behavior can best be understood in terms of the development, structure, and function of the brain circuits that produce them. Discarding all preconceptions about the motivation and purpose of sexuality, LeVay discusses the scientific evidence bearing on such questions as why we are sexual animals, what the brain mechanisms are that produce sexual behavior, how these mechanisms differ between men and women and how these differences develop, and finally, what determines a person's sexual orientation: genes, prenatal events, family environment, or early sexual experiences? The Sexual Brain is broad in scope, covering evolutionary theory, molecular genetics, endocrinology, brain structure and function, cognitive psychology, and development. It is unified by LeVay's thesis that human sexual behavior, in all its diversity, is rooted in biological mechanisms that can be explored by laboratory science. The book does not shy away from the complexities of the field, but it can be readily appreciated and enjoyed by anyone with an intelligent interest in sex.

Sexual Fluidity

Sexual Fluidity
Author: Lisa M. Diamond
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Total Pages: 352
Release: 2008
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 9780674026247

Is love “blind” when it comes to gender? For women, it just might be. This unsettling and original book offers a radical new understanding of the context-dependent nature of female sexuality. Lisa M. Diamond argues that for some women, love and desire are not rigidly heterosexual or homosexual but fluid, changing as women move through the stages of life, various social groups, and, most important, different love relationships.This perspective clashes with traditional views of sexual orientation as a stable and fixed trait. But that view is based on research conducted almost entirely on men. Diamond is the first to study a large group of women over time. She has tracked one hundred women for more than ten years as they have emerged from adolescence into adulthood. She summarizes their experiences and reviews research ranging from the psychology of love to the biology of sex differences. Sexual Fluidity offers moving first-person accounts of women falling in and out of love with men or women at different times in their lives. For some, gender becomes irrelevant: “I fall in love with the person, not the gender,” say some respondents.Sexual Fluidity offers a new understanding of women’s sexuality—and of the central importance of love.

Sexual Conduct

Sexual Conduct
Author: William Simon
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 377
Release: 2017-07-05
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1351491172

The first edition of Sexual Conduct, published in 1973, swiftly became a landmark text in the sociology of sexuality. It went on to 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, introduces 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.

The Psychology of Human Sexuality

The Psychology of Human Sexuality
Author: Justin J. Lehmiller
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 473
Release: 2017-12-26
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1119164737

New edition of an authoritative guide to human sexual behavior from a biopsychosocial perspective The thoroughly revised and updated second edition of The Psychology of Human Sexuality explores the roles that biology, psychology, and the social and cultural context play in shaping human sexual behavior. The author – a noted authority on the topic and an affiliate of the acclaimed Kinsey Institute - puts the spotlight on the most recent research and theory on human sexuality, with an emphasis on psychology. The text presents the major theoretical perspectives on human sexuality, and details the vast diversity of sexual attitudes and behaviors that exist in the modern world. The author also reviews the history of sexology and explores its unique methods and ethical considerations. Overall, this important and comprehensive text provides readers with a better understanding of, and appreciation for, the science of sex and the amazing complexity of human sexuality. Features broad coverage of topics including anatomy, gender and sexual orientation, sexual behaviors, sexual difficulties and solutions, prostitution, and pornography Offers more in-depth treatment of relationships than comparable texts, with separate chapters dealing with attraction and relationship processes Includes cutting-edge research on the origins of sexual orientation and gender identity, as well as new treatments for sexually transmitted infections and sexual dysfunctions Is written from a sex-positive perspective, with expanded coverage of cross-cultural research throughout and material that is inclusive and respectful of a diverse audience Includes numerous activities to facilitate dynamic, interactive classroom environments Written for students of human sexuality and anyone interested in the topic, The Psychology of Human Sexuality offers a guide to the psychology of human sexual behavior that is at once inclusive, thorough, and authoritative in its approach.