Carrigan, Gupta, and Morrison present a collection of articles on asexuality, beginning with an introduction to definitions and conceptions of asexuality as an identity, orientation, or behavioral description. Survey data on absence of sexual attraction is presented and discussed, and contributions address mental health and interpersonal functioning in self-identified asexuals as well as the overlap and distinction between asexuality and sexual desire disorders. Several essays focus on sexual normativity, including the association of normative sexuality with hygiene and historical French construction of normal vs. pathological sexuality. The final sections reflect on the state of research into asexuality. Annotation ©2014 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)
The last decade has seen the emergence of an increasingly high profile and politically active asexual community, united around a common identity as 'people who do not experience sexual attraction'. This unique volume collects a diverse range of interdisciplinary empirical and theoretical work which addresses this emergence, raising important and timely questions about asexuality and its broader implications for sexual culture. One of the most pressing and contentious issues within academic and public debates about asexuality is what relationship, if any, it has to sexual dysfunction. As well as collecting cutting edge scholarship in the emerging field of asexuality studies, rendering it indispensable to any sexualities course across the range of disciplines, this anthology also addresses this urgent debate, offering a variety of perspectives on how and why some have pathologised asexuality. This includes a range of chapters addressing the broader issues of sexual normativity within which these contemporary debates about asexuality are taking place.
This book was originally published as a special issue of Psychology and Sexuality.
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vii | |
| Notes on Contributors |
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ix | |
| Introduction |
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1 | (9) |
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1 Who reports absence of sexual attraction in Britain? Evidence from national probability surveys |
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10 | (15) |
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2 Mental health and interpersonal functioning in self-identified asexual men and women |
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25 | (16) |
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3 HSDD and asexuality: a question of instruments |
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41 | (15) |
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4 How is asexuality different from hypoactive sexual desire disorder? |
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56 | (12) |
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5 Asexuality: from pathology to identity and beyond |
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68 | (14) |
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6 Sex as a normalising technology: early-twentieth-century public sex education campaigns |
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82 | (13) |
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7 The average and the normal in nineteenth-century French medical discourse |
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95 | (12) |
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8 From pre-normal to abnormal: the emergence of a concept in late eighteenth-century France |
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107 | (14) |
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9 Afterword: some thoughts on asexuality as an interdisciplinary method |
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121 | (2) |
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10 A mystery wrapped in an enigma -- asexuality: a virtual discussion |
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123 | (12) |
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| Index |
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135 | |
Mark Carrigan is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Sociology at the University of Warwick, UK. For his dissertation, he is developing a critical realist approach to longitudinal qualitative research through an empirical case study of undergraduate students. His other research interests include asexuality, sexual culture and digital sociology.
Kristina Gupta is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Emory University, USA. For her dissertation, she is researching the intersections of feminist theory, asexuality, and scientific and medical research on sexual desire.
Todd G. Morrison is Associate Professor in the College of Arts & Science at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada. His primary research interests include gay and lesbian psychology; body image; stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination; psychometrics; and human sexuality (in particular, pornography and sex work).
