Gender and Sexuality. Stevi Jackson

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Gender and Sexuality - Stevi Jackson


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      Sociological Approaches

      Momin Rahman and Stevi Jackson

      polity

      Copyright © Momin Rahman and Stevi Jackson 2010

      The right of Momin Rahman and Stevi Jackson to be identified as Author of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

      First published in 2010 by Polity Press

      Polity Press

      65 Bridge Street

      Cambridge CB2 1UR, UK

      Polity Press

      350 Main Street

      Malden, MA 02148, USA

      All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

      ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-5525-3

      A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

      The publisher has used its best endeavours to ensure that the URLs for external websites referred to in this book are correct and active at the time of going to press. However, the publisher has no responsibility for the websites and can make no guarantee that a site will remain live or that the content is or will remain appropriate.

      Every effort has been made to trace all copyright holders, but if any have been inadvertently overlooked the publisher will be pleased to include any necessary credits in any subsequent reprint or edition.

      For further information on Polity, visit our website: www.politybooks.com

       The aim of this brief introduction is to illustrate how the key sociological concepts of structure, culture, self and identity are important to understanding gender and sexuality and how they are dealt with in subsequent chapters. We also give guidance on the format of the chapters, which include exercises, learning outcomes and notes on further resources and reading. However, we begin with an example to demonstrate the importance of a sociological perspective in understanding gender and sexuality.

      How can we understand and explain the strength of emotion that the recognition of lesbian and gay marriage provokes? Of course, it could be argued that this particular civil right is the latest in a gradual extension of rights to lesbian and gay minorities, beginning for many in Western Europe and North America in the late 1960s and accelerating in the 1990s with the increasing cultural visibility of diverse sexualities. This trend could be seen as part of wider changes in western society that have also resulted in the advance of rights for women and ethnic minorities. We may then account for the controversy over same- sex marriage as the inevitable but temporary battle between traditionalism and democratic social progress. But is this an accurate picture? We suggest not.

      A full understanding of such controversies is not possible without a thoroughly sociological analysis of the social organization of sexuality and gender and their social meaning. What such a perspective entails is discussed in the next section.

       TASK: Set up a debate about legalizing same- sex marriage (or banning it if you live in a country that has already passed such laws).

      Make sure that you have one person that is noting down the arguments made both for and against the motion.

      Read the following section to see if the arguments made in the debate relate to the points made below.

      Our aim in this text is to demonstrate that gender and sexuality can be understood through the following key issues and concepts in sociology:

       social change;

       social conflict, social cohesion and social order;

       social hierarchies, divisions and inequalities;

       social identities;

       modernity/late modernity/postmodernity.

      We discuss these key issues and concepts throughout the text, but we organize the discussion into parts that cover the central sociological concepts of structure, culture, self and identity. Let us stick with our introductory example to expand and explain. In the western world, the contemporary movements for women’s rights and those of sexual minorities have developed from a period of significant social change since the post-war, mid- twentieth- century decades, affecting women’s access to educational and financial resources, changes in cultural values, religious beliefs and decline in the deference to tradition. This period saw the rise of women’s and gay liberation movements that demanded new political and social rights. These demands challenged tradition, resulting in social conflict. Social conflict thus often arises from social change. This is one way of explaining the common


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