Against Nature: Essays on History, Sexuality and Identity

By now it is clear that the publication of any new book by this British sociologist is an important occasion in sexology, and this volume is no exception. In this collection, we get to sample Weeks's essays published between 1980 and 1991 which intelligently address some of the most important and most controversial issues in contemporary sex research. Weeks is best known for two books published in the 1980s: Sex, Politics and Society: The Regulation of Sexuality since 1800 (Weeks, 1981) and Sexuality and Its Discontents (Weeks, 1985). These books were part of a growing wave of scholarship known as "social constructionism" which criticized the ahistoricism of much sex research. They argued that sexuality is a set of potentials which are realized and experienced differently depending on gender, class, historical period, and culture. To talk about sexuality or female sexuality or homosexuality or sexual dysfunction without situating the discussion historically and culturally is to…