The Male Heterosexual


Book Description

A psychological understanding of the problems associated with male sexuality is urgently needed, for this is one of the dimensions of the male code that has fallen the farthest and the fastest. . . . In this volume, Larry A. Morris provides what we most need at this time: A scholarly examination of male (hetero)sexuality in its broadest context. Dr. Morris surveys, in turn, the biological, developmental psychological, sociocultural, and historical perspectives on male sexuality; then takes up the issues of sexual dysfunctions, sexually transmitted diseases, and the modern men′s movement; and finally offers ′a new formula for the cultivation of healthy male sexuality.′ The writing is very clear, the material is presented in an interesting manner, and both the author′s breadth of knowledge and sense of humor come through delightfully. . . . Dr. Morris, in this outstanding volume, lights the way for all of us as we attempt to reconstruct gender roles for a new millennium. --from the Foreword by Ronald F. Levant As the traditional code of masculinity erodes, emergence of the "new real man" brings a unique challenge to the continuum of a male heterosexual development. The move toward more balanced gender roles is viewed as a must for the next millennium but the process, for many men, is wrought with the confusion and loss. Timely and clearly written, The Male Heterosexual explores biological, developmental, psychological, sociocultural, and historical perspectives of male sexuality. Readers are guided by the expertise and warm humor of author Larry A. Morris on a journey into a wide range of issues surrounding male sexual development. Morris skillfully exposes those elements that need to be discarded, discusses those needing to be retained, and concludes with a new formula for the cultivation of healthy male sexuality. The Male Heterosexual is an ideal text for courses in male or gender issues and additionally, an informative and fascinating read for academics, researchers, mental health professionals, and any sophisticated lay reader interested in a very contemporary look at this issue.




The Tragedy of Heterosexuality


Book Description

Winner, 2021 PROSE Award in the Cultural Anthropology & Sociology Category Finalist, 2021 Lambda Literary Award in LGBTQ Studies A troubling account of heterosexual desire in the era of #MeToo Heterosexuality is in crisis. Reports of sexual harassment, misconduct, and rape saturate the news in the era of #MeToo. Straight men and women spend thousands of dollars every day on relationship coaches, seduction boot camps, and couple’s therapy in a search for happiness. In The Tragedy of Heterosexuality, Jane Ward smartly explores what, exactly, is wrong with heterosexuality in the twenty-first century, and what straight people can do to fix it for good. She shows how straight women, and to a lesser extent straight men, have tried to mend a fraught patriarchal system in which intimacy, sexual fulfillment, and mutual respect are expected to coexist alongside enduring forms of inequality, alienation, and violence in straight relationships. Ward also takes an intriguing look at the multi-billion-dollar self-help industry, which markets goods and services to help heterosexual couples without addressing the root of their problems. Ultimately, she encourages straight men and women to take a page out of queer culture, reminding them “about the human capacity to desire, fuck, and show respect at the same time.”




Heterosexual Masculinities


Book Description

In recent years there have been substantial changes in approaches to how genders are made and what functions genders fulfill. Most of the scholarly focus in this area has been in the areas of feminist, gay, and lesbian studies, and heterosexual masculinity - which tended to be defined by lack and absence - has not received the critical and scholarly attention these other areas have received. Heterosexual Masculinities rethinks a psychoanalytic tradition that has long thought of masculinity as a sort of brittle defense against femininity, softness, and emotionality. Reflecting current trends in psychoanalytic thinking, this book seeks to understand heterosexual masculinity as fluid, multiple, and emergent. The contributors to this insightful volume take new perspectives on relations between men, men’s positions as fathers in relation to their sons and daughters, the clinical encounter with heterosexual men, the social contexts of masculinity, and the multiplicity of heterosexual masculine subjectivities. What to a previous generation would have appeared as pathological or defensive, we now encounter as forms of masculine subjectivity that include wishes for intimacy, receptivity, and surrender, alongside ambition and the pleasures of "phallic narcissism."




Mostly Straight


Book Description

Based on research, the author explores in this publication the personal stories of forty young men to help us understand the biological and psychological factors that led them to become mostly straight and the cultural forces that are loosening the sexual bind that many boys and young men experience.




Not Gay


Book Description

A different look at heterosexuality in the twenty-first century A straight white girl can kiss a girl, like it, and still call herself straight—her boyfriend may even encourage her. But can straight white guys experience the same easy sexual fluidity, or would kissing a guy just mean that they are really gay? Not Gay thrusts deep into a world where straight guy-on-guy action is not a myth but a reality: there’s fraternity and military hazing rituals, where new recruits are made to grab each other’s penises and stick fingers up their fellow members’ anuses; online personal ads, where straight men seek other straight men to masturbate with; and, last but not least, the long and clandestine history of straight men frequenting public restrooms for sexual encounters with other men. For Jane Ward, these sexual practices reveal a unique social space where straight white men can—and do—have sex with other straight white men; in fact, she argues, to do so reaffirms rather than challenges their gender and racial identity. Ward illustrates that sex between straight white men allows them to leverage whiteness and masculinity to authenticate their heterosexuality in the context of sex with men. By understanding their same-sex sexual practice as meaningless, accidental, or even necessary, straight white men can perform homosexual contact in heterosexual ways. These sex acts are not slippages into a queer way of being or expressions of a desired but unarticulated gay identity. Instead, Ward argues, they reveal the fluidity and complexity that characterizes all human sexual desire. In the end, Ward’s analysis offers a new way to think about heterosexuality—not as the opposite or absence of homosexuality, but as its own unique mode of engaging in homosexual sex, a mode characterized by pretense, dis-identification and racial and heterosexual privilege. Daring, insightful, and brimming with wit, Not Gay is a fascinating new take on the complexities of heterosexuality in the modern era.




The Invention of Heterosexuality


Book Description

“Heterosexuality,” assumed to denote a universal sexual and cultural norm, has been largely exempt from critical scrutiny. In this boldly original work, Jonathan Ned Katz challenges the common notion that the distinction between heterosexuality and homosexuality has been a timeless one. Building on the history of medical terminology, he reveals that as late as 1923, the term “heterosexuality” referred to a "morbid sexual passion," and that its current usage emerged to legitimate men and women having sex for pleasure. Drawing on the works of Sigmund Freud, James Baldwin, Betty Friedan, and Michel Foucault, The Invention of Heterosexuality considers the effects of heterosexuality’s recently forged primacy on both scientific literature and popular culture. “Lively and provocative.”—Carol Tavris, New York Times Book Review “A valuable primer . . . misses no significant twists in sexual politics.”—Gary Indiana, Village Voice Literary Supplement “One of the most important—if not outright subversive—works to emerge from gay and lesbian studies in years.”—Mark Thompson, The Advocate




The Male in the Head


Book Description

Young people talk about sex and relationships in this detailed investigation of the social construction of sexuality. Drawing on empirical studies, the authors develop a feminist theory which shows the power of heterosexuality as masculine, and the relevance of this power to young people's management of sexual safety.




The Male Heterosexual


Book Description

A psychological understanding of the problems associated with male sexuality is urgently needed, for this is one of the dimensions of the male code that has fallen the farthest and the fastest. . . In this volume, Larry A. Morris provides what we most need at this time: A scholarly examination of male (hetero)sexuality in its broadest context. Dr. Morris surveys, in turn, the biological, developmental psychological, sociocultural, and historical perspectives on male sexuality; then takes up the issues of sexual dysfunctions, sexually transmitted diseases, and the modern men's movement; and finally offers 'a new formula for the cultivation of healthy male sexuality.' The writing is very clear, the material is presented in an interesting manner, and both the author's breadth of knowledge and sense of humor come through delightfully. . . . Dr. Morris, in this outstanding volume, lights the way for all of us as we attempt to reconstruct gender roles for a new millennium." --from the Foreword by Ronald F. Levant As the traditional code of masculinity erodes, emergence of the "new real man" brings a unique challenge to the continuum of a male heterosexual development. The move toward more balanced gender roles is viewed as a must for the next millennium but the process, for many men, is wrought with the confusion and loss. Timely and clearly written, The Male Heterosexual explores biological, developmental, psychological, sociocultural, and historical perspectives of male sexuality. Readers are guided by the expertise and warm humor of author Larry A. Morris on a journey into a wide range of issues surrounding male sexual development. Morris skillfully exposes those elements that need to be discarded, discusses those needing to be retained, and concludes with a new formula for the cultivation of healthy male sexuality. The Male Heterosexual is an ideal text for courses in male or gender issues and additionally, an informative and fascinating read for academics, researchers, mental health professionals, and any sophisticated lay reader interested in a very contemporary look at this issue.




Shyness & Love


Book Description

Shyness & Love covers the only major study conducted to date on social anxiety disorder as it is manifested in informal, unstructured, male/female dating and courtship situations. It focuses on the causes—both biomedical as well as situational—of “love-shyness” and the consequences for those afflicted with it. Gilmartin also discusses promising treatment modalities and what schools and communities can do to prevent severe love-shyness from developing in the first place. Shyness & Love examines the early family life as well as the peer group interactions of love-shy men. The book provides many statistical comparisons between the sampled love-shys and a comparison group of non-love-shy males of normal (but not superior) social self-confidence levels. These statistical comparisons allow for some informed speculations regarding the numerous interacting causes that underlie social phobia in informal, unstructured, heterosexual social situations. These statistical comparisons also provide the reader with some powerful suggestions regarding ways the American social structure (e.g., schools, family life, and communities) might be rearranged so that severe and intractable forms of love-shyness would never have an opportunity to develop in growing boys and teenagers in the first place. Since the publication of the first edition of this book, it has been determined that as many as forty percent of men afflicted with love-shyness are simultaneously comorbid for Asperger’s Syndrome, also known as high-functioning autism. As many as half of all love-shy males are comorbid for the “male lesbian syndrome,” sometimes also referred to as the “passive, non-competitive male syndrome.” This second edition contains a new foreword that presents the latest findings in love-shyness research. It is more concise than the original Shyness & Love, yet retains the most significant chapters.




Queer Man on Campus


Book Description

First Published in 2003. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.