 |
 |
 |
|
Human Sexuality |
|
|
"For
more than a decade now, the unchecked spread of HIV / AIDS around the world
has made our profound ignorance concerning human sexuality painfully evident.
The long-standing neglect of research on sexual behavior, and, consequently,
an almost compete lack of understanding concerning the complexity and diversity
of sexual expression, has made it almost impossible to respond to AIDS
by drawing on a pre-existing data base or body of knowledge" (Richard
Parker, 1995: 257).
"When
you read the research on sexuality that has emerged during the epidemic,
you get an extremely impoverished and naive view of what sex is. If you
didn't know better, you would think that sex is about cocks, cunts and
assholes" (Bolton,
1995: 194).
"Sexual
behavior has been treated, in many ways, as a kind of given, and the social
and cultural factors shaping sexual experience in different settings have
largely been ignored, even when lip service has been paid to their potential
importance" (Parker,
1995: 260).
"Remarkably,
then, more than ten years into a rapidly expanding epidemic transmitted
above all else through sexual contact, we have still failed to develop
the theoretical and methodological tools that might offer a fuller understanding
of sexuality in relation to AIDS as well as to other aspects of health"
(Parker,
1995: 266).
"One
would think that nearly ten years later, after the expenditure of millions
of dollars, that we would have acquired a clearer understanding of the
nature of the sexual behaviors that are associated with the spread of this
disease. Minimally, one would expect that we would at least have a better
understanding of what the questions ought to be, and how best to go about
trying to resolve them. It is the thesis of this chapter, however, that
we are not much closer now to understanding how to foster sexual risk reduction
than we were ten years ago. Indeed, the discussion which follows is aimed
at showing how we have been asking the wrong questions about sexual risk
behavior, and often, asking them in a manner that is ill-suited to the
complex nature of the behaviors themselves" (Michael
Clatts, 1995: 242).
"In
fields such as cultural anthropology, sociology, social psychology, and
history, attention has increasingly focused on the social, cultural, economic,
and political forces shaping sexual behavior in different settings, together
with complicated meanings associated with sexual experience on the part
of both individuals and social groups..." (Parker,
1995: 260).
|
|
|
 |
|
| Visitor Numbers |
Tracker |
Total Hits |
|
|
Cell Phone Reviews |
| Search for |
|
|
|