| Abstract: | Are the stereotypes true? Are men obsessed with sex, attracted solely to a woman's physical appearance, inca¬pable of forming deep emotional bonds? Are men content to experience the physical release of intercourse without any underlying commitment to their partners? Are these and other traits that typify male sexuality hardwired—genetically programmed, immutable qualities that men and women must live with no matter how destructive they may be? In Men and Sex, Ronald Levant, Gary Brooks, and a team of leading researchers and practitioners challenge the evolutionary and genetic explanations of male sexuality from the perspective of the new psychology of men. Although many of their findings confirm the above stereotypes, these researchers argue strongly that men's tendency toward nonrelation¬al sexuality—although it may be normative—is not natural, not genetic, not a product of evolu¬tion; it is closely linked to the traumatic social¬ization of boys, in which displays of emotion are discouraged and emotional intimacy is equated with the loss of autonomy. The book begins with an examination of non¬relational sexuality—the tendency to experience sex primarily as lust without any requirements for relational intimacy or emotional attachment. The central mechanism of nonrelational sexual¬ity, the focus on physical attributes and the objectification of women—"the Centerfold Syn¬drome"—is linked to a spectrum of problems associated with nonrelational sexuality: appear¬ance obsession in women, repetitive infidelity and Don Juanism, sex as a commodity, sexual harassment and rape, and the perpetration of sex¬ual abuse. Variations of these problems are explored in chapters that examine nonrelational sex across the life span, in African-American men, and among gay men. Meticulously researched, persuasively argued, and vividly supported with stories of actual cases that are as revealing as they are moving... |
EBSCOhost
World Bank
EconBiz
De Gruyter
OpenEdition
European Respiratory Journal
Mathematical Sciences Publishers Journals
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