This book assembles a diverse group of scholars working within a new, pathbreaking paradigm of sexual science, fusing perspectives from history, sociology, and psychology. The contributors are united in their commitment to the idea of "narrative" as central to the study of sexual identity, offering an analytic approach to social science inquiry on sexual identity that restores the voices of sexual subjects. The result is a rich examination of lives in context, with an eye toward multiplici...

This volume offers very specific illustrations of psychoanalytic ways of thinking and working in both clinical and pedagogical contexts with children. It is designed for professionals who work with infants, children, and adolescents, and who are seeking modes of working that respects emotions, that embrace context, and that privilege imagination and possibility. For professionals who already practice in ways that are sympathetic to these modes of working, the scholarly underpinning of this...

“Beliefs about men and women are as old as humanity itself, but Fine’s funny, spiky book gives reason to hope that we’ve heard Testosterone rex’s last roar.” —Annie Murphy Paul, New York Times Book ReviewMany people believe that, at its core, biological sex is a fundamental force in human development. According to this false-yet-familiar story, the divisions between men and women are in nature alone and not part of culture. Drawing on evolutionary science,...

We all appreciate that there are differences in the typical psychology of men and women. Yet underlying these subtle differences, Simon Baron-Cohen believes, there is one essential difference, and it affects everything we do: Men have a tendency to analyze and construct systems while women are inclined to empathize. With fresh evidence for these claims, Baron-Cohen explores how these sex differences arise more from biological than cultural causes and shows us how each brain type c...

In this wide-ranging history, Richard Bernstein explores the connection between sex and power as it has played out between Eastern cultures and the Western explorers, merchants, and conquerors who have visited them. This illuminating book describes the historical and ongoing encounter between these travelers and the morally ambiguous opportunities they found in foreign lands. Bernstein’s narrative teems with real figures, from Marco Polo and his investigation into the harem of Kublai Khan;...

You meet someone. You fall in love. If all goes well, that person falls in love with you and you live happily ever after. Yet is finding love really that straightforward?Andrew Trees draws from the latest studies in economics, neuro-chemistry, game theory, evolutionary psychology and other fields to take on a topic we all think we understand – how we fall in love – and turn it on its head.Discover why:• Certain perfume fragrances make you appear slimmer• Hum...

Romantic love presents some of life's most challenging questions. Can we choose who to love? Is romantic love rational? Can we love more than one person at a time? And can we make ourselves fall out of love? Berit Brogaard here attempts to get to the bottom of love's many contradictions. This short book, informed by both historical and cutting edge philosophy, psychology, and neuroscience, combines a new theory of romantic love with entertaining anecdotes from real life and accessible expl...

Adolescents are more likely than any other age groups to engage in behaviors that contribute to injuries, violence, unintended pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases, and reckless alcohol, tobacco, and drug use. At-risk adolescents may also exhibit signs of moodiness, aggression, and even self-injury, and these behaviors often cause parents, teachers, and clinicians to become extremely frustrated. Adolescents themselves may even believe that change is impossible.Drawing on prov...

Hailed on publication as "an impressive integration of postmodernism and relational psychoanalysis" (James Hansel) and "an intelligent and stimulating account of where the issues of identity, gender, and difference are joined" (Jessica Benjamin), Lynne Layton's Who's That Girl? Who's That Boy? is a major contribution to the postmodern understanding of gender issues.This new edition, under the aegis of the Bending Psychoanalysis Book Series, includes a Foreword by ...

In this volume, Romance and Sex in Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood: Risks and Opportunities, top scholars in the field of family research examine the nature and origin of adolescents’ contemporary patterns of sexual and romantic relationships, spanning such diverse topics as the evolutionary roots of these behaviors, as well as policies and programs that represent best practices for addressing these issues in schools and communities. The text offers interdisciplinary expertise ...

Sex is beyond reason, and yet we constantly reason about it. So, too, did the peoples of ancient Greece and Rome. But until recently there has been little discussion of their views on erotic experience and sexual ethics.The Sleep of Reason brings together an international group of philosophers, philologists, literary critics, and historians to consider two questions normally kept separate: how is erotic experience understood in classical texts of various kinds, and what et...

Proud, happy, grateful—gay youth describe their lives in terms that would have seemed surprising only a generation ago. Yet many adults, including parents, seem skeptical about this sea change in perceptions and attitudes. Even in an age of growing tolerance, coming out as gay is supposed to involve a crisis or struggle. This is the kind of thinking, say the young men at the heart of this book, that needs to change.Becoming Who I Am is an astute exploration of identity and...