Book Review

Abstract

DakotaW. W. Norton has released a new edition of Steven Seidman's Social Construction of Sexuality. This highly readable introductory-level text provides a socio-historical approach to the development of sexuality as a primary form of social organization in contemporary society. Seidman's stated goal in doing so is to understand sexuality as a social phenomenon and to provide student-citizens with a new set of analytical tools for use in a sexually diverse society.The book is divided into four sections. The first provides a history of modern social thought about sexuality. In chapter one, Seidman introduces us to nineteenth century sexologists and their attempts to create a science of sexuality through the formulation of theories about the centrality of innate sexual drives in human psychological development. In doing so, they also gave birth to the modern idea of a sexual self. Seidman concludes this chapter with a discussion of Freud's contribution to theories of the sexual self. While maintaining the centrality of sexual drives, he located their development in the world of childhood and family relationships. More importantly, his worked helped to move the idea of the sexual self from the biological to the social realm.Chapter two moves from the Freudian focus on the microdynamics of family life to Marxist and Feminist approaches that locate sexuality in the broader organization of society. Drawing on Marxist approaches, Seidman discusses how changes in capitalist modes of production shaped the organization of erotic life. During the era of industrialization and market capitalism, the need for "disciplined, work oriented productive workers" led to a social world in which "sexuality is valued only if it is confined to marriage and its aim is to create a family" (15). This is contrasted with corporate capitalism and a consumer society in which sexuality is used as a marketing technique and erotic pleasure becomes a more central feature of social life. Also in this chapter, Seidman also discusses how Feminist theorists utilized gender in the analysis of sexuality. Systems of male domination produce the family relations that shaped Freudian