FOR INFORMATION:
SAGE Publications, Inc.
2455 Teller Road
Thousand Oaks, California 91320
E-mail: order@sagepub.com
SAGE Publications Ltd.
1 Olivers Yard
55 City Road
London EC1Y 1SP
United Kingdom
SAGE Publications India Pvt. Ltd.
B 1/I 1 Mohan Cooperative Industrial Area
Mathura Road, New Delhi 110 044
India
SAGE Publications Asia-Pacific Pte. Ltd.
3 Church Street
#10-04 Samsung Hub
Singapore 049483
Copyright 2018 by SAGE Publications, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
ISBN 978-1-5063-5231-2
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Publisher: Jeff Lasser
Editorial Assistant: Adeline Wilson
Production Editor: David C. Felts
Typesetter: C&M Digitals (P) Ltd.
Proofreader: Pam Suwinsky
Cover Designer: Anupama Krishnan
Marketing Manager: Kara Kindstrom
Preface
For three years, beginning in 2012, we served as the editors of Contexts, a hybrid journal-magazine that translates sociological research to popular audiences. Published by the American Sociological Association, Contexts articles make cutting-edge social science research available to general readers, offering up-to-date information and analysis on contemporary social issues. In recent years, several Contexts articles have been compiled into readers for use in introductory sociology classes (The Contexts Reader, First and Second Editions, W.W. Norton). Students and instructors appreciate these readers for breadth of coverage and engaging writing about current topics.
During our editorship, we published many articles on gender, sexuality, and intimacy. Although were general sociologists, our scholarly expertise is in these areas. Many potential authors therefore viewed our editorship as an opportunity to publish research that has historically been less visible in mainstream sociology. These days, gender, sexuality, and intimacy are robust research areas in sociology. They are also pivotal topics in contemporary media, politics, sports, and most other aspects of social life. As sociologists teaching and studying these complex subjects, we are often dismayed at the misinformation, stereotypes, and prejudices that characterize everyday conversations and experiences around such intimate aspects of our lives. As a society we are saturated with sexual imagery and contentious debates about gender and family, but we lack coherent, thoughtful frameworks for making sense of it all. Contexts is a venue for bringing newly emerging research into public conversation.
We conceived of this Contexts reader on gender, sexuality, and intimacy as a way of lifting debates around sensitive and sensational topics to a higher ground. The articles in this book provide points of reference that are grounded in empirical evidence and critical analyses. Our hope is that this material will not only lead to richer, better-informed discussions, but that an expanded, contextual perspective will leave readers feeling more encouraged and less anxious about their own life experiences.
acknowledgments
The readings in this book are from 20092015 and include material that was published under the editorships of Douglas Hartmann and Christopher Uggen (20092011), and Syed Ali and Philip Cohen (2015current), as well as from our editorship. We are especially grateful to our fellow editors for their keen, incisive eye in encouraging manuscript submissions in the areas of gender, sexuality, and intimacy, and for shepherding many of these articles through the publication process. Contexts is a team effort involving the hard work and expertise of many people, including managing editors Letta Page, Carly Chillmon, Margaret Austin Smith, Jennifer Hemler, and Jessica Streeter and numerous department editors and design editors across the years. Kirsten Younghee Song (Rutgers University) was our initial research assistant on the project and compiled the first table of contents. Research assistants (Seattle University) Madelyn Glasco and Alexandra Maher deserve co-editorial credit for their work in updating the table of contents, brainstorming various thematic organizational schemes, and providing the reading annotations and discussion questions. We particularly appreciate Jennifer Hamanns keen editorial eye and production assistance. We are also thankful for the support and collaboration of the American Sociological Association (especially Karen Gray Edwards, director of publications and membership) and Sage Publications (Jeff Lasser, sociology editor) in recognizing and promoting the value of this project. The Sage production staff, led by production editor David Felts, has been hugely helpful and innovative in working with us to maintain a Contexts magazine look for this book and in moving it expertly through every step toward publication. A special shout-out to Claire Garoutte (Seattle University Photography faculty) who introduced us to cover photo artist Molly Landreth, and to Molly who so generously gave us permission to use a photo from her amazing series, Embodiment: A Portrait of Queer Life in America.
Jodi: I am enormously grateful to my friend, colleague, and co-editor Arlene Stein who persuaded me that, yes, we really did want to take on something of the magnitude of Contexts. Despite how crazy it seemed at the time (and it was an incredibly steep learning curve), its been one of the most fun and rewarding chapters of my professional career. This book project is a fitting epilogue.
Arlene: I could not have asked for a better partner in crime than Jodi OBrien, whose smarts, organizational skills, and sense of humor made editing Contexts fun and exciting. I am very pleased that with the publication of this book, many of the articles we helped to shepherd to publication will enjoy greater visibility and longevity.
Jodi OBrien (Seattle University)
Arlene Stein (Rutgers University)
