bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Abolitionism (international)
Authors: Self Helen J.
Published: April 2015

During the 1860s the British government passed a series of Acts known as the Contagious Diseases Acts (CDAs), which allowed for the surgical examination of women suspected of being prostitutes. A national campaign for the repeal of the Acts was launched in 1869, with a Ladies branch (LNA) led by the Victorian reformer Josephine Butler. In 1875 Butler founded the British, Continental and General Federation for the Abolition of the State Regulation of Vice, through which abolitionist campaigns were conducted at home and abroad. Repeal of the CDAs came in 1886. Although the term “abolitionism” was used to describe the repeal movement, it was not intended to encourage public pressure for the abolition of prostitution but to abolish the state oppression of poor women through unjust laws. It should, therefore, not be confused with modern campaigns against prostitution and trafficking.
Abuse, sexual, in war
Authors: Yohani Sophie
Published: April 2015

Historically, sexualized abuse during war can be traced back to the eleventh century with the occurrence of rape and other forms of sexualized abuse continuing into present‐day wars. Despite the lack of a clear definition, identification of causes and methods of measuring the incidents of sexualized abuse in war, sociocultural, political, and legal perspectives have gained prominence. Currently, there is agreement across disciplines that sexualized abuse during war is a form of violence rather than a violent expression of sexuality, and these acts qualify as crimes under national and international law.
Abuse, sexual, of children
Authors: Halley Meghan C.
Published: April 2015

Child sexual abuse refers to a diverse set of behaviors in which an individual engages a child in sexual activity. Though establishing exact estimates of the prevalence of child sexual abuse is difficult, incidents have been documented across diverse contexts. Individuals who experience sexual abuse in childhood are at an increased risk for a number of negative psychological and behavioral health outcomes. Given the widespread nature of this problem, further research is needed to clarify the prevalence, risk factors, and outcomes of child sexual abuse, particularly in countries outside of North America and Europe.
Adolescence and sexual orientations
Authors: Gatermann John , Gonsiorek John
Published: April 2015

Adolescents face a number of important developmental milestones. In the interpersonal realm, honing development of capacities for intimacy, sexuality, and affiliation is a crucial task, and chief among these capacities are understanding and integrating sexual orientation. These are challenging tasks for any adolescent, but are especially so for non‐heterosexual youth. The process of “coming out” for such youth may be conceptualized as an additional developmental event. Misinformation, prejudice, and isolation complicate these processes for non‐heterosexual youth, but support, informational and interpersonal resources, and effective role models allow for successful resolution and integration.
Adolescence and sexuality
Authors: Barry Herbert
Published: April 2015

Adolescence is an almost universal stage of development, beginning with the capability to beget children and ending with marriage or a prior stage, such as youth. Cultural control of adolescent sexuality has shifted from prohibition to permission in most industrialized nations. The biological urge for sexual intercourse is restricted to various degrees by cultural customs. Cultural attitudes vary greatly toward both sexual intercourse and homosexual behavior. Romantic love is especially prominent in contemporary industrialized nations.
Adolescent sex play
Authors: Hawkes Gail , Danielle Egan R.
Published: April 2015

Playing is a positively valued activity for children. “Sex play” was identified by experts in the mid‐twentieth century as a developmentally normal activity—the natural outcome of children's curiosity. In the early twenty‐first century a more sinister interpretation links sex play with sexual predation.
Adult film, current perspectives on
Authors: Kernes Mark
Published: April 2015

The modern era of adult films began in 1989, in the aftermath of the Meese Commission report and the creation of the U.S. Department of Justice's National Obscenity Enforcement Unit, as well as several diverse legal actions taken against adult producers and distributors. The era saw the evolution from videocassettes to DVDs (via CD‐Roms) as well as the growth of the adult Internet including online retailers and video‐on‐demand services. It also saw the introduction of celebrity sex tapes and adult performers crossing over to mainstream movies and television.
Adult film, golden age of
Authors: Kernes Mark
Published: April 2015

Although there was a market for hardcore adult films as early as 1904 in Buenos Aires, production in the United States began in about 1915 with the pornographic “stag” film
The Free Ride
, and, by 1970, more than 1,200 such films had been released. By the early 1950s, 16 mm films were added; by 1960, color films began to appear, and soon after that, color films with sound. Also in the late 1960s, full‐length adult pornographic features began to appear, the most famous of which were
Deep Throat
(1972),
Behind the Green Door
(1972),
The Devil in Miss Jones
(1973), and
Debbie Does Dallas
(1978).
Adult industry
Authors: Jozkowski Kristen N.
Published: April 2015

The term adult industry generally refers to the sale of sexually explicit material or services, including legal and illegal exchanges, for profit in commercial marketplaces. The adult industry is vast and includes the sale of a variety of products and services. Most aspects of the adult industry are geared at “adult entertainment,” and aimed to enhance or create sexual arousal, excitement, and/or sexual gratification. Prostitutes, brothels, massage parlors, pornography, strippers, burlesques, peepshows, sexual enhancement products, and phone sex are all considered part of the adult industry. The adult industry is a multi‐billion dollar enterprise and continues to grow with the advent of the Internet, despite continued political debate and controversy that tends to surround the industry.
Adultery (biocultural aspects)
Authors: Fisher Helen
Published: April 2015

Adultery, defined as sexual and/or romantic involvement with someone other than one’s spouse, is a worldwide phenomenon. Many psychological, social, economic, and biological forces contribute, including the degree of dissatisfaction with the primary relationship, boredom, poor communication, attachment style, personality traits, including the “Big Five” personality traits and degree of narcissism, alcoholism and depression, imbalances of power and education in the primary relationship, and opportunity and duration of the marriage. Genes in the vasopressin system and the immune system are also likely to be involved, as well as basic brain architecture. The biological mechanisms associated with infidelity suggest that adultery is an aspect of the human reproductive strategy that evolved during human prehistory. Infidelity may have had reproductive payoffs, selecting for the ubiquity and persistence of this cross‐cultural phenomenon today.
Advertisements
Authors: Reichert Tom
Published: April 2015

Sex in advertising is a controversial and hotly debated topic among consumers, researchers, and marketing professionals. Attracting consumer eyeballs and offering promises of enhanced desirability are two primary reasons marketers use sexual content, but research evidence suggests sex is a chancy strategy that is not worth the risk. Various forms of sexual content have been used in promotional efforts since the beginnings of modern advertising, and evidence suggests it was used in early civilizations to promote brothels. The nature and prevalence of sexual content has varied over time depending on cultural norms and attitudes. Contemporary advertisers are cautioned to use sex in a tasteful manner that does not objectify women or introduce pornographic themes.
Advertising, sexuality and language of
Authors: Goddard Angela , Carey Neil
Published: April 2015

Advertising texts are pervasive in contemporary capitalist cultures in promoting and selling products. Given that sex and sexual identity are also configured as central in the formation of identity in such cultures it is not surprising that advertising harnesses sexual appeals in its operation. The language used in advertising reflects broader debates in culture, at the same time that it reinforces existing ideologies and helps to construct particular and partial ideas about sex, gender, and sexual identity.
Aging, sexuality and
Authors: de Vries Brian
Published: April 2015

Sexuality assumes many forms. The type and expression of sexual activity are similarly variable and influenced by physical, sociocultural, and attitudinal factors. Current controversies in the area include sexual expression in institutional settings and/or in relation to ability and disease, as well as recognition and understanding of sexual diversity and LGBT inclusion.
Agriculture, beginnings of
Authors: Peterson Jane
Published: April 2015

The transition from hunting and gathering to farming represented a fundamental transition in the human career. No doubt this transformation had profound impacts on how sexual identity, labor, status, and ideology were defined. Human representations, osteological material, grave goods, and architecture have been examined to shed light on these impacts.
AIM
clinics
Authors: Chaves Hernando
Published: April 2015

This entry provides a brief overview of the Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation. The AIM clinics were the first health and medical clinics dedicated to the sexual health of performers in the adult industry. Started in 1998 by Sharon Mitchell, AIM offered STI testing, educational services, medication, and counseling services to support adult industry performers and sex workers. Utilizing a risk‐reduction model for STI/HIV management, AIM logged performer STI/HIV test results and performer production schedules in their database in the event there was a need to quarantine performers potentially exposed to STI/HIV working in the adult industry. AIM was instrumental in managing the 2004 adult industry HIV scare and production shutdown. AIM continued to oversee the sexual health needs of the adult industry until its closure in 2011.
Allomothers
Authors: Crittenden Alyssa N. , Escasa‐Dorne Michelle
Published: April 2015

Allomaternal assistance, investment provided to children by caregivers other than the biological mother, occurs cross‐culturally in varying degrees. Allomothering, which consists of caregiving and/or provisioning, can increase the survival of children and the fertility of the mother. Allomothers, who may be related or unrelated to the child, provide care because they receive either direct or indirect benefits. Fathers and grandmothers, who represent a special category of helper and consistently provide the greatest amount of high‐investment allomaternal care, show a marked decrease in sex steroid hormones and sexual activity. The sexuality of the recipient mother may also be affected by the presence of allomothers, whether in the form of relatives, a nanny, a babysitter, or a play date—all options alleviate the time constraints of the mother and allow her to invest in other activities, including time for her partner.
Amazons
Authors: Classen Albrecht
Published: April 2015

The myth of the Amazon women arose in early Antiquity and has persisted ever since in countless forms and media. The myth is of a society of warrior women who did not tolerate any male in their midst. Poets, epic authors, historians, artists, composers, and later movie‐makers have responded to this myth with enthusiasm, elaborating on it through the ages. The Amazons were viewed with great respect or with fear, but everyone has identified them as very strong and aggressive female fighters who were radically opposed to all men.
Amputation
Authors: Kafer Alison
Published: April 2015

Amputation is the removal of a limb or digit due to illness or injury. Amputees often experience discrimination, and inaccessible homes and workplaces can pose problems. Some report difficulty integrating their amputations into their sense of self, particularly in terms of gender identity and sexuality. Although some amputees experience phantom pain, many enjoy having their stumps touched.
Devotees
are people with a sexual preference for amputees, while
wannabes
are those who want to become amputees themselves. Numerous websites address such desires, selling images of amputees, facilitating encounters between amputees and devotees, explaining the attraction, or offering support to those seeking amputation. Devoteeism and transability are controversial among amputees.
Anal bleaching
Authors: McBride Kimberly R.
Published: April 2015

Anal bleaching is a cosmetic procedure that lightens the pigmentation of skin surrounding the anus. The goal of anal bleaching is to achieve a color that is consistent with the skin of the buttocks. Anal bleaching may be performed at home, in a salon or spa, or in the office of a cosmetic surgeon. The anal bleaching process can include the repeated local application of topical creams or gels, or a series of laser treatments or cryosurgery. Sexual health experts question the safety of anal bleaching because the process may damage the tissue surrounding the anus. Currently, much remains unknown about the practice, including the implications for sexual health.
Anatomy, female
Authors: O'Connell Helen E. , Vikraman Jaya L.
Published: April 2015

Through history, knowledge of female genital anatomy has been discovered and rediscovered, with previous knowledge being lost. Renewed interest in anatomical research over the last two decades has provided objective media such as photography of sections, and magnetic resonance imaging has complemented historical work based on diagrams of dissections. Female genital anatomy, including its innervation and vascular supply, is addressed.
Anatomy, male
Authors: McHale Timothy , Gray Peter B.
Published: April 2015

Male anatomy has structures that facilitate the delivery of gametes to the female reproductive tract. These structures can play a direct role during the process of reproduction, as when primary reproductive characteristics, such as the penis and vas deferens, aid fertilization. Secondary sexual characteristics, such as upper body musculature and facial hair, may play an indirect role in male‒male competition and female choice that also ultimately aid male reproductive performance. This entry covers the main male primary and secondary reproductive characteristics, touching on underlying mechanisms, development, and how these characteristics have been shaped by past selection pressures.
Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome
Authors: Cai Liuhong
Published: April 2015

Androgen insensitivity syndrome (AIS) is an X‐linked disorder caused by a defect in the androgen receptor in an individual with an XY karyotype. The symptoms range from phenotypically normal males with impaired spermatogenesis (mild AIS) to phenotypically normal women with primary amenorrhea (complete AIS, “testicular feminization”). Various forms of ambiguous genitalia have been observed at birth for PAIS. The diagnosis is confirmed by determining the exact defect in the AR gene. The treatment of AIS includes gender assignment, vaginoplasty, gonadectomy, and hormone replacement therapy.
Androgyny, archaeology of
Authors: Klein Cecelia F.
Published: April 2015

Androgyny, or gender ambiguity—the combination of male and female genders within a single body—is almost impossible to identify archaeologically. Nonetheless, we know from ancient and modern myths, literature, religious beliefs, and art that androgyny was associated with power and/or change in many societies.
Anime and manga
Authors: Perper Timothy , Cornog Martha
Published: April 2015

Anime and manga, two forms that Japanese erotica may take, are often mistaken by Euro‐Americans as pornography. Anime and manga encompass a range of erotic behaviors and themes for male and female audiences.
Archaeological field work, sexuality in
Authors: Kehoe Alice Beck
Published: April 2015

Archaeological fieldwork sites traditionally had educated male directors and supervisory staff, and laboring‐class workers. Educated white women were given indoor jobs in laboratories or as clerks. A few married archaeologists, becoming the partner in a two persons/single career. The 1964 Civil Rights Act forced projects to accept women for positions with field responsibilities. Sexuality was always present in field camps, whether single‐gender or a field school enrolling women students as well as men (where some single‐career marriages developed). The Civil Rights Act coincided with the 1960s “sexual revolution,” making contraceptives easily obtained and sexual liaisons more lightly engaged in. A problem in many projects has always been directors demanding sex from subordinates, a particularly difficult situation where the staff live together in temporary housing. This has included gay directors hitting on young men, as well as directors demanding sex from women crew members.
Arousal, sexual
Authors: Mark Kristen , Herbenick Debby
Published: April 2015

Sexual arousal is a complex interconnection between emotional and physical components, which often overlaps with sexual desire and appears to be influenced by age and hormonal status. Most of the research on sexual arousal focuses on two aspects of sexual arousal: genital and subjective. Genital arousal refers to the specific physiological changes that occur. Subjective, or self‐reported, sexual arousal refers to the emotional state of arousal. Sexual arousal is not stable and may be influenced by a number of ongoing factors. The dynamic nature of sexual arousal is not well understood and treatment related to sexual arousal difficulties is likely to remain controversial for some time.
Asexual
Authors: Moser Charles , Hinderliter Andrew
Published: April 2015

Sexual arousal is a particular instance of arousal mechanisms, which serve the state of being awake or reactive to stimuli. The brain becomes sensitive and responsive to sexual stimuli when the neurotransmitter dopamine is in action. Sexual arousal disorders are a consequence of a less sensitive or responsive arousal mechanism. The phenomenology for male and female arousal disorders overlaps to a certain extent but there are important differences that impact the sexual functioning of men and women. The physiological as well as the psychological phenomena illuminating the specifics of the disorder have been described in the American Psychiatric Association's
Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
(DSM‐5) (2013) and in the related scientific literature.
Asexual reproduction
Authors: Neiman Maurine , Logsdon John M. , Neiman Elizabeth
Published: April 2015

Asexual reproduction is defined as the production of offspring from an unfertilized cell made by a single parent. This mode of reproduction is so simple and cheap relative to sexual reproduction that why most organisms are instead sexual stands as a key unanswered question in evolutionary biology. Connections to feminist, queer, and gender studies may be mutually illuminating.
AVN
(Adult Video News)
Authors: Ingraham Natalie
Published: April 2015

Adult Video News
(AVN) is the name of an American trade journal that focuses on the adult video industry. AVN also sponsors an annual convention in Las Vegas, Nevada, along with an award show for the adult industry modeled after the Oscars ceremony. The magazine rates adult films, at times over 500 reviews per issue, as well as other news developments in the industry. The magazine, like other trade magazine, features mainly ads for various films and magazines targeted at adult video retailers. AVN also sponsors the Adult Entertainment Expo, an annual adult entertainment convention in Las Vegas.
Beauty pageants
Authors: Cohen Colleen Ballerino
Published: April 2015

Beauty pageants are a highly popular form of entertainment around the world, and the beauty queen embodies her community's standards of femininity and morality. While beauty pageants showcase an idealized version of femininity, beauty, morality, and sexuality, they can also be bell weathers of social change, sites of protest, celebrations of identity, or calls to action. International beauty pageants, such as the Miss Universe and Miss World competitions, are stages for showcasing national distinctiveness and pride, and for advancing a nation's status in a global community. International pageants are often the focus of protests against cultural and economic imperialism, and conflicting notions of morality and sexuality. Today the pageant form is also used to publicize political causes, unite diasporic communities, and critique the normative heterosexuality promoted by mainstream beauty pageants.
Biology of sexual orientation
Authors: Byne William
Published: April 2015

Since the concept of sexual orientation emerged in Euro‐American society in the late nineteenth century, Euro‐American medicine has been interested in finding the biological underpinnings of homosexuality. Research on the origins of homosexuality in the areas of endocrinology, genetics, neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, and anthropometrics is briefly reviewed, with an emphasis on the prenatal hormonal hypothesis.
Biomedical discourses and sexuality
Authors: Race Kane
Published: April 2015

Biomedical discourses are uniquely implicated in the constitution of modern sexualities. This entry discusses some of the most significant sites of tension in which biomedical discourses have been applied, contested, struggled over, appropriated, and transformed, tracing the implications for sexual meanings, experiences, identities, categories, techniques, and politics. From the early constitutive work of sexology, to struggles over binary gender, intersex, transgender experience, and psychiatric diagnoses, sexuality has been a potent field of agitation in which the centrality and authority of biomedical discourses has been brought into question. The entry discusses constructionist, feminist, and poststructuralist challenges to biomedical discourses and describes the practical effects of these interventions. In the twenty‐first century, biomedicine itself is undergoing significant and wide‐ranging changes. Apprehending the impact of pharmaceuticalization and biotechnical innovation on sexual norms, understandings, and practices is presented as an ongoing challenge.
Biparental care
Authors: Gettler Lee T.
Published: April 2015

The number of species expressing paternal care is highly variable across major vertebrate taxonomic categories, being most commonly exhibited among birds, moderately common among fish and amphibians, and comparatively uncommon among mammals and reptiles. It is likely that biparental care is a derived reproductive strategy when found in vertebrates. Along with siamangs and New World monkeys, humans are one of the few primates that routinely engage in biparental care, although human paternal investment is variable and diverse across cultures. Although the evolutionary importance or existence of hominin biparental care is debated, the phylogenetic history of the human lineage suggests that males would be unlikely to express paternal care unless it had proved adaptive during our evolutionary past.
Bipedalism and sex
Authors: Gallup Gordon G.
Published: April 2015

Bipedalism qualitatively changed the course of human sexuality. The loss of ovulatory cues, nocturnal copulation, and ventral − ventral sex are byproducts of bipedalism.
Birth (primates)
Authors: Turner Sarah E. , Fedigan Linda Marie
Published: April 2015

Parturition, or birth, is integral to reproduction and evolutionary fitness in primates. Parturition includes labor and birth, and a postpartum phase that includes the expulsion and often consumption of the placenta. Most primates give birth to singleton offspring during the night. Parturient females usually give birth in a squatting position and primate infants are usually born in vertex occipital posterior position. Nonhuman primate neonates are more precocial than human neonates, but are still highly dependent on the care of their mothers.
Birth control and sexology
Authors: Loutfi Anna
Published: April 2015

In the late nineteenth century, early sexology supported Victorian conventions that saw sex as a primarily procreative activity and women as sexually passive. Yet sexology also helped transform attitudes to sexuality. Borrowing from Darwinian theory and popular eugenics, sexological theories began to promote non‐procreative sex and family planning in the interest of individual and national health. This development was a major factor in legitimizing the birth control movement in the first decades of the twentieth century, which criticized legal crackdowns on public discussion of contraception and abortion. In the United States and Western Europe, the birth control movement, alongside the feminist movement, began to win gradual but increasing respectability after World War II, leading to a renewed interest in sexology as the scientific study of diverse human sexual behaviors and desires. However, this entry argues that birth control has never been solely an issue of women’s rights or individual sexual liberty, but is also a tool of population control which remains morally, politically, and economically controversial. State policies have supported drastic measures of birth control to wage race wars against poor and immigrant groups; and it is no longer clear how the scientific study of sex can resolve the political and moral issues surrounding national birth control policies.
Bloch, Iwan (1872–1922)
Authors: Mancini Elena
Published: April 2015

Iwan Bloch was a German dermatologist and pioneering researcher in sexual anomalies. Instrumental in formalizing the discipline of sexology, which upheld the biological basis of sexual phenomena, he revolutionized sexology by integrating cultural and anthropological insights into medical theories of sexual life. Bloch's research upheld the naturalness of sexual variety and argued against scientific theories that classified sexual anomalies as perversions. His 150 publications include a groundbreaking cultural history of the Marquis de Sade, numerous sexual histories, and unprecedented scientific forays into sexual phenomena, including syphilis, prostitution, sadism, and impotence. Bloch was also an advocate of sexual reform and supported women's rights and the decriminalization of prostitution, abortion, and homosexuality.
Body integrity identity disorder
Authors: Stevens Bethany
Published: April 2015

People with Body Integrity Identity Disorder (BIID) are individuals whoneedto acquire a physical impairment despite having been born or living in physically unimpaired bodies. Although much of the literature about the topic frames BIID as a mental illness causing people tochoosethe acquisition of disability, many people with BIID make it clear that there is no choice involved. The term “transability” is used by some people with BIID to make an apparent lingual comparison to the word “transgender” as both words signify people transitioning from one state of embodiment to another.
Bodily senses
Authors: Synnott Anthony
Published: April 2015

Sex is regarded by many people as one of the great sensual pleasures. There is a plethora of different sensory types: visual, aural, hands‐on, and more tactile, with varying oral and olfactory sensibilities. Such variations influence whether sex will be a playground or a battleground. Winnie Dunn has developed a scale of sensory types to facilitate an assessment of sensory compatibility; and Helen Fisher has developed another scale of personality types, with implications for sexual types. The specific roles of sight, smell, and touch in sexualities are explored in this entry, together with some consideration of the roles of culture in sensuality and sexuality.
Body building
Authors: Monaghan Lee F.
Published: April 2015

Body building cannot be reduced to sexuality. Indeed, sex (appeal) may be irrelevant from a competitor's perspective given the intense physical demands of the sport. Nonetheless, body building is inseparable from the gender order and by association the social construction of sexualities cannot be ignored. This entry briefly considers the sexualized meanings associated with male and female body building, including possible stigma where “excessive” muscularity challenges normative ideals regarding how men and women should look.
Body image
Authors: Donaghue Ngaire
Published: April 2015

Body image is the evaluation of one’s body, primarily in esthetic terms. Poor body image is implicated in clinical eating disorders, but its impact is much wider. Body image concerns are common among women and men, and are associated with engagement in body modification practices such as dieting, exercise, cosmetic surgery, and steroid use. Poor body image has been found to impact on sexual engagement and enjoyment.
Body modification, archaeology of
Authors: Lorentz Kirsi O.
Published: April 2015

This entry focuses on body modification from an archaeological viewpoint, outlining the topic’s intellectual and social context, its major dimensions, and changes over time in how archaeologists have approached body modification as a research topic. It spans current emphases in archaeological body modification research, and possible future avenues for developing research, theory, and methodology relevant for understanding body modification in archaeological contexts.
Body modifications
Authors: Klesse Christian
Published: April 2015

Body modification is an umbrella term for a vast range of techniques which consciously aim to change or redesign the body. Body modifications may be temporary or permanent, normative or oppositional, mainstream or non‐mainstream. While many body modification practices do not have any direct link to sexuality, others have been strongly sexualized in common perception. Others again are chosen or engaged in for sexuality‐related reasons. Assumptions on race, class, gender, sexuality, and cultural difference shape discourses on body modification. Sexual and gender dissidents have been significant contributors to contemporary body modification cultures in Europe and North America.
Bollywood
Authors: Acciari Monia
Published: April 2015

Bollywood cinema, like the rest of world cinema, is not exempt from representations of sex and sexuality, though only implicitly. However, through the use of cinematic tools and narrative expedients Bollywood filmmakers have enhanced the possibility of representing sexuality by subtexts, as explicit representations have social and political implications in contemporary India. These narrative maneuvers generate portrayals of human sexuality such as desire and ardent love. This entry focuses attention on how monsoon rain and song and dance sequences, with their emphasis on wet bodies, construct what cannot be told or seen.
Breast reduction
Authors: Gordon Mallorie , Rubin Lisa R.
Published: April 2015

Breast reduction is a means of minimizing the size and appearance of one's breasts. Although there are surgical and non‐surgical ways to achieve breast reduction, this entry focuses on the surgical procedure known as “reduction mammoplasty,” typically performed by a plastic surgeon. The role of breast reduction in the management of gendered embodiment and its ambiguous status on the continuum of cosmetic and reconstructive procedures is highlighted.
Breastfeeding and intimacy
Authors: Palmquist Aunchalee E. L.
Published: April 2015

Psychosexual functioning refers to the relationship between psychological factors and sexual functioning. Breastfeeding may influence psychosexual functioning at a variety of levels, from the individual to the relational. A number of physiological transitions take place after parturition and the initiation of breastfeeding that may affect sexual intimacy. Depressive symptoms may interfere with psychosexual functioning in both men and women. Breastfeeding and sexual intimacy are enacted within particular social and cultural contexts. Sexualization of the breast in Euro‐American societies creates psychological dissonance in a woman's perception of her dual identity as a mother and as a sexual partner. Social stigma also influences men's responses to sexual intimacy with a breastfeeding partner. Both long‐term and short‐term breastfeeding have been shown to improve sexual and emotional intimacy between mothers and fathers. More research is required to understand non‐heteronormative and adoptive breastfeeding in relation to psychosexual functioning.
Bright, Susie (1958–)
Authors: Silverberg Cory
Published: April 2015

Susie Bright is an author, editor, and public intellectual. She was one of the first feminist sex writers and a key figure in the development of public discourse around feminist pornography and sexual representation.
Bullough, Vern Leroy (1928–2006)
Authors: White C. Todd
Published: April 2015

Vern L. Bullough (1928–2006) was a pioneering sexologist and civil rights activist, responsible for drafting the first ACLU policy to defend homosexuals. He was the author of over 50 books and 200 articles pertaining to sex, gender, history, science, and nursing.
Butler, Judith (1956–)
Authors: Suri Miranda Stockett
Published: April 2015

Judith Butler’s impact on studies of gender and sexuality has been substantial. Through early seminal works such asGender Trouble(1990) andBodies that Matter(1993), Butler articulated her theory of performativity, exploring the ways we may resist and must conform to social expectations for gendered performance. Over time, Butler’s work has turned increasingly toward her interest with political engagement and activism, ranging from topics such as the use of language in political discourse to the BDS movement.
Capitalism
Authors: Curtis Debra
Published: April 2015

Capitalism is an economic system, which has become global. There is nothing inherently natural about capitalism: it is a human invention like other modes of production, such as feudalism or socialism. Capitalism affects all aspects of social life, including sexuality. The way it works has the potential not only to create social categories such as heterosexuality or homosexuality, but also the potential to impact sex and sexuality, including sexual practices and desires.
Castration
Authors: Wassersug Richard J. , Johnson Thomas W.
Published: April 2015

Castration is the destruction or shutting down of the testicles. It was traditionally done to produce eunuchs. Today, it is most often performed as treatment for prostate cancer, but it is also part of transitioning for transsexuals and is sometimes done for other reasons as well. Depending on the age at which it is performed, castration has different effects on the body.
Celibacy
Authors: Benkofske Maleah , Gonsiorek John C.
Published: April 2015

Celibacy has been described as the state of not being married, or of refraining from sexual intercourse, and individuals vary widely in their reasons for engaging in a celibate lifestyle. A variety of cultural, religious, moral, personal, and economic factors contribute to the decision to become or remain celibate, in addition to circumstances in which the decision to be celibate is made for the individual, among them forced celibacy and religious constraints. The distinction between celibacy and abstinence is made, with abstinence described as a period of time in which sexual intercourse is abstained from, without mention of marital status.
Chastity
Authors: Mahdavi Pardis
Published: April 2015

The tem chastity is a discursive construct which seeks to encompass notions of “purity.” While definitions of the term range from discussion of intercourse to chastity or purity of thoughts, the contours of the term are plastic and vary by time, culture, space, and place. This entry highlights the socially constructed nature of the term “chastity” and uses case studies from the Middle East to explore the culturally constructed and historically specific nature of the term.
Chastity belts
Authors: Classen Albrecht
Published: April 2015

Many myths about the Middle Ages continue to circulate today. The concept of the chastity belt is one of them, although no medieval document has ever yielded hard evidence as to its existence. The idea of the chastity belt was mostly the outgrowth of modern male fantasies about past sexual practices, but it has no grounding in historical facts.
Child sexual grooming
Authors: Bryce Jo
Published: April 2015

AbstractThis entry provides an overview of current definitions and research on sexual grooming. It examines the challenges of estimating the prevalence of the behavior, as well as associated offender processes and strategies. It argues that there is a need for comparative research on the multiplicity of contexts, victim–perpetrator relationships, and behaviors which characterize the grooming process. This will develop further understanding of the dynamics of the process, contribute toward educational strategies for young people, and challenge stereotyped constructions of those who engage in the behavior in the media and public perceptions.
Childhood, archaeology of
Authors: Baxter Jane Eva
Published: April 2015

The archaeology of childhood is an area of interest within archaeology which focuses on childhood as a stage in the human lifecycle and on children as cultural actors in past social groups. This field of inquiry includes focusing on roles and definitions of childhood that fall outside traditional Euro‐American conceptions of childhood, and on investigating the archaeological record in a manner that is inclusive of the particular cultural practices and spheres of knowledge held by children. These emphases have enabled archaeologists to focus on how different types of identity, such as gender, are learned, negotiated, and embodied at different stages of the human lifecycle.
Circumcision, female, as sexual therapy
Authors: Rodriguez Sarah B.
Published: April 2015

Female circumcision has been used in the United States as a method of increasing female sexual response to marital heterosexual sex since the late nineteenth century. By removing the clitoral foreskin, some doctors and lay people thought the clitoris would be more exposed to the penis during penetrative intercourse and would thus receive direct stimulation from the penis, thereby increasing female orgasmic potential.
Class and sexual identity
Authors: Kinsman Gary
Published: April 2015

Social class in the broadest sense is defined by whether one owns or controls the means of production or is forced to labor for those who do, along with resulting class and social struggles between these groups. Class and class struggle create the social and historical contexts in which sexual identities are formed. Sexual identities are the socially available ways in which people make sense of their sexual practices and identifications. Class interacts with sexual identity formation in how class differences themselves come to be eroticized; in the ways in which particular sexual practices and identifications have been associated with particular classes; in the ways in which struggles over sexual regulation have become part of class struggles; and in the ways in which capitalist class relations have helped to produce the basis for the emergence of homosexual, lesbianandheterosexual identifications.
Colonialism and sexuality
Authors: Meiu George Paul
Published: April 2015

Within colonialism, or the expansion and maintenance of the sovereignty of one group of people over another, sexuality has played an important role in the representation of the colonized Other, in the drawing and policing of racial, ethnic, and cultural boundaries, and in the ways in which colonial subjects produced livelihoods and imagined futures. Through sexual imaginaries, colonial actors constructed and contested arguments about race and culture, difference and sameness, superiority and inferiority, morality and indecency. By classifying the intimate desires and bodily pleasures of the colonized as “sex,” for example, colonials could prove that these deviated from bourgeois standards of morality and thus required their “enlightened” intervention and reform. The historical legacies of colonial sexual politics continue to shape the lived realities of postcolonial subjects in a variety of ways.
Coming out
Authors: Sauntson Helen
Published: April 2015

Coming out is the shortened term of “coming out of the closet” and refers to lesbian, gay, and bisexual people's disclosure of their sexual orientation to themselves and others, and to transgender people's disclosure of their (trans)gender identity. The notion of the “closet” (and coming out of it) has become increasingly important in contemporary societies because it draws explicit attention to the effects of heterosexism on LGB people. Coming out has been theorized by writer such as Judith Butler and Steven Sedgwick and continues to be researched in a range of contexts.
Conception
Authors: Newman Jessica
Published: April 2015

The process of conception has long been an issue of great interest to philosophers and physicians alike. Classical thinkers attributed to the male sperm the primary animating force behind fetal development and genetic inheritance. The advent of biomedical research and technologies allowed researchers to visualize human gametes (egg and sperm), greatly influencing models of conception. Biomedical models recognize conception as taking place throughout the process of the fusion of the egg and sperm, their contribution of chromosomes to the zygote (fertilized egg), and the implantation of the zygote in the uterus. Conception has important political and cultural implications for views on genetic research, contraception, abortion, and assisted reproduction. Conception is bound up with ideas about human personhood, rights, and descent.
Coolidge effect, the
Authors: Dewsbury Donald A.
Published: April 2015

The term “Coolidge effect” narrowly refers to a resumption of copulation in a supposedly satiated male that occurs upon presentation of a novel female. Some have applied the term more broadly. There is research on biochemical influences, and the possibility of an effect on females. Evolutionary interpretations have been made. Analogous phenomena appear in humans.
Cosmetic surgery
Authors: Hurst Rachel Alpha Johnston
Published: April 2015

Cosmetic surgery refers to any medical or surgical intervention into the body to attain esthetic, rather than medically prescribed results. It is often a controversial topic worldwide in medical, academic, and popular debates about surgery, beauty, and appearance. Cosmetic surgery is unique within the field of surgery because these surgeries need to be justified as they involve operating on a healthy body. The historical record reveals that this is done through understanding the surgery as psychologically necessary and the surgery as “reconstructive,” and thus legitimate. A large majority of patients express satisfaction with their surgeries, particularly in terms of their self‐confidence, including sexual self‐confidence. However, more research needs to be conducted to explore long‐term satisfaction.
Covert allusions to sexuality
Authors: Pawelczyk Joanna , Kiełkiewicz‐Janowiak Agnieszka
Published: April 2015

Sexuality understood in terms of social identity and desire is commonly referred to in social contexts covertly. In particularimplicature(suggesting one thing by saying something else/suggesting something without directly expressing it) is relied on by non‐heterosexuals to manage the display of their own identity (gay implicature) as well as by heterosexual people to allude to the sexual practices of others.
Domination and submission (D&S)
Authors: Prior Emily E.
Published: April 2015

Dominance and submission (D&S) as it is depicted in pornography and erotica has some similarities to and differences from how this power exchange dynamic may be executed in real‐ life experiences. This erotic, powerful interaction is a part of the larger BDSM spectrum, and within erotica and pornography can be quite graphic and sexy. For some purveyors this interaction can be difficult to engage with and is often categorized as extreme sex.
Double standard
Authors: Muehlenhard Charlene L. , Sakaluk John K. , Esterline Kate M.
Published: April 2015

A sexual double standard (SDS) is the application of different standards to the sexual behaviors of different groups or individuals, most often women and men. Sexual double standards (SDSs) take many forms, varying in the individuals and sexual behaviors being evaluated, the context of these behaviors, and the types of evaluations being made. Research findings about SDSs depend on who is studied, how SDSs are defined, and how acceptance of SDSs is measured. Acceptance of SDSs varies over time and across countries and subcultures.
Drag (linguistically defined)
Authors: Barrett Rusty
Published: April 2015

In linguistics, “drag” generally refers to the use of language to perform an identity that the speaker does not claim as his or her own. As a performance, the language of drag performances differs from the changes associated with adopting a different social identity. Although “drag” is most commonly used to refer to gendered language use, it has also been used to refer to other types of performed identity.
Drag kings
Authors: Troka Donna
Published: April 2015

Drag kings are people (mostly queer women and transmen) who perform masculinity (and sometimes femininity) on stage. In addition to performing masculinity on stage, many kings also embody masculinity in their everyday lives, and some identify as transmen. In a Euro‐American context, drag king performances began to emerge en masse in the 1990s and mostly took place in gay and lesbian bars. While some drag kings perform individually, many perform in troupes and do group numbers, and while some are focused solely on entertainment, others see their performances as activism. Drag king culture historically has been understood as a subculture of LGBT culture, but with the increase of mainstream movie roles for drag king performers and gender‐bending performances by artists like Lady Gaga, it has received more attention in popular culture.
Erotica: cuckold
Authors: Block Susan M.
Published: April 2015

“Cuckold” is an Old English word for a man whose wife has sex with other men. “Cuckold” has fallen out of everyday usage, but there has been a surge of popular interest in cuckold erotica and cuckoldry as a fetish. A cuckold fetishist is sexually aroused by the fantasy or reality of his wife, girlfriend, or a woman he finds attractive having sex with another, usually an extremely virile, well‐endowed man. In the old meaning of “cuckold,” the wife deceived her unsuspecting cuckold/husband. The modern cuckold fetishist is very much aware and involved. Typical cuckold erotica involves a husband/cuckold, his “hotwife,” and the other man, sometimes called a “bull.” This entry examines cuckold erotica, real versus fantasy cuckolding, interracial cuckolding, humiliation, and the “sperm wars” theory of arousal in relation to cuckolding.
Erotica: phone sex
Authors: M. Block Susan
Published: April 2015

Phone sex is a virtual sexual activity involving an erotic or explicit conversation between two or more people by telephone, usually while one or more of the participants are masturbating. Unlike an obscene phone call, which is an unsolicited, nonconsensual act, “phone sex” is consensual. People have phone sex in the context of a personal relationship, as a commercial transaction between a paying client and a paid professional phone sex operator, or a combination of these.
Eunuchs
Authors: Johnson Thomas W. , Wassersug Richard J.
Published: April 2015

Eunuchs are natal males whose testicles have been removed or destroyed. Castration of males has been practiced for over 4,000 years. Eunuchs have served as harem guards, bureaucrats, religious leaders, and celebrated musical performers. Castration today is largely performed as treatment for prostate cancer, but some men are castrated for other reasons as well.