581 - Thematic Session. Sexual Practices and Sexual Pleasures

Session Submission Type: Invited Session

Abstract

What do people do when they have sex? Under what circumstances do they enjoy it? Most contemporary research on sexuality focuses on sexual identities and politics, and many studies that do examine sexual practices dwell on negative outcomes such as sexually transmitted infections or unintended pregnancy. But pleasure is a major motivation for sexual activity, and often a central outcome. Panelists will examine the sexual practices and pleasures of people from diverse social groups, looking at differences and similarities across age, generation, race and ethnicity, gender, social class, sexual orientation, relationship status, and religion.

Sub Unit

• Thematic Sessions

Session Organizer

• Laura M. Carpenter, Vanderbilt University

Presider

• Laura M. Carpenter, Vanderbilt University

Individual Presentations

• Pleasure the Whole Way Through: Exploring Aging, Desire, and Sexual Bliss - Beth Montemurro, Pennsylvania State University-Abington

• Pleasures of the Avatar Flesh: Sexuality in Virtual Worlds - Cary Gabriel Costello, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

• A Sensitive Subject: Pleasure in Anglo-American Debates about Male Circumcision - Laura M. Carpenter, Vanderbilt University

• Productive Pleasures and Binary Regimes: Phenomenologies of Desire across Gender among Latino Bisexual Men - Jorge Fontdevila, California State University-Fullerton