Sexuality: From Intimacy to Politics

Bibliographic Information published by the
Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche
Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data is available online at
http://dnb.d-nb.de.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A CIP catalog record for this book has been applied for at the
Library of Congress.

Cover image: Sculpted figurine of two lovers, calcite, Natufian culture,
10000BC (circa), from Ain Sakhri. © The Trustees of the British Museum.

ISBN 978-3-631-82807-6 (Print)

E-ISBN 978-3-631-83245-5 (E-PDF)

E-ISBN 978-3-631-83246-2 (EPUB)

E-ISBN 978-3-631-83247-9 (MOBI)

DOI 10.3726/b17431

© Peter Lang GmbH

Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften

Berlin 2020

All rights reserved.

Peter Lang – Berlin ∙ Bern ∙ Bruxelles ∙ New York ∙ Oxford ∙ Warszawa ∙ Wien

All parts of this publication are protected by copyright. Any
utilisation outside the strict limits of the copyright law, without
the permission of the publisher, is forbidden and liable to
prosecution. This applies in particular to reproductions,
translations, microfilming, and storage and processing in
electronic retrieval systems.

This publication has been peer reviewed.

www.peterlang.com

About the author

Gabriel Bianchi (b. 1955) is a social psychologist active in non-medical research on sexuality, gender, reproduction and partnerhood within a broad context of democracy and politics, with almost 30 years of regional and international experience. His substantial contribution is in applying qualitative, discursive and mixed research design.

About the book

Gabriel Bianchi

Sexuality: From Intimacy to Politics

The book seeks to answer questions that emerge when human sexuality leaves the medical/sexological context and gets into the focus of social sciences. It provides an insight into a geopolitical region (Slovakia) where, for ideological reasons, research on sexuality was impossible for decades. The most provoking questions in the book are: What was the price human sexuality has had to pay for the attention received from scientific medicine since the 19th century? What is the current transmutation of intimacy about? Why do we need to talk about healthy sex and not only about sexual health? What do we know about, and what can we learn from, the boundary between wanted and unwanted sex? Do we need new norms for sexuality? Why is sexuality so important in politics?

This eBook can be cited

This edition of the eBook can be cited. To enable this we have marked the start and end of a page. In cases where a word straddles a page break, the marker is placed inside the word at exactly the same position as in the physical book. This means that occasionally a word might be bifurcated by this marker.

Acknowledgements

This book is for Mira, without who this book would never have been finished.

Deep thanks to my ‘core’ team colleagues, Ivan and Miro, with whom we jointly were digging into human sexuality for several decades, as well as to some co-authors who enabled implementation of a research project or finalization of data analysis, namely to Monika and Jana. And, of course, to all inspiring brains I was lucky to meet in my life – mainly those mentioned below.

Finalizing of this book was generously supported by the Slovak Academy of Sciences and the Slovak Research and Development Agency under the contract nos: VEGA 2/0027/17 and APVV: 18–0303

Acknowledgements

What this book is and is not about

Part 1. Sexual subjectivity

Introduction

1.1 ‘Nosocomial’ suffering of sexuality – a tale of paradoxes

1.2 Sexual discourses

1.3 Meanings of sex (sexual activity)

1.4 Constructions of sexual satisfaction

1.5 Intercultural mirror of sexual debut and its motives

1.6 Taboos, sins, risks, and their justifications

Summary of Part One

Part 2. Intimacy and sexuality

Introduction

2.1 What is happening to intimacy? From transformation to transmutation

2.2 New forms of sexuality

2.3 New contradictions in sexuality, the role of women and reflexive politics (political lesbianism)

Summary of Part Two

Part 3. Sexual health

Introduction

3.1 The story of defining sexual health versus healthy sex

3.2 How men have sex with men (in Slovakia)

3.3 What are the minority discourses on seduction? (Roma in Slovakia)

3.4 The boundary between wanted and unwanted sex

Summary of Part Three

Part 4. Citizenship and sexuality

Introduction

4.1 New kinds of norms

4.2 New kinds of citizenship?