This essay provides an overview of the major theoretical frameworks used in the sociological study of sexuality. These frameworks – sexology, psychoanalytic, social construction, feminist, intersectional, and queer – run the gamut from the micro to the macro, and from bodies, desires, and practices to identities, communities, and the global. The review reveals and revels in the capacious nature of sexuality, both as a theoretical enterprise and an object of study.
Gender, hetero/homo binary, identity, intersectionality, queer
Stephen Valocchi is Professor of Sociology at Trinity College, Hartford Connecticut.His scholarly interests include social movements and the sociology of gender and sexuality.He has published research articles on the gay liberation, civil rights, and labor movements, queer theory, and social welfare policy.He is also author (along with Robert Corber) of Queer Studies: An Interdisciplinary Reader (2003) and Social Movements and Activism in the USA (2009).