Sociation Today

Book Review of Sex Cultures by Amin Ghaziani
ISBN-13: 978-0745670409
ISBN-10: 0745670407
Malden, MA: Polity Press, 2017

Reviewed by Kathryn Nutter-Pridgen

University of Alabama at Birmingham

    Sex Cultures is a new book by Amin Ghaziani that was published April 2017. This book adds to his previous research about gay and lesbian social movements (The Dividends of Dissent: How Conflict and Culture Work in Lesbian and Gay Marches on Washington (2008)) and the changing environment of gay and lesbian neighborhoods (There Goes the Gayborhood? (2014)). These books show that Ghaziani has established himself as a scholar of sexuality, social movements, and cultural sociology. They also show the utility of his methodological approach: applying cultural analysis to historical events can help to uncover the drivers of social change. In his accessible new book, Sex Cultures, Ghaziani showcases his in-depth knowledge of these fields, his powerful analyses, and his clear, conversational writing style. These strengths make the text extremely useful to anyone interested in the study of sexuality, social change, or LGBTQ issues. Ghaziani provides a thorough overview of the existing knowledge about sexualities studies, while also advancing aspects of the field using a distinctly cultural approach. Despite some concerns about the implied universality of some of his claims, Ghaziani’s Sex Cultures will be valuable for anyone interested in these issues, especially undergraduates at all levels.

    Ghaziani’s main contribution with this book is the way he utilizes a cultural lens that focuses on the ways in which social forces influence the creation of the concept of sexuality. To foreground this relationship, he repeats the following formula throughout the text: sex + culture = sexuality. This cultural approach highlights the ways in which sexuality is biologically based and socially constructed. Ghaziani suggests a focus on ‘sex cultures’ to foreground the important role of the "diverse contexts and customs that give meaning to our bodies and the way we use them" (16). Sex cultures, then, are the collective cultural meanings created by various societal institutions and practices. For Ghaziani, the study of sex cultures is intended to challenge readers to rethink their ideas about sex and sexuality as strictly biological, completely private, and unchanging throughout life. He argues that the use of a cultural imagination to examine sex cultures opens additional avenues to understanding the complex concept of sexuality in contemporary life.

    With a focus on the cultural, Ghaziani integrates existing literature with his own research to provide evidence that various social forces influence our understanding and experience of sexuality. For example, after reviewing the history of homosexuality in urban spaces, Ghaziani goes on to examine the different social forces that influenced the creation and transformation of the "gayborhood" (or neighborhoods with high concentrations of gays and lesbians). He finds that five triggers of the "great gay migration" (movement of gays and lesbians to certain cities in the 70s and 80s) can also shed light on the new "post-gay" gayborhood that has seen decreasing numbers of gays and lesbians and increasing numbers of straight people. Although Ghaziani focuses on urban areas, previous research supports the idea that sex cultures can be influenced by spaces like fraternities, rural areas, and virtual environments. Ultimately, Ghaziani builds upon this literature by suggesting a number of mechanisms that can be used to examine the complex interaction between sexuality and space.

    Ghaziani further develops the idea of sex cultures when he notes that political sex cultures may vary in different activist communities. With the increasing "heterosexualization of gay culture" (what Duggan might call homonormativity), as well as the accompanying backlash, gay and lesbian activists have been pushed to refine their sex cultures, especially in relation to their ideas about sameness and difference. Ghaziani shows that a shift in thinking has been salient in marriage equality efforts, as activists have abandoned the earlier strategy of arguing marriage as civil right (difference) in favor of an argument about the universality of love and commitment (sameness). Ghaziani argues that social movement theory has failed to take into account how these changes in political sex cultures are key to protest waves. Ultimately, this chapter shows that sex cultures are collective, powerfully social, and political.

    Ghaziani goes on to examine the changing social construction of heterosexuality using Katz’s influential book, The Invention of Heterosexuality. Katz (1995) organizes the years 1820 to 1982 into seven different time periods, each with its own overarching norms about the meaning of heterosexuality. By defining these stages, Katz shows that meaning is not naturally occurring, but is created as a response to social trends. While he does a wonderful job concisely describing these stages, the main contribution of this chapter is the three new stages Ghaziani adds to describe what has happened since 1982. His additional stages are theoretically logical and empirically supported. His use of numerous examples shows that, especially in the most recent stage, people are expressing heterosexuality in much more self-conscious and reflexive ways. He presents an impressive collection of terms (gay vague, homoflexible, metrosexual, bromance, dude sex, brojob) to argue that a "pluralization of the heterosexual cultural imagination" has meant that straight sex cultures more readily embrace same-sex attraction, identity, and behavior (111). The main theme of this chapter supports Ghaziani’s thesis that language and meanings are influential to sexuality. Exploration of a dominant position like heterosexuality helps to understand not only its inherent privilege, but also the oppression it can cause. And although Ghaziani’s discussion focuses on heterosexualities, this chapter provides an important lens through which to understand sexualities in general.

    Finally, Ghaziani considers the difficult question of how to study the complex concept of sexuality. For example, if sexuality can be fluid and changing throughout the life course, especially for women, what is the best way to operationalize and measure sexuality? These issues are important because empirical data is necessary to influence policy change and normalize diverse sexual identities. A key strength of this chapter is Ghaziani’s suggestions for best practices for surveys about sexuality. His ideas revolve around language: what you learn depends on what you ask and certain language will not resonate with everyone. Ultimately, Ghaziani takes this opportunity to remind the reader of the constructed nature of our perceptions AND our science.

    Ghaziani’s text has multiple strengths that make it especially useful in the classroom. The most enjoyable part of the book for me was Ghaziani’s style; he has an ability to characterize complexity in parsimonious ways. His conversational tone keeps the text accessible, even as he summarizes large bodies of literature. He encourages self-reflection and asks compelling questions, and even teaches lessons that apply outside of the text. For example, his chapter about the city provides a framework for how to study the multiple relationships between sexuality and space, while his chapter about survey design explains the importance of composite measures and careful attention to language. In a larger sense, Ghaziani notes that there are rarely simple yes or no answers when studying sexuality and in life. He highlights the complexity of sexuality throughout the book, often reminding the reader that identities, bodies, and sex cultures can be messy and ambiguous. Especially helpful teaching tools include "case studies" of popular culture and discussion questions for each chapter. This text teaches students a cultural, constructionist approach and then models ways to apply these concepts to contemporary life.

    After reading the book, my one significant concern is that Ghaziani may overstate the universality of certain sex cultures by omission. In the concluding chapter, he says, "Today, we live in a heteroflexible world, a place defined by bromances and bro-jobs, heterodykes on a lesbian continuum, and dudes who have sex with dudes and sexually fluid women. Indeed, heterosexualities show no sign of ceasing their remarkable inventions" (179). While Ghaziani presents evidence that clearly shows a diversification of heterosexualities has occurred, I do not believe that we all live in a heteroflexible world. The evidence Ghaziani includes does not speak to the varied ways that expressions of heterosexuality can be racialized, classed, and gendered. Although only certain research studies have previously been conducted, I argue Ghaziani overemphasizes male sexuality and misses opportunities to discuss the ways that sex cultures may construct sexuality differently based on features such as gender, race, and age.

    Overall, Ghaziani’s book is an excellent read that will be especially useful for those interested in understanding a cultural approach to sexuality. In addition to brief yet thorough overviews of several key topics in sexualities studies, Ghaziani includes teaching tools in each chapter. His conversational tone makes the text accessible and facilitates the development of critical thinking skills. He provides an important example of what it means to study sexuality using a cultural approach. Finally, Ghaziani’s attention to meaning-making shows that sexuality is still contested in many ways; one of these ways is through sex cultures.

References

Duggan, Lisa. (2002). "The New Homonormativity: The Sexual Politics of Neoliberalism." Pp. 175-194 in Materializing Democracy: Toward a Revitalized Cultural Politics, edited by R. Castronovo and D. Nelson. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

Ghaziani, Amin. (2017). Sex Cultures. Malden, MA: Polity Press.

Katz, Jonathan Ned. (1995). The Invention of Heterosexuality. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

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