The Sociology Book

324

S E X U A L I T Y I S A S M U C H

A B O U T B E L I E F S A N D

I D E O L O G I E S A S A B O U T

T H E P H Y S I C A L B O D Y

JEFFREY WEEKS (1945– )

J

effrey Weeks, arguably the

most influential British

writer on sexuality, offers a

detailed historical account of how

sexuality has been shaped and

regulated by society. He sees

sexuality not so much as rooted in

the body, but as a social construct

that is ideologically determined.

Inspired by the work of British

sociologist Mary McIntosh, he

argues that industrialization and

urbanization consolidated gender

divisions and increased the stigma

of male same-sex relations.

Weeks examines how Victorian

society used the new “sciences” of

psychology and sexology (the study

IN CONTEXT

FOCUS

The social construction

of sexuality

KEY DATES

1885 The Criminal Law

Amendment Act is passed

in the UK, recriminalizing

male homosexuality and

strengthening the laws

against prostitution.

1968 An essay by British

sociologist Mary McIntosh,

“The Homosexual Role,”

helps promote the view

that sexuality is socially

not biologically determined.

1976 The History of

Sexuality: Volume I, by

French philosopher Michel

Foucault, examines the

role of “experts” in the

classification of sexuality.

2002 Same-sex couples

are legally entitled to adopt

in the UK.

2014 Same-sex marriage

is legalized in the UK.

Sexology

invents

the categories

“homosexual”

and

“heterosexual.”

Marriage is

promoted

as necessary for

a healthy and

stable society.

Homosexuality is constructed as abnormal;

heterosexuality is constructed as normal.

Sexuality is as much about beliefs and

ideologies as about the physical body.

The law

regulates

sexuality

by deciding who

can do what.