The Gender of Desire: Essays on Male Sexuality

Articles and essays on the construction of male sexuality by a pioneer in the field of masculinity studies.

Here, one of the world's pioneers in the field of masculinity studies explores the construction of male sexuality, pornography, and sexual violence. Michael S. Kimmel analyzes what male sexuality is, where it comes from, how it works, what affects it, pornography's impact on it, what fantasies men have about sex, what people think about sex, and how male ideas about sex affect what men actually do. Provocative and wide-ranging, these essays make important contributions to sociology, queer theory, American studies, history, and studies of gender, sexuality, and gay and lesbian issues.

"Michael Kimmel is our leading sociological student of how men's conduct is gendered. In this important and instructive collection of his essays, he directs his attention to the complex issue of how men’s sexuality is constructed and the consequences for the representation of the sexual, sexual identities and conduct, and violence in sexual relations. Kimmel considers these substantive issues taking perspectives that range from the personal, to the political, and to the academic. An intellectually provocative work that everyone interested in gender and sexuality should read." — John H. Gagnon, author of An Interpretation of Desire: Essays in the Study of Sexuality