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The Sexological Construction Of Sexual Dysfunction

Department of Sociology & Anthropology University of Newcastle

In a range of modern literature on human sexuality, 'sexual dysfunctions' are largely taken for granted as self-evident physiological impairments of normal sexual functioning. This conceptualisation increases the likelihood they will be subsumed (or remain within) the jurisdiction of sexologists. The central argument of this paper is that sexual dysfunctions are not self-evident disorders discovered through the value-neutral methods of scientific sexology but are socially constructed as problems with reference to hegemonic masculine standards and patterns of normal sexual functioning and interaction. In this account, sexology operates as an institution of social control which in promoting conformity to such standards contributes to the perpetuation of social inequality.¹

Journal of Sociology, Vol. 30, No. 1, 20-35 (1994)
DOI: 10.1177/144078339403000102


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