Introducing the New Sexuality Studies: Original Essays is an innovative, reader-friendly collection of essays that presents the field of sexuality studies to undergraduate students. Examining the social, cultural, and historical dimensions of sexuality, this collection is designed to serve as a comprehensive yet accessible textbook for sexuality courses at the undergraduate level. The fourth edition adds 51 new essays, retaining 33 of the most popular ones from previous editions.


It features perspectives that are intersectional, transnational, sex-positive, and attentive to historically marginalized groups along multiple axes of inequality, including gender, race, class, ability, body size, religious identity, age, and, of course, sexuality. Essays explore how various social institutions, including medicine, religion, the state, and education, shape sexual desires, behaviours, and identities. Sources of empirical research on oppression and modes of resistance, activism, and policy change are discussed.


The fourth edition also adds new user-friendly features for students and instructors. Keywords are italicized and defined, and each chapter concludes with review questions to help students comprehend critical points. There is also an online annotated table of contents to help readers identify key ideas and concepts at a glance for each chapter.