ALTERNATIVE CONSTRUCTIONS OF SEXUALITY

Social constructionism offers theorists a way to get beyond simplistic debates. If we recognize that humans are biological beings born into a social world, biological and social factors cannot be considered in separation. The question becomes how do social and political environments interact with the biologically developing organism to socially construct a woman or man with given attitudes and behavior. The focus is not on the causal role of biological phenomena, but rather on their socially constructed meanings. Behaviors that result in reproduction have no psychological or social mean­ing without a context to name and shape them for individuals.

Social constructionism suggests examining the social processes in­volved in generating concepts such as the self, gender, and sexuality. This approach requires questioning taken-for-granted notions, searching for how we come to establish knowledge, and determining what proof structures are used to validate knowledge. Within this perspective sexuality is con­structed through the interplay of social, cognitive, and biological factors. Sexuality becomes a process negotiated in social interactions, as revealed in the two following deconstructions.

Updated: 03.11.2015 — 05:31