Annotated Bibliography: The Invention Of Sexuality By Jeffrey Weeks

Annotated Bibliography

Weeks, Jeffrey. “The Invention of Sexuality”. Sexuality. vol. 2nd ed, Routledge, 2003. 11-34pp. Key Ideas. EBSCOhost, ezproxy.brenau.edu:2040/login?url=https://search-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.brenau.edu:2040/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=110299. In this chapter of Sexuality written by Jeffrey Weeks, the author goes through and talks about sexuality and all aspects of it. From where it originated to how it’s a social construct or even what defines whether an action is sexual or not, most of that stuff is in there. Early in the book in references Christianity’s relationship with homosexuality and how the religion influenced beliefs on sex and attraction. Then explains how sexuality is hard to talk about because of the strong emotions surrounding it and how those emotions (hate, fear, warmth, attraction) inevitably influence choices that people make. It even goes as far as saying sexuality influences “political divisions”. History-wise the book explains how

He goes to explain how most job environments favor heteronormative culture with hegemonic masculinity being the standard for most social interactions in westernized culture. In spite of working at a company that is a “purveyor of heteronormative” culture, the backstage experience was different. A majority of performers he worked with were homosexuals and the social environment backstage was very flamboyant, but the homonormative narrative playing out behind the scenes depended highly on the hegemonic masculinity taking place everywhere else. The chapter tells a story of the “epistemology of the closet” which is how gay culture lives in the shadow of heterosexually dominated culture. Later on, it explains how gay culture challenges traditional western culture, in way of revealing racism by way of demonstrating that the majority naturalize prejudice