Abstract
This article focuses on the politics and practice of sexuality in the early twenty-first century. Drawing on a set of case studies from diverse societies in different regions of the world, the author examines both the intersection of and the tension between grassroots struggles for sexual freedom and transnational movements for sexual rights within the broader context of ongoing global transformations. Building on John Gagnon and William Simon's pioneering work on sexual scripts, the author explores the ways in which the rapidly changing politics of sexuality contribute to the reinvention of sexual meanings and intimate relations across a wide range of diverse social settings and contexts. This article is based on the author's presentation for the 2008 John H. Gagnon Distinguished Lecture on Sexuality, Modernity and Change.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alvarez, S. (2000). Translating the global: effects of transnational organizing on local feminist discourses and practice in Latin America. Cadernos de Pesquisa, 22, 1–27.
Appadurai, A. (1996). Modernity at large: Cultural dimensions of globalization. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Baden, S., & Goetz, A. M. (1997). Debating discourses, practicing feminisms. Feminist Review, 56, 3–25.
Berkman, A., Garcia, J., Muñoz-Laboy, M., Paiva, V., & Parker, R. (2005). A critical analysis of the Brazilian response to HIV/AIDS: Lessons learned for controlling and mitigating the epidemic in developing countries. American Journal of Public Health, 95, 1162–1172.
Burke, K. (1945). A grammar of motives. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Butler, J. (1990). Gender trouble: Feminism and the subversion of identity. New York: Routledge.
Cash, K., Khan, S. I., Nasreen, H., Bhuiya, A., Chowdhury, S., & Chowdhury, A. M. (2001). Telling them their own stories; legitimizing sexual and reproductive health education in rural Bangladesh. Sex Education, 1, 43–57.
Castells, M. (2004). The power of identity (2nd ed.). Malden, MA: Blackwell.
Chabot, S., & Duyvendak, J. W. (2002). Globalization and transnational diffusion between social movements: Reconceptualizing the dissemination of the Gandhian repertoire and the “coming out” routine. Theory and Society, 31, 697–740.
Chandiramani, R. (1998). Talking about sex. Reproductive Health Matters, 6(12), 76–86.
Corrêa, S., & Petchesky, R. (1994). Reproductive and sexual rights: A feminist perspective. In G. Sen, A. Germaine, & L. Chen (Eds.), Population policies reconsidered: Health, empowerment, and rights (pp. 107–123). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Corrêa, S., Petchesky, R., & Parker, R. (2008). Sexuality, health and human rights. New York: Routledge.
Foucault, M. (1978). The history of sexuality: An introduction—Volume 1. New York: Random House.
Gagnon, J. H. (2004). An interpretation of desire: Essays in the study of sexuality. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Gagnon, J. H., & Simon, W. S. (1973). Sexual conduct: The social sources of human sexuality. Chicago: Aldine.
Garcia, J., & Parker, R. (2006). From global discourse to local actions: the makings of a sexual rights movement. Horizontes Antropológicos, 12(26), 13–42.
Goffman, E. (1959). The presentation of self in everyday life. New York: Doubleday & Company.
Hardee, K., Agarwal, K., Luke, N., Wilson, E., Pendzich, M., Farrell, M., et al. (1999). Reproductive health policies and programs in eight countries: Progress since Cairo. International Family Planning Perspectives, 25, S2–S9.
International Council on Human Rights Policy. (2009). Sexuality and human rights: Discussion paper. Geneva, Switzerland: ICHRP.
Kraak, G. (1998). Class, race, nationalism and the politics of identity: A perspective from the South. Development Update, 2(2). Retrieved September 15, 2008, from http://www.interfund.org.za/vol2no21998.html [no longer available].
Mead, G. H. (1934). Mind, self, and society. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Parker, R. (1997). Sexual rights: Concepts and actions. Health and Human Rights, 2(3), 31–37.
Parker, R. (2007). Sexuality, health, and human rights. American Journal of Public Health, 97, 972–973.
Parker, R. (2008). AIDS solidarity as policy: constructing the Brazilian model. NACLA Report on the Americas, 41(4), 20–24.
Parker, R., di Mauro, D., Filiano, B., Garcia, J., Munoz-Laboy, M., & Sember, R. (2004). Global transformations and intimate relations in the 21st century: social science research on sexuality and the emergence of sexual health and sexual rights frameworks. Annual Review of Sex Research, 15, 362–399.
Pereira, C. (2002). Configuring “global”, “national”, and “local” in governance agendas and women's struggles in Nigeria. Social Research, 69, 781–804.
Petchesky, R. (2000). Sexual rights: Inventing a concept, mapping an international practice. In R. Parker, R. M. Barbosa, & P. Aggleton (Eds.), Framing the sexual subject: The politics of gender, sexuality and power (pp. 81–103). Berkeley: University of California Press.
Petchesky, R. (2003). Global prescriptions: Gendering health and human rights. New York: Zed Books.
Schutz, A. (1967). The phenomenology of the social world. Evanston, IL: Northwest University Press. Original work published 1932.
Simon, W. (1996). Postmodern sexualities. New York: Routledge.
Simon, W., & Gagnon, J. H. (1986). Sexual scripts: permanence and change. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 15, 97–120.
Simon, W., & Gagnon, J. H. (1999). Sexual scripts. In R. Parker & P. Aggleton (Eds.), Culture, society and sexuality: A reader (pp. 29–38). London: University College London Press.
Tarrow, S. (1998). Power in movement: Social movements and contentious politics. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
World Health Organization. (2002). Gender and reproductive health: Glossary. Retrieved September 20, 2008, from http://www.who.int/reproductive-health/gender/glossary.html
Yogyakartaprinciples.org. (2007). The yogyakarta principles: Principles on the application of international human rights law in relation to sexual orientation and gender identity. Retrieved June 22, 2009, from http://www.yogyakartaprinciples.org/principles_en.pdf
Acknowledgments
This article was originally prepared for presentation as the second annual John H. Gagnon Distinguished Lecture on Sexuality, Modernity and Social Change, at the invitation of the Department of Human Sexuality Studies and the Institute for Sexuality, Inequality, and Health at San Francisco State University. Special thanks to Professor Gilbert Herdt and his colleagues at San Francisco State University for the invitation, and for their wonderful hospitality. Thanks also to Nancy Worthington from the Department of Sociomedical Sciences at Columbia University for her extremely helpful editorial assistance.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Parker, R. Reinventing Sexual Scripts: Sexuality and Social Change in the Twenty-First Century (The 2008 John H. Gagnon Distinguished Lecture on Sexuality, Modernity and Change). Sex Res Soc Policy 7, 58–66 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-010-0004-3
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-010-0004-3