Holloway 1

Audriana Holloway
Writ 2
Scott Kneece
10 February 2016
Human Sexuality
Human sexuality and how it functions in society can be assessed in a
multitude of ways . It can be studied through many different approaches supported by
a plethora of studies and evidence . Of the many ways it can be assessed, the article
"Socially Constructing Sexuality: Toward a Postmodernist Theory of Sexual
Intimacy by Emily Reynolds and the book Handbook of the Sociology of
Sexualities . by John DeLamater and Rebecca Plante accurately depict the
functionality of human sexuality in contemporary and modern society . The main goal
of each is to persuade the reader as to why their approach is the more accurate of the
two . In doing this, they present their arguments in very different manners . While
both sources have convincing sentiments, Reynolds has a much more clear and
concise methodology with linguistics as the discipline . By using concrete studies and
concrete descriptions of that studies, she has proven her stance to be the strongest of
the two disciplines .

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The article "Socially Constructing Sexuality: Toward a Postmodernist Theory

of Sexual Intimacy . " By Emily Reynolds is a very good example of human sexuality
in the social sense. This article is using a linguistic approach to sexuality in order to
compare and contrast a biological approach. The author takes a look at social
construction as a means of sexuality . Author maintains that since sexuality occurs in
a social setting then it must also be observed in a social (versus biological) setting .
One may find it very interesting that Reynolds is making a view point of sexuality in
a social sense . Its interesting to deviate away from the biology (or the how) of
human sexuality and explore the social aspect (the why) . The only down side is that
Reynolds uses a linguistics approach which is kind of ambiguous but it is a minor
setback . She makes very strong points and facts throughout her article that can be
used to strengthen my argument . Reynolds presents information in the form of
various studies and research which contributes greatly to her paper and makes the
reader feel as though the information she has written is thoroughly researched and
correct .
The reader may feel like they are getting the most information possible out of
the article . Contrast to a biological approach, Reynolds states; Drawing on
hermeneutics and social constructionism, this new view could take as its central
premise the idea that sexual relations, like all human actions, are fundamentally
social and meaningful rather than individual and biological . (Reynolds 1) Here

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Reynolds is again explaining how sexuality is a social construct. She solidifies this
information by using social experiments by linguists Harre and Gergen. With the use
of these references, Reynolds makes her paper have a more authoritative and really
helps strengthen the overall point of the article- how and why human sexuality is a
socially constructed phenomenon and contrasts with a biological approach .
On the other hand, in the book Handbook of the Sociology of Sexualities by
DeLamater, John D., and Rebecca F. Plante, the authors talk about the sociology of
sex, as the title suggests . The authors designed this book to be made for people
interested in studying more about human sexuality . They study sexual relationships
in the form of, attraction, and expression with lots of different and varying
perspectives which include social psychology, psychology, and sociology . DeLamater
and Plante discuss how the human brain forms how one experience things (namely
sex) and controls how the brain in part molds our sexuality and all the reasonings in
a mainly social setting . Authors also talk about how our brain perceives and responds
to sexuality. The authors also use evidence that explain how certain schemas and
hierarchies contribute to sex and sexuality . They also describe how sex is due to
cognitive process and behavioral response . Because this essay is used more for
studying human sexuality it seems to lack a strong argumentative point .
Reynolds use of evidence and studies is much more concise, through
and to the point in comparison to DeLamater and Plante . Though they both use

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studies, Reynolds sources seem to be better explained as well as better outlined and
paraphrased . Reynolds approaches her article with a more lax attitude and tries to
thoroughly describe her position and her explanations for doing so by using
evidence . DeLamater and Plante seem to focus more on facts and evidence instead of
explanations . As Reynolds article is more argumentative, she successfully uses
counter example of biology which strengthens her arguments sufficiently, whereas
DeLamater and Plante seem to lack counter examples . Reynolds approach is most
persuasive and effective in her writing practices as she outlines her evidence of
sexuality in a social linguistic approach and gives specific examples and studies of
each discipline she wrote about- including her counter example of biology . Her
research produces a very thorough understanding of social human sexuality with the
linguistic approach .