Author Description

The book begins with an examination of nonrelational sexuality - the tendency to experience sex primarily as lust without any requirements for relational intimacy or emotional attachment. The central mechanism of nonrelational sexuality, the focus on physical attributes and the objectification of women"the Centerfold Syndrome" - is linked to a spectrum of problems associated with nonrelational sexuality: appearance obsession in women, repetitive infidelity and Don Juanism, sex as a commodity, sexual harassment and rape, and the perpetration of sexual abuse. Variations of these problems are explored in chapters that examine nonrelational sex across the life span, in African-American men, and among gay men. Men and Sex offers a firm foundation for mental health professionals and social scientists who want to encourage change on the personal as well as cultural levels. It is both a springboard for researchers who seek new avenues of investigation into male sexuality and a powerful introduction to the subject for students at the graduate and senior undergraduate levels.