Sexual Lifestyle in the Twentieth Century: A Research Study

by E. Haavio-Mannila, O. Kontula, A. Rotkirch

Overview

This study presents us with an insightful sociological exploration of sexual practice, within five different types of relationship and from varying perspectives of gender and age: lifelong love; serial loves; searching; devitalized relations, and parallel relations. Based on the accounts of almost two hundred adults in Finland, these real-life experiences reflect the way in which sexuality has evolved both within the lifetime of the individual, and over generations. Also examined is the impact of major historical events on love and sexual relationships - from war to economic crisis - and that of the 'spirit of the age': from the emancipatory zeal of the 1960s to the new-age holistic ideals in the 1980s.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781349420124
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan UK
Publication date:	12/17/2001
Edition description:	1st ed. 2002
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.99(h) x 0.02(d)

About the Author

ELINA HAAVIO-MANNILA is Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the University of Helsinki. Her publications in English include, as co-author, Unfinished Democracy: Women in Nordic Politics, and Sexual Pleasures: Changes in Sex Life in Finland.

OSMO KONTULA is a Lecturer in the Department of Sociology, University of Helsinki.

ANNA ROTKIRCH is a Lecturer in the Department of Sociology, University of Helsinki.

Table of Contents

Foreword List of Tables Acknowledgements INTRODUCTION Research Material and Theoretical Perspectives PART I: SEXUALITY IN EARLY AGE Childhood Sexuality in Youth PART II: SEXUAL LIFESTYLES IN DIFFERENT TYPES OF RELATIONSHIPS Faithful Monogamy: Eternal Love Consecutive Relations Searching Devitalized Union Parallel Relations PART III: REMEMBERING SEXUALITY Joy and Suffering The Importance of Sex CONCLUSION Changing Sexual Practices and Scripts References Appendices Index