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Book Cover
Book
Author LeVay, Simon, author

Title Queer science : the use and abuse of research into homosexuality / Simon LeVay
Published Cambridge, Mass. : MIT Press, [1996]
Cambridge, Mass. : MIT Press, c1996
c1996
©1996

Copies

Location Call no. Vol. Availability
 MELB  306.760723 Lev/Qst  DUE 03-04-24
Description x, 364 pages ; 24 cm
Contents Contents: 1. Hirschfeld and the Third Sex -- 2. The Nature and Prevalence of Homosexuality -- 3. The Talking Cure -- 4. Learning and Unlearning Homosexuality -- 5. Hormones -- 6. The Brain -- 7. Mental Traits -- 8. Stress -- 9. Genes -- 10. Against Nature? -- 11. Sickness or Health? -- 12. Science and the Law -- 13. Science Fiction - Science Future? -- 14. Conclusions
Summary Research into homosexuality exemplifies both the promise and the danger of science applied to human nature. LeVay argues that the question of causation should not be the crucial issue in the gay-rights debate, but that science does have an important contribution to make. It can help to demonstrate that the traditional and still prevalent view of homosexuality - as a mere set of behaviors that anyone might show - is inadequate, and that gays and lesbians are in a real sense a distinct group of people within the larger society with a privileged insight into their own natures
What makes people gay, lesbian, bisexual, or heterosexual? And who cares? These are the twin themes of Queer Science, a scientific and social analysis of research in the field of sexual orientation. Written by one of the leading scientists involved in this research, it looks at how scientific discoveries about homosexuality influence society's attitude toward gays and lesbians, beginning with the theories of the German sexologist and gay-rights pioneer Magnus Hirschfeld and culminating with the latest discoveries in brain science, genetics, and endocrinology, and cognitive psychology
Analysis Sexuality
Sexuality
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages [297]-347) and index
Notes Also available via the World Wide Web
Subject Homosexuality -- Research -- Social aspects.
Sexual orientation -- Research -- Social aspects.
Homosexuality.
Research.
Sexual Behavior.
LC no. 96012906
ISBN 0262121999