Anne Fausto-Sterling vs Ogas and Gaddam

I would like to start this post off explaining why I have been so quite in class lately (other then the terrible head cold I have been fighting lately, Thanks for singling me out Ben!) While we were discussing A Billion Wicked Thoughts in class I did not raise my hand to say exactly how I felt even though I was screaming inside. My reasons for being so quite lately are partially because I do not particularly enjoy speaking in front of a large audience and because conversations  or readings about sex, porn and human sexuality have never been a comfortable topic for me.  That being said I got out of my comfort zone and I was pleasantly surprised after reading the first chapter “dueling dualisms” by Anne Fausto-Sterling. As I sat in the corner of my favorite coffee shop I found myself feeling submerged in the way that Fausto-Sterling makes her argument and continuously backs all of them up with incredible scholarly research. In class we discussed the matter-of-fact and arrogant tone that Ogas and Gaddam portray in A Billion Wicked Thoughts and how that turned many of us off to the message they were trying to send to their audience. I found myself more angered that a book could have this effect on me that left me feel less then interested.  However, Fausto- Sterling grabbed my attention while she discusses sexuality and the history behind it. In very much detail she explains how perception of sexuality has changed over time and through different cultures concluding that it is constructed socially. One example Fausto-Sterling offered that stuck out to me was regarding Ancient Greece (Of course the Greek girl likes anything that has to do with Greece) She described how in Ancient Greece it was perfectly acceptable for a young male to interact and have relationships with older men but in todays society this would be considered illegal and the man would be deemed a pedophile. This example got me thinking how my perceptions about sexuality whether it is regarding heterosexuality, homosexuality etc. have been shaped by the culture that I currently live in.  Also, how the perceptions that I have about sexuality have been shaped by my family traveling and living in different countries and cultures in Europe while I was young .

 While reading this chapter one place where I got confused was on page 17  and the diagram Fausto-Stering included. I am hoping we will discuss it in class or that someone on here might be able to comment and explain it better to me. I must have re-read it over and over again but somehow missed the point. I think I will enjoy reading Sexing the Body much more then A Billion Wicked Thoughts because in short I feel like I am learning something that has room to be discussed and debated verses having something shoved down my throat by Ogas and Gaddam.(They sound like pricks)

Sidenote: Never read Sexing the Body in a coffee shop without a book cover… I got three people who asked me what kind of a book it was and why I was reading it.