From the Merriam-Webster definition of sexuality, the overriding answer to what the term means is “the quality or state of being sexual,” including the other definitions of “the condition of having sex; sexual activity; expression of sexual receptivity or interest especially when excessive.” Conversely, from the long-mainstream European viewpoint of sexuality, the most frequent definition of sexuality is acting upon sexual urges, usually within a heterosexual male-female relation. I must point out that neither definition really aligns with my personal conceptualization of what sexuality is.
As mentioned in the Sexualities Syllabus previously, my conceptualization of sexuality comes from an individual experience when paired with cultural associations or assumptions. Tied with this is the experience of desire or sexual attraction to another person or persons, or the lack thereof (as in the case of asexuality, for example). The dominant forms or assumptions of sexuality, at least in reference to a Western concept such as the United States, are heavily influenced by the combination of moral religious thought and sexual functionality to produce offspring. This historical and limited perspective only allows for the truest form of sexuality to be within a sanctioned male-female pairing for sexual activity, not giving way to the idea of other genders and other activities that would be classified as sexual.
Admittedly, my conceptualization as has been laid out is dependent mostly upon my own experiences. As someone identified as asexual, it is difficult to not allow the mainstream or dictionary definitions of sexuality to restrict my ways of thinking and existing, especially in a society so geared toward sexuality, despite being more hush-hush about it. Sex and sexuality are not often discussed openly in the U.S., yet it is also seemingly everywhere. All of this combined with the colonial and Christian roots of the country have helped to influence my perspectives toward sexuality. With the syllabus content, I found myself veering towards books first, as my work in the library field has allowed me to be aware of the plethora of resources out there in the literary world – especially when not limited only to books geared towards adult audiences. I wanted the resources to branch across sexuality divides especially because more often than not, resources of this type can steer more in the direction of heterosexual relations. Creating an inclusive and accessible syllabus was the primary goal.
Lastly, I want to reiterate what has been mentioned previously, that defining the term ‘sexuality’ is much easier said than done. The largest reasoning behind this is the difficulty in including the vast variety of human experience in different times, places, and cultures; historical influences are present in all societies, and thus the attitudes toward sexuality as well. In determining materials to use for the syllabus, finding a range of sources was the goal, but I did have difficulty finding the inclusion within the scholarly side of sources. That is not to say there were none, simply that there were fewer than I would have hoped. I also tried to include a few different formats, from text to video to music, also for accessibility reasons.
