Toward a Sociology of "Sexuate" Beings

Although biological factors underlie human sexual behavior and interaction, sexuality is a distinctly sociological phenomenon, as it is part of the social world that is endowed with and constituted through meaning. In this regard, sexuality does not differ from other aspects of social experience. However, its close connection to the biological body presents an especially interesting challenge for sociological theorizing.

The meaning of sexuality has been explored widely in the social sciences and humanities. One notable theoretical strand in these inquiries is gender theory. Gender theorists share a sociological perspective in that they view sexuality as part of the meaning structure that we constantly create. Another important approach is the theory of sexuality in organizations. Whereas modern organizations are supposed to be rationalized, these theorists have identified multiple ways in which everyday interactions occurring within them are sexualized.

Yet, the body itself is curiously absent from these and other theoretical approaches.  Although the only way to know our bodies is through some meaning structure, this does not mean that the body cannot exist unless meanings are attached to it. The body exerts a powerful influence on social interaction, and sociological theory must account for it.    

As social theorist Drucilla Cornell has argued, we are “sexuate” beings with multifaceted and multilayered sexual potentials. Our sexuate status creates the materials with which we construct our social world, which, is shaped though this process. A more adequate theory of sexuality must be based on an understanding of how the real and fictitious possibilities of attraction and repulsion among human organisms are acknowledged, used, and acted upon, on the one hand, or ignored, minimized, and rejected, on the other, in various social contexts. Building on Cornell’s concept, this study aimed to develop a conceptual framework for a more complete sociological understanding of human sexuality.