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This chapter stresses the need to reinterpret the lower HIV rates for Uganda and examine how language is used in sexual behavior surveys. It suggests that though the Abstinence, Be Faithful, and condom (ABc) campaign has been successful in Uganda, it should not be applied throughout Africa. It discusses the substantial differences in definitions of sex and types of partners in different cultures and the predictable patterns of condom use and the reasons for the lack of use with different partners.

Cyberspace provides a venue for virtual communities in which face-to-face communication does not rely upon physical space. Within this virtual domain, individuals are able to leave aside normative attachments to aspects of individual identity, such as sex, class, or ethnicity. This chapter presents the results of a research project based on anthropological concepts and approaches that was conducted to provide an account of the perceptions, explanations, assumptions, belief sets, and meanings related to sexuality and gender among Thai MSM (men who have sex with men) on Camfrog. This study revealed that many MSM used Camfrog to find temporary sexual partners who were particularly able to respond to their specific sexual desires. Some sought long-term relationships. Furthermore, MSM and DJs of all sexual identities could express themselves freely and openly on Camfrog.

This chapter explores the most serious sexual assault type by an intimate partner—that which ends in murder. Using data from the Murder in Britain Study, the Dobashes compare intimate partner sexual murders (N = 17) with two other types: intimate partner murder that did not include a sexual attack (N = 88) and the sexual murder of a woman who was in some way acquainted with the murderer (N = 72). Findings suggest that intimate partner sexual murderers are not very different from the sexual murderers of acquaintances. Men in both types committed a sexual act as an integral aspect of the murder. However, intimate partner sexual murderers seemed more likely to commit sexual assault as part of the physical attack to punish and/or take revenge on their partners, whereas men who committed sexual murder of nonintimates were intent on overcoming their victims in order to perpetrate a sexual act.

Birds show a rich array of sexually differentiated behavior. Research on two species, the Japanese quail and the zebra finch, is the source of most of what is known to date about the role of hormones such as estrogens in the development of those sex differences. In both species, the gonads and brains of very young birds (embryos, nestlings) produce estrogens, and experimental manipulations of estrogens early in development have profound organizational effects on adult behavior, supporting a role for aromatase in the sexual differentiation process. Estrogens seem to be important for sexual differentiation of behavior in both Japanese quail and zebra finches, but how and where are still unclear. Newer genomic and other molecular resources and techniques can be expected to lead to significant progress in both species.

This chapter considers the assumptions of the Japanese judiciary regarding consensual sex, assumptions the Japanese judiciary reveal as they carefully investigate very personal, private matters. It first examines what courts label as “common sense” notions of appropriate sexual practices, which often are conservative and almost always involve a substitution of the parties' view of appropriateness with that of the court. It then turns to the kinds of people who are appropriate sexual partners. In some cases, judges find certain partners to be wholly inappropriate; in other cases, judges protect fragile females, but they make surprising concessions to would-be suitors if those men display the requisite emotions. Finally, the chapter looks at normal, assumed birth control practices, focusing on the widespread use of abortion. In these cases, judges do not moralize; they seem completely oblivious to the underlying ideas their stories reveal. In all of these cases, judges conduct thorough investigations of sexual practices, emotions, and relationships, and they often seem less than thrilled with their findings.

This chapter analyzes the nature of racism experienced by gay Asian American men in the larger gay community. Racism in the gay community is based largely on beliefs about the desirability of one race over another as potential sexual partners. Within this hierarchy, White men are promoted as being the most desirable, while Asian men are perhaps the least. This highly racialized hierarchy of desire leads to gay Asian American men seeing each other as competitors for White male attention and hinders community formation for members of this group. In addition, the chapter also examines the ways that gay Asian American men attempt to combat the racism they encounter in the gay community and negotiate the racialized and gendered space they inhabit.

This chapter discusses the disintegration of the institution of marriage. It adds that divorce has been progressively liberalised since 1948 and marriage is now no more than a civil contract, voidable at will by either party, with rules for the sharing of joint property in the aftermath, although more complicated when there are children. It also examines the complete spectrum of relationships involving sexual partners, from the one-off encounter to the piously and traditionally wed under religious auspices, who would never contemplate divorce. It explains the ‘Bridget Jones’ phenomenon. It discusses the danger of being overly familiar with one's partner and the obvious weaknesses of unfettered choice. It notes that while at work self presentation is a necessary skill, with a partner it is one's real self that is available, and that if only a person can be himself, can real fulfilment and security ensue.

This chapter demonstrates how yaoi and Boys Love (BL) developed as an entertaining space where women can “play with gender,” and the constraints of oppressive female gender roles can be removed. A central feature of yaoi which affirms this is the seme–uke rule, that is, the norms whereby characters in a relationship are determined to be the seme—the “attacker,” that is, the dominant and insertive sexual partner—and the uke—the “receiver,” that is, the passive and receptive sexual partner. Yaoi and BL flourishes then as accumulations of experiments carried out in shōjo manga—experiments in transgressing every possible border of sexual difference and in creating worlds of diverse polymorphic perversion. Additionally, the chapter argues through yaoi and BL, the women's appropriation of male characters is an example of girls' agency in imagining sexual scenarios, including sadomasochism and rape, that have traditionally been considered the reserve of male sexual fantasy.