Laura T. Smith: Teaching

Before I started to read this article, I thought I knew about what 'sexuality' means, though not very well. However, as I kept on reading, I became very confused about my own definition of sexuality - that is, what we usually find in the dictionaries - as Harperin explained about the change in the concepts of sexuality.

Harperin's account, '...the assumption that sexual behavior reflects or expresses an individuals "sexuality."' propmpted me to rethink about the meaning of sexuality, as I thought that sexuality was closely related to sexuality.

To answer the question 'what is sexaulity?', he gives the examples from the ancients and a quote from Abbott who is a contemporary American. With these examples he explains that sexuality is not related to an individual identity or human nature but a product of social structure and politics.

Therefore, I think in Harperin's view there is no such thing as 'sexuality' as we define it in the dictionary. It is just like distinguishing different appetite and taste of people and call it 'appeti-lity'. As for the history of sexuality, it depends how far we consider one's sexual behavior relates to sexuality. ...or is it? I am not sure how to define sexuality after reading this article, and nor can I decide whether a history of sexuality exists or not.