Love, heterosexuality, and society / Paul Johnson.

"Heterosexuality is a largely 'silent' set of practices and identities - it is assumed to be everywhere and yet often remains unnamed and unexplored. Despite recent changes in the theoretical understanding and representation of sexuality, heterosexuality continues to be socially normative."

"Love, Heterosexuality and Society forges a new agenda for the study of heterosexuality, presenting an empirical study of the construction, negotiation and enactment of heterosexual sexuality. Using in-depth, interview data from a sample composed of men and women of disparate ages, the book investigates how heterosexuality, as both an identity and a set of practices, is accomplished through love relationships. Rather than assuming that romantic love is an outcome or expression of a pre-defined sexuality, Johnson explores how sexuality is brought to life through love.

Situated in the ongoing theoretical debates concerning the relationship between gender and sexuality, the work shows how ways of loving are interwoven with the construction, practice, regulation and government of heterosexuality."--Jacket.

London ; New York : Routledge, an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, 2005.

157 pages ; 24 cm.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 148-153) and index.

Introduction: making love, doing heterosexuality -- The essence of love -- Making love and regulating sex -- The lack of love: producing heterosexual subjectivities -- Haunting heterosexuality: homosexuality and the borders of desire -- The escape of desire, the constraints of love -- Conclusion.