Generational Sexualities, Subterranean Traditions, and the Hauntings of the Sexual World: Some Preliminary Remarks

Abstract

In this article I argue that generation is a relatively neglectedconcept for thinking about both the social and the sexual, and thatsymbolic interactionism has much to offer in developing ourunderstanding of this idea. Using both personal experience and thewide-ranging literature on sexualities, I explore the role ofsynchronic and diachronic time in organizing both the flow of sexuallives and the hierarchy of age-sexual orders. The core organizingconcepts are those of generational sexualities and subterraneantraditions; the approach is seen to provide a further complication tostandpoint, queer, and intersectionality theory. The core of thearticle suggests an array of sensitizing concepts and research areasthat might sharpen future analyses. Schematic and exploratory, thearticle draws from a wide range of examples.