> [!cite] Citation > Aldrich, Robert. *Gay Lives*. Thames & Hudson, 2013. EPUB. --- ‘Sex—emotions and behaviour—does not provide the key to everyone’s life, but for most people it does form a central part of their sense of their place in the world and their interactions with others.’ [[Aldrich, Gay Lives, 2013|(Aldrich 2013, ‘Introduction’)]] ^74d5fe ‘Sex is never entirely a private matter. What individuals feel and don’t feel, do and don’t do, reflects their acceptance or rejection of social conventions: codes determined by religion, law, medicine, the media, and other standards of authority and opinion. Social and cultural expectations surrounding chastity, virginity, childbearing, monogamy and promiscuity, and “normal” or “abnormal” sexual acts influence an individual’s expression of his or her sexual desires. And, depending on time and place, the expression of certain desires may be celebrated or condemned.’ [[Aldrich, Gay Lives, 2013|(Aldrich 2013, ‘Introduction’)]] ^afc282 ‘Sexual orientation here is seen as emotional as well as physical – a question of intimate affinities, not just fornication; of love as well as lust.’ [[Aldrich, Gay Lives, 2013|(Aldrich 2013, ‘Introduction’)]] ^d4c6d9