RF (Rebecca) Plante joins Sex & Sexualities as one of two new co-editors. She is excited to be part of the journal’s collaborative editorial structure and ready to bring her experience as a book and journal editor to bear on this new position.
As a Charles A. Dana Professor of Sociology at Ithaca College (2021–26), Plante’s research focuses on sociological aspects of sexual selfhood. Throughout her career, she has endeavored to apply microsociological theory, interactionist perspectives, and mixed methods. She explores lived experiences to illuminate how people make meaning of their sexualities and make sense of sexual subcultures and interactions. Plante has studied (among other things) stigmatization and scripts in sexual subcultures, sexual reputations, cis-women’s definitions of ‘good’ sex and pleasure, and subversion in university peer sexuality education. She has also published opinion essays in the Chronicle of Higher Education (on campus sexual climates) and, early in her career, provided sexuality education and advice via radio call-in shows and college newspaper columns.
Plante has been a dedicated mentor to students and colleagues. Most recently, she has mentored student research on asexualities and beauty and neuroqueer sexual scripting. She has also devoted herself to writing engaging texts for undergraduate (sexualities) students, including sole-authored textbooks and chapters. Her enduring commitment to mentoring and feminist practices will serve her well in this editorial role.
Editorial Experience and Service to the Discipline
Plante has a wealth of editorial experience. She has served as an editorial board member for Sexualities and Gatherings: An Interdisciplinary, Intersectional Feminist Journal. For Gatherings, she also served as part of the ‘peer review best practices’ collective. Plante co-edited two journal special issues, “Sexuality and Reputation” for Sexualities and “Symbolic Interaction and Sexualities” for Symbolic Interaction. She also served as book review editor for the Journal of Sex Research. Plante has co-edited several books, including Handbook of the Sociology of Sexualities (with J. DeLamater, SpringerVerlag 2015) and Doing Gender Diversity: Readings in Theory and Real-World (with L. Maurer, Westview Press 2010).
Within the American Sociological Association (ASA), Plante has been deeply engaged with the Sociology of Sexualities Section, serving on Council and the nominations committee, Simon-Gagnon Lifetime Achievement Award committee, Early Career Award committee, Martin Levine Memorial Dissertation Fellowship committee, and Best Graduate Student Paper Award committee. She has also been the Section’s roundtables co-organizer, publications committee co-chair, newsletter editor, and session organizer.
Additionally, Plante also served four other ASA Sections: Sociology of the Body and Embodiment (Council, nominations committee, Graduate Student Paper Award committee); Animals and Society (Council, Distinguished Article Award committee, session organizer, newsletter editor); Sociology of Sex and Gender (Distinguished Book Award committee, roundtables co-organizer); and Teaching and Learning in Sociology (Hans O. Mauksch Award for Distinguished Contributions to Undergraduate Sociology committee).
Beyond ASA, Plante has given enduring and valuable service to the discipline via advocacy and committee work for the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction, Sociologists for Trans Justice, Sociologists for Women in Society, the Eastern Sociological Society, the Southern Society, the New View of Sexualities Campaign, and the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexualities. She has been an exemplary and trusted colleague in many organizations and areas of sociology, frequently organizing conference sessions and supporting colleagues.
Vision for the Journal
Plante is committed to ethical, responsive, feminist mentoring. She prioritizes mentored, collaborative editing experiences, working to ensure clear, supportive editorial practices for all. This will be her guiding principle, her foundation. She will carry on the model that Krystale Littlejohn and Amy L. Stone have delineated and employed: an ethic of care across the journal, humane reviewing, and organized editorial practices.
Plante will work to ensure the journal is inclusive and intersectional, enabling scholars from multiple perspectives and locations to find a home for their work. Sexualities research encompasses a range of topics, from critical heterosexualities to asexualities to pleasure to sexual behaviors, feelings, and fantasies to disabilities to non-binary, trans, lesbian, bisexual, queer, gay, and multisexual sexualities. Plante aims to continue collaborating and making space for a wide and diverse range of sexualities scholars.
RF Plante will serve as co-editor with Anima Adjepong for the remainder of the current editorial term ending on December 31, 2027.