Arlene Stein is an American sociologist and author best known for her writing about sex and gender, the politics of identities, and collective memory.
Her 1997 Sex and Sensibility[4] traces accounts by women engaged in feminist and gay/lesbian movements noting challenges to the culturally dominant medical definitions of lesbianism.
The Stranger Next Door[6] focuses on a town in the United States Pacific Northwest that passed a ballot initiative designed to outlaw gay/lesbian rights.
Stein received the American Anthropological Association's Ruth Benedict Prize in 2001 for her second monograph, The Stranger Next Door: The Story of a Small Community’s Battle over Sex, Faith, and Civil Rights.
In 2006, Stein received the American Sociological Association Simon and Gagnon Lifetime Achievement Award for her career contribution to the study of sexualities.