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A review by librarianonparade
Intimate Matters: A History of Sexuality in America by John D'Emilio, Estelle B. Freedman
5.0
Despite getting quite a number of raised eyebrows when people caught sight of me reading this, it's not at all prurient or salacious. It's actually rather fascinating, despite the fact that the title really ought to be (A Mostly Heterosexual) History of Sexuality in America. There is very little in here about asexuality, bisexuality, homosexuality, which are mostly mentioned only in passing or in opposition to the prevailing heterosexual norm. I can understand why, to a certain extent, as the overwhelming majorities of studies to this point have focused on heterosexuality, and the relatively recent rise of gay liberation and the GLBTQ movement has meant that attention is really only now beginning to focus on social studies of homosexuality.
This book charts the evolution of sexuality throughout America's history: from the colonial period, where sex was firmly rooted to reproduction within the context of marriage, men and women had clearly defined and very separates spheres of existence, and the community, church and government took a firm role in regulating people's behaviour; through the nineteenth century, when sex began to take on associations not just with reproduction, but with concepts such as spiritual union, romantic love, emotional satisfaction, and personal identity, still all within the context of marital union, however, and sex began to be commercialised through prostitution and the nacent pornography industry; to the twentieth century, when birth control meant that sex could almost be entirely detached from reproduction, the importance of sex to personal identity and happiness meant that it began to be divorced from the concept of marriage, and the growth of the economy led to the commercialisation of sex and the sexualisation of commerce.
What I found interesting is that the history of sexuality in America is very much a story of evolution and progress all the way up to the twenteith century, when the pendulum of liberalism and conservatism begins to swing back and forth, as one generation reacts to the excesses or prudishness of the other. The 20s were a more permissive era; the 40s and 50s swung back to early marriage, large families and social conservatism; the 1960s moved back to liberalism and social rights movements; the late 1970s and 80s heralded the rise of evangelicalism and conservatism, permeated with interludes of hysteria about homosexuality, AIDS, teen pregnancies and sex education.
Written as it was in the 80s, it would be interesting to see this book updated with a new edition bringing it up to date, as the current era seems to contain both liberalism and conservatism in one, and really highlights the dichotomies and divides that the issue of sexuality seems to generate in America.
This book charts the evolution of sexuality throughout America's history: from the colonial period, where sex was firmly rooted to reproduction within the context of marriage, men and women had clearly defined and very separates spheres of existence, and the community, church and government took a firm role in regulating people's behaviour; through the nineteenth century, when sex began to take on associations not just with reproduction, but with concepts such as spiritual union, romantic love, emotional satisfaction, and personal identity, still all within the context of marital union, however, and sex began to be commercialised through prostitution and the nacent pornography industry; to the twentieth century, when birth control meant that sex could almost be entirely detached from reproduction, the importance of sex to personal identity and happiness meant that it began to be divorced from the concept of marriage, and the growth of the economy led to the commercialisation of sex and the sexualisation of commerce.
What I found interesting is that the history of sexuality in America is very much a story of evolution and progress all the way up to the twenteith century, when the pendulum of liberalism and conservatism begins to swing back and forth, as one generation reacts to the excesses or prudishness of the other. The 20s were a more permissive era; the 40s and 50s swung back to early marriage, large families and social conservatism; the 1960s moved back to liberalism and social rights movements; the late 1970s and 80s heralded the rise of evangelicalism and conservatism, permeated with interludes of hysteria about homosexuality, AIDS, teen pregnancies and sex education.
Written as it was in the 80s, it would be interesting to see this book updated with a new edition bringing it up to date, as the current era seems to contain both liberalism and conservatism in one, and really highlights the dichotomies and divides that the issue of sexuality seems to generate in America.