A Cultural History Of Sex

A Cultural History of Sexuality

Berg Publishers (now Bloomsbury) contacted me some years ago and asked if I would like to oversee a rather massive project on editing the Sexual History of the World. Never one to be easily fazed, and having contact with some of the best scholars in the field of the history of sexuality, I agreed to take it on. The editors of each individual volumes added their own introductions and I second edited it all (the whole 6 volumes). I also edited my individual volume on the Enlightenment (Vol.IV). I had the pleasure of working with over 40 scholars in order to pull the project together and I reckon we did a good job. It was one of the first attempts to produce History of the Sexual World from Classical times to our Modern Era.
A Cultural History of Sexuality  presents an overview of the period with essays on
 heterosexuality, homosexuality, sexual variations, religious and legal issues, health concerns, 
popular beliefs about sexuality, prostitution and erotica.
A Cultural History of Sexuality in the Classical World
Though many of the sexual practices of the Ancient Greeks and Romans are known and accepted today, the meanings the Ancients associated with these acts were often utterly different from our own. Both idea and practice also varied within antiquity, shaped by locale, history, social class, age, legal status, and gender. Focusing on the cultures of the Mediterranean from 800 BCE to 350 CE, A Cultural History of Sexuality in the Classical World covers sexual practices, feelings, and ideas from the time of Homer to the transformation of the Roman Empire.

1 Introduction by Mark Golden, University of Winnipeg, Canada, and Peter Toohey, University of Calgary, Canada.

2 Heterosexuality by Susan Lape, University of Southern California, USA

3 Homosexuality by Daniel Ogden, University of Exeter, UK

4 Sexual Variations: Sexual Peculiarities of the Ancient Greeks and Romans
by John Younger, University of Kansas, USA

5 Sex, Religion, and the Law byEsther Eidinow, Newman University College, Birmingham, UK

6 Sex, Medicine, and Disease byHelen King, University of Reading, UK

7 Sex, Popular Beliefs, and Culture by Holt Parker, University of Cincinnati, USA

8 Prostitution byAllison Glazebrook, Brock University, Canada

9 Erotica: Visual Representation of Greek and Roman Sexual Culture by
John R. Clarke, University of Texas, USA
 A Cultural History of Sexuality in the Middle Ages
 Historians of sexuality have often assumed that medieval people were less interested in sex than we are. But people in the Middle Ages wrote a great deal about sex: in confessors' manuals, in virginity treatises, and in literary texts. This volume looks afresh at the cultural meanings that sex had throughout the period, presenting new evidence and offering new interpretations of known material. Acknowledging that many of the categories that we use today to talk about sexuality are inadequate for understanding sex in premodern times, the volume draws on important recent work in the historiography of medieval sexuality to address the conceptual and methodological challenges the period presents.

1 Introduction: What Was Sexuality in the Middle Ages? by Ruth Evans, St Louis University, USA

2 Heterosexuality by Karma Lochrie, Indiana University, USA

3 Homosexuality: Specters of Sodom by Robert Mills, King's College London, UK

4 Sexual Variations by Cory James Rushton, St Francis Xavier University, Canada

5 Sex, Religion, and the Law by Irina Metzler, University of Swansea, UK

6 Sex, Medicine, and Disease by Jacqueline A. Tasioulas, University of Cambridge

7 Sex, Popular Beliefs, and Culture by Malcolm Jones, Independent Scholar, UK

8 Prostitution: The Moral Economy of Medieval Prostitution by Kevin Mummey, University of Minnesota, USA

9 Erotica by Sarah Salih, King's College London, UK


A Cultural History of Sexuality in the Renaissance
Europe saw such revolutionary cultural change between 1450 and 1650 that those who witnessed the transformations conceived of the period as a time of rebirth. Ideas and practices around sexuality were transformed as much as any other aspect of society. Religious change, the growth of empires, educational development, social mobility, the theater and the printing press, and medical advances all radically reshaped sexuality in the West. Focusing on texts, images, and social practices, this volume examines the changing attitudes to sexuality during the Renaissance and the strategies used both to enforce and subvert public assumptions and standards.

1 Introduction: The Look and Sound of Sexuality in the Renaissance by Bette Talvacchia, University of Connecticut, USA

2 Heterosexuality: A Beast with Many Backs by Ann Rosalind Jones, Smith College, USA

3 Homosexuality: Homosociabilities in Renaissance Nuremberg by Helmut Puff, University of Michigan, USA

4 Sexual Variations: Playing with, Dissimilitude by Fredrika Jacobs, Virginia Commonwealth University, USA

5 Sex, Religion, and the Law: Disciplining Desire by N. S. Davidson, University of Oxford, UK

6 Sex, Medicine, and Disease: Welcoming Wombs and Vernacular Anatomies by Cynthia Klestinec, Miami University, USA

7 Sex, Popular Beliefs, and Culture: "In the Waie of Lecherie" by Walter Stephens, Johns Hopkins University, USA

8 Prostitution: Looking for Love by Guido Ruggiero, Miami University, USA

9 Erotica: The Sexualized Body in Renaissance Art by Bette Talvacchia, University of Connecticut, USA



A Cultural History of Sexuality in the Enlightenment
In the period between 1650 and 1820 new worlds of sex opened up. This was a pivotal time when old religious beliefs and medical theories about sexuality and the body clashed with innovatory ideas emerging from natural science and philosophy. In addition, a burgeoning print industry fed a rapidly expanding reading public with erotica. With the breakdown of old community networks and increased urbanization, authorities reacted to increased sexual license with a raft of new regulations designed to curtail variations in sexual behaviour.

1 Introduction by Julie Peakman, Birkbeck College, University of London, UK

2 Heterosexuality: Europe and North America by Anna Clark, University of Minnesota, USA

3 Homosexuality by Rictor Norton, Independent Scholar, UK

4 Sexual Variations by Marianna Muravyeva, University of Helsinki, Finland

5 Sex, Religion and the Law by Merril D. Smith, Independent Scholar, USA

6 Sex, Medicine and Disease by George Rousseau, University of Oxford, UK

7 Sex, Popular Beliefs and Culture by Heike Bauer, Birkbeck Institute of Gender and Sexuality, UK

8 Prostitution by Randolph Trumbach, City University of New York, USA

9 Erotica: Representing Sex in the Eighteenth Century byKatherine Crawford, Vanderbilt University, USA



A Cultural History of Sexuality in the Age of Empire
The 19th century saw intense urbanization, the development of a consumer culture, the formalization of gender roles, the solidification of class structures, and various encounters with the exotic customs of the colonies – all of which contributed to enhance sexual anxiety among the middle classes. In response, new social conventions, sanitary prescriptions, practices of self-control, and policies of sex regulation and education were developed as a means to control disorderly sexual behavior. At the same time, though an ideology based on sexual respectability was largely promoted throughout society, significant individuals and subcultures often challenged both the principle and the practice of such morality.

1 Introduction: The Cultural History of Sexuality in the Nineteenth Century by Chiara Beccalossi (University of Queensland, Australia) and Ivan Crozier (University of Edinburgh, UK)

2 Heterosexuality: An Unfettered Capacity for Degeneracy by Chad Parkhill and Elizabeth Stephens (both University of Queensland, AUSTRALIA)

3 Homosexuality: European and Colonial Encounters by Sean Brady (Birkbeck College, London, UK)

4 Sexual Variations by Lisa Downing (University of Exeter, UK)

5 Sex, Religion, and the Law: The Regulation of Sexual Behaviors, 1820-1920 by Louise A. Jackson (University of Edinburgh, UK)

6 Sex, Medicine and Disease: From Reproduction to Sexuality by Chiara Beccalossi (University of Queensland, AUSTRALIA)

7 Sex, Popular Beliefs and Culture: Discourses on the Sexual Child by Gail Hawkes (University of New England, Australia) and R. Danielle Egan (St Lawrence University in Canton, USA)

8 Prostitution: The Age of Empires by Raelene Frances (Monash University, AUSTRALIA)

9 Erotica: Sexual Imagery, Empires, and Colonies by Ruth Ford (La Trobe University, AUSTRALIA)



A Cultural History of Sexuality in the Modern Age
Sexual cultures have changed enormously in the 20th century. We have greater sexual equality than ever before and homosexuality has shifted from being a crime, a sin, and a disease to an acknowledged and sometimes legally sanctioned variation. However, many sexual practices remain controversial, even demonized. The sexual revolution, psychoanalysis, changes in the law, medical advances, and the explosion of sexual imagery in the media have all contributed to a liberalization of sex. At the same time, Western cultures continue to think about sexuality as a desire shaped by nature, as of greater interest to men than women, as private, and as shaped by love.

1 Introduction by Gert Hekma, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

2 Heterosexuality by Francis Ronsin, University of Bourgogne, France

3 Homosexuality by Florence Tamagne, University of Lille, France

4 Sexual Variations by Gert Hekma, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

5 Sex, Religion, and the Law by Daniela Danna, Universita degli studi, Italy

6 Sex, Medicine, and Disease by Alain Giami, French National Institute of Health and Medical Research, France

7 Sex, Popular Beliefs, and Culture by Franz X. Eder, University of Vienna, Austria

8 Prostitution by Marie-Louise Janssen, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

9 Erotica by Kelly Dennis, University of Connecticut, USA


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