Overview
How much sex should a person have? With whom? What do we make of people who choose not to have sex at all? As present as these questions are today, they were subjects of intense debate in the early American republic. In this richly textured history, Kara French investigates ideas about, and practices of, sexual restraint to better understand the sexual dimensions of American identity in the antebellum United States. French considers three groups of Americans-Shakers, Catholic priests and nuns, and followers of sexual reformer Sylvester Graham-whose sexual abstinence provoked almost as much social, moral, and political concern as the idea of sexual excess. Examining private diaries and letters, visual culture and material artifacts, and a range of published works, French reveals how people practicing sexual restraint became objects of fascination, ridicule, and even violence in nineteenth-century American culture. Against Sex makes clear that in assessing the history of sexuality, an expansive view of sexual practice that includes abstinence and restraint can shed important new light on histories of society, culture, and politics.
Full Product Details
Author: Kara French
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
Imprint: The University of North Carolina Press
Dimensions:
Width: 20.00cm
, Height: 1.50cm
, Length: 23.30cm
Weight: 0.355kg
ISBN: 9781469662145
ISBN 10: 1469662140
Pages: 232
Publication Date: 30 June 2021
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Professional & Vocational
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: In Print
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Reviews
A well-researched and generally well-argued book that brings needed nuance to discussions of sexuality in new religious movements of the antebellum period. --Nova Religio
A well-researched and generally well-argued book that brings needed nuance to discussions of sexuality in new religious movements of the antebellum period. --Nova Religio An excellently researched study that sheds new light on aspects of early American views of sexuality and gender. . . . French's work raises a mirror to those who did not engage in sexual restraint in the early republic, and what it reveals is fascinating. --H-Early-America
An excellently researched study that sheds new light on aspects of early American views of sexuality and gender. . . . French's work raises a mirror to those who did not engage in sexual restraint in the early republic, and what it reveals is fascinating. --H-Early-America A well-researched and generally well-argued book that brings needed nuance to discussions of sexuality in new religious movements of the antebellum period. --Nova Religio
Author Information
Kara French is associate professor of history at Salisbury University.
