Overview

From earliest times, sex has fascinated and repulsed society in equal measure. In an effort to untangle Western society's complex relationship with the realities of sex, this provocative volume explores the ways in which governments, religious leaders and cultures in Europe tried to regulate sex and sexuality throughout history. From the sacred texts of ancient Israel to the slums of 19th century Britain, this book explores political, legal and cultural controls on consensual sex and the individuals and movements that resisted them. Topics range from prostitution and homosexuality to marriage, contraception and abortion. While traditional narrative holds that Europe alternated between sexual freedom and oppression through the Victorian age, this work reveals that the real story of how sex was regulated--and how people defied regulation--is not so clear cut.

Full Product Details

Author:   Chad Denton
Publisher:   McFarland & Co Inc
Imprint:   McFarland & Co Inc
Dimensions:   Width: 17.80cm , Height: 1.50cm , Length: 25.40cm
Weight:   0.513kg
ISBN:  

9780786495047

ISBN 10:   0786495049
Pages:   292
Publication Date:   19 November 2014
Recommended Age:   From 18 years
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Tertiary & Higher Education ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Available To Order  
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Table of Contents

Table of Contents Acknowledgments deletexi Preface Introduction I. The Torah Sex and Purity Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 Female Sexuality and Its Male Victims II. Ancient Greece and the First Sexologists Old-Fashioned Greek Values Homer and Hesiod, Sappho and Achilles The Greeks Contemplate Pederasty Sex, Honor and Hybris III. The Decadent Past, from Alexander the Great to Antinuous Sex in the Hellenistic World When Romans Were Romans Fornication, Marriage and Scandal under the Republic Imperial Interventions Perverts and Prostitutes Celibacy and Sex for Pleasure Punishing Desire in the Afterlife IV. Rise of a New Order When East Meets West Sex and the New Testament The Church Fathers versus Sex Sex under the Late Roman Empire Escaping the World V. The War on Sin Justinian I and the End of Antiquity Sex under Irish and Welsh Law Sex under Germanic Law Choosing Holiness Imposing Holiness The Islamic Alternative VI. Medieval Rigidness Triumph of the Church The Theology of Sex Jews in a Christian World On the Frontier: Scandinavia and Slavic Europe Sex and (Imagined) Love Civilization’s Sewer Invasion of the Sodomites Sinners Defiant Savonarola’s Florence VII. The Sensual Empire: Turkey, 1453–1800 Sharia Law, Civil Law and Sex Beardless Youths In the Harem The War on Prostitution VIII. Reforming and Reaffirming The Reformers versus Sex Sex in Protestant Europe Heaven on Earth: Calvin’s Geneva and Cromwell’s England Sex in Catholic and Orthodox Europe The Radicals of the Reformation The Erotic Side of the Printing Press Deporting Morals Rationalizing Sex IX. Enlightened Bedrooms, 1700–1814 The Philosophes Debate Sex The Age of Decadence The Age of Reform Tribads and Mollys The Pornographic Underground Sex under the First Republic and Napoleon X. A Brave New World A Bourgeois Mentality Imposing Decency Invasion of the Inverts Indecency for Mass Consumption The Science of Sex Radicals versus (or for) Sex Epilogue: The Thaw Chapter Notes Bibliography Index

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Chad Denton lives in Lynchburg, Virginia.

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