Hard Bargains: The Politics of Sex - Hardcover

Hirshman, Linda; Larson, Jane

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0195096649 ISBN 13: 9780195096644

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1998

Synopsis

Men and women have always bargained for sex. In Hard Bargains, philosopher-lawyer Linda Hirshman and legal historian Jane Larson provide the first complete analysis ofpower in heterosexual relationships, combining an eye-opening legal history of sexual regulation with thought-provoking predictions of what the future might bring.
Hirshman and Larson tell a riveting tale that spans the centuries--from early accounts of adulterers hanging from the gibbet, to the impact of the Kinsey Reports and Hugh Hefner's playboy philosophy, to the Swinging Sixties judge who argued in favor of sex with eleven year-olds. The book examines the factors that have shaped our notions of sex, from Catholic teaching to the theories of Sigmund Freud, and it explores the Supreme Court decisions of the last few decades that revolutionized the politics of sex. And Hard Bargains not only provides a deep understanding of historical and current disputes, it also offers striking predictions of what sexual bargaining will look like in the future--rape laws replaced by laws of sexual autonomy, adultery subjected to breach of contract action, fornicators responsible for each other's rent, prostitution considered an unfair labor practice. These are a few of the surprising--and surprisingly workable--solutions the authors foresee in the 21st century.
Hard Bargains takes a forthright and level-headed look at all aspects of one of the biggest controversies in contemporary American society--heterosexual sex--and delivers a radically new perspective on the sexual lives of women and men.

About this title

Review:

For coauthors Linda Hirshman and Jane Larson, sex is a matter of political negotiation. Focusing on heterosexual practice in four specific forms--rape, fornication, adultery, and prostitution--they trace the history and law of sexual regulation in the West from the ancients to the present day. In the final section, they lay out their "prescription for a new sexual order," proposing "that the touchstone for political legitimacy requires the recognition that women are political players, that adult heterosexuality is a political relationship, and that the goal of sexual politics is neither to be the handmaid of an antique morality nor the umpire in a free-for-all between unequal players."

This is a wide-ranging, dense, and well-written book, blending political theory, historical detail, cultural critique, and sexology in discussing how our notions of sex have been formed and why we should acknowledge sex as thoroughly political--not just in the public realm, but in each individual sexual encounter. Hard Bargains provides an erudite and involving exploration of the classic feminist political adage: the personal is political. --Julia Riches

About the Author:

Linda Hirshman is Allen Berenson Distinguished visiting Professor at Brandeis University. She lives in Cave Creek, Arizona, and Falmouth, Massachusetts. Jane Larson is Professor of Law at the University of Wisconsin Law School. She lives in Madison, Wisconsin.

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0195096649
• ISBN 13: 9780195096644
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320