A historical account of masturbation as a moral issue and cultural taboo.
At a time when almost any victimless sexual practice has its public advocates and almost every sexual act is fit for the front page, the easiest, least harmful, and most universal one is embarrassing, discomforting, and genuinely radical when openly acknowledged. Masturbation may be the last taboo. But this is not a holdover from a more benighted age. The ancient world cared little about the subject; it was a backwater of Jewish and Christian teaching about sexuality. In fact, solitary sex as a serious moral issue can be dated with a precision rare in cultural history; Laqueur identifies it with the publication of the anonymous tract Onania in about 1722. Masturbation is a creation of the Enlightenment, of some of its most important figures, and of the most profound changes it unleashed. It is modern. It worried at first not conservatives, but progressives. It was the first truly democratic sexuality that could be of ethical interest for women as much as for men, for boys and girls as much as for their elders.
The book's range is vast. It begins with the prehistory of solitary sex in the Bible and ends with third-wave feminism, conceptual artists, and the Web. It explains how and why this humble and once obscure means of sexual gratification became the evil twin―or the perfect instance―of the great virtues of modern humanity and commercial society: individual moral autonomy and privacy, creativity and the imagination, abundance and desire.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Shipping:
FREE
Within U.S.A.
Book Description Paperback or Softback. Condition: New. Solitary Sex: A Cultural History of Masturbation 1.7. Book. Seller Inventory # BBS-9781890951337
Book Description Condition: New. Brand New! Not Overstocks or Low Quality Book Club Editions! Direct From the Publisher! We're not a giant, faceless warehouse organization! We're a small town bookstore that loves books and loves it's customers! Buy from Lakeside Books!. Seller Inventory # OTF-S-9781890951337
Book Description Soft Cover. Condition: new. Seller Inventory # 9781890951337
Book Description Condition: New. Brand New. Seller Inventory # 1890951331
Book Description Paperback. Condition: New. Brand New!. Seller Inventory # 1890951331
Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. New. Fast Shipping and good customer service. Seller Inventory # Holz_New_1890951331
Book Description Condition: New. Seller Inventory # I-9781890951337
Book Description Paperback. Condition: New. First Paperback Edition. Seller Inventory # DADAX1890951331
Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. New Copy. Customer Service Guaranteed. Seller Inventory # think1890951331
Book Description Condition: New. Book is in NEW condition. Seller Inventory # 1890951331-2-1