Intimate Matters

by D'Emilio, John

• ISBN13: 9780226142647
• ISBN10: 0226142647
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1998-02-28
• Publisher: Univ of Chicago Pr

Summary

The first full length study of the history of sexuality in America,Intimate Mattersoffers trenchant insights into the sexual behavior of Americans, from colonial times to today. D'Emilio and Freedman give us a deeper understanding of how sexuality has dramatically influenced politics and culture throughout our history."The book John D'Emilio co-wrote with Estelle B. Freedman,Intimate Matters, was cited by Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy when, writing for a majority of court on July 26, he and his colleagues struck down a Texas law criminalizing sodomy. The decision was widely hailed as a victory for gay rightsand it derived in part, according to Kennedy's written comments, from the information he gleaned from D'Emilio's book, which traces the history of American perspectives on sexual relationships from the nation's founding through the present day. The justice mentionedIntimate Mattersspecifically in the court's decision."Julia Keller,Chicago Tribune"Fascinating. . . . [D'Emilio and Freedman] marshall their material to chart a gradual but decisive shift in the way Americans have understood sex and its meaning in their lives." Barbara Ehrenreich,New York Times Book Review"[With] comprehensiveness and care . . . D'Emilio and Freedman have surveyed the sexual patters for an entire nation across four centuries." Martin Bauml Duberman,Nation"Intimate Mattersis comprehensive, meticulous and intelligent." Jonathan Yardley,Washington Post Book World"This book is remarkable. . . . [Intimate Matters] is bound to become the definitive survey of American sexual history for years to come." Roy Porter,Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences

Table of Contents

Preface to the Second Edition	iv	(5)
Acknowledgments	ix	(2)
Introduction	xi
Part I. THE REPRODUCTIVE MATRIX, 1600-1800	3	(52)
1. Cultural Diversity in the Era of Settlement	3	(12)
2. Family Life and the Regulation of Deviance	15	(24)
3. Seeds of Change	39	(16)
Part II. DIVIDED PASSIONS, 1780-1900	55	(116)
4. Within the Family	55	(30)
5. Race and Sexuality	85	(24)
6. Outside the Family	109	(30)
7. Sexual Politics	139	(32)
Part III. TOWARD A NEW SEXUAL ORDER, 1880-1930	171	(68)
8. "Civilized Morality" Under Stress	171	(31)
9. Crusades for Sexual Order	202	(20)
10. Breaking with the Past	222	(17)
Part IV: THE RISE AND FALL OF SEXUAL LIBERALISM, 1920 TO THE PRESENT	239	(122)
11. Beyond Reproduction	239	(36)
12. Redrawing the Boundaries	275	(26)
13. Sexual Revolutions	301	(25)
14. The Sexualized Society	326	(18)
15. The Contemporary Political Crisis	344	(17)
Afterword	361	(18)
Notes	379	(40)
Selected Bibliography	419	(14)
Index	433