Modern Sex and How to Manage It by Hannah Witton
Modern Sex and How to Manage It: Sex
Manuals and the Creation of Sexual
Knowledge, 18701914
by Hannah Witton
1
Contents
Introduction: The History of the History of Sexuality
3
1. Scientia Sexualis Vs Ars Erotic: Knowing Ignorance in the Late Nineteenth Century 9 2. Creating Sexual Knowledge
18
3. Dispersing Sexual Knowledge
29
Epilogue: Sex War and War Sex 40 Bibliography
44
2
Introduction: The History of the History of Sexuality
History has witnessed many changing definitions of sexuality; we still debate whether sexuality is biologically, culturally, linguistically or historically constructed. Sex is an assumed universal experience; sexual desires being innate in human beings and the physicality of sex being a constant. Although this notion may appeal to our common senses, it is naïve to believe that the
Ancient Greeks experienced sex similarly to the Victorians. Cook argues, ‘enjoyment of sexual intercourse was… often a learned experience’, not instinctive in human nature.1 Indeed, it is those theorists who have revolutionised our understanding of sexuality who have done most to undermine the idea of human nature. This dissertation will explore the creation of sexual knowledge between 1870 and 1914 in relation to the emergence and early development of sexology, the scientific study of sex. It will look at how, if at all, sexology shaped sexual experience: knowledge, attitude, identity and behaviour, while acknowledging that it is a challenging task to recover sexual behaviours from the past. A lot of emphasis is placed on sexology for its contribution to the study of sex; however, it was a marginalised field that did not receive large amounts of attention until the interwar period. The ideas of the early sexologists were diffused into political,
Manuals and the Creation of Sexual
Knowledge, 18701914
by Hannah Witton
1
Contents
Introduction: The History of the History of Sexuality
3
1. Scientia Sexualis Vs Ars Erotic: Knowing Ignorance in the Late Nineteenth Century 9 2. Creating Sexual Knowledge
18
3. Dispersing Sexual Knowledge
29
Epilogue: Sex War and War Sex 40 Bibliography
44
2
Introduction: The History of the History of Sexuality
History has witnessed many changing definitions of sexuality; we still debate whether sexuality is biologically, culturally, linguistically or historically constructed. Sex is an assumed universal experience; sexual desires being innate in human beings and the physicality of sex being a constant. Although this notion may appeal to our common senses, it is naïve to believe that the
Ancient Greeks experienced sex similarly to the Victorians. Cook argues, ‘enjoyment of sexual intercourse was… often a learned experience’, not instinctive in human nature.1 Indeed, it is those theorists who have revolutionised our understanding of sexuality who have done most to undermine the idea of human nature. This dissertation will explore the creation of sexual knowledge between 1870 and 1914 in relation to the emergence and early development of sexology, the scientific study of sex. It will look at how, if at all, sexology shaped sexual experience: knowledge, attitude, identity and behaviour, while acknowledging that it is a challenging task to recover sexual behaviours from the past. A lot of emphasis is placed on sexology for its contribution to the study of sex; however, it was a marginalised field that did not receive large amounts of attention until the interwar period. The ideas of the early sexologists were diffused into political,
Bibliography: Shastra Society (1883) (London, 1911, rd 3 edn., first 1896) On the Origin of Species (London, 1859) (New York, 1896, 2 edn., first 1871) (London, 1894) (Philadelphia, 1910, 3 edn., first 1899) (Philadelphia, 1901, 2 edn., first (Philadelphia, 1913, 2 edn., first 1903) Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Vol. IV: Sexual Selection in Man (Philadelphia, 1905) (Philadelphia, 1906) (Philadelphia, 1910) (Boston, 1912) (London, 1903) (London, 1913) (London, 1900) (London, 1798) 44 Married Love or Love in Marriage (New York, 1918)