Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Pages: 254
•
Trim: 6⅜ x 9¼
978-1-4422-2040-9 • Hardback • February 2013 • $63.00 • (£48.00)
978-1-4422-2041-6 • eBook • February 2013 • $59.50 • (£46.00)
Lawrence R. Samuel is the founder of Culture Planning LLC, a Miami- and New York-based resource offering cultural insights to Fortune 500 companies and their ad agencies. He is the author of a number of books, including Freud on Madison Avenue: Motivation Research and Subliminal Advertising in America, The American Dream: A Cultural History, and Shrink: A Cultural History of Psychoanalysis in America.
Introduction
1: Pillow Talk
2: Easy Rider
3: Carnal Knowledge
4: Fatal Attraction
5: Indecent Exposure
6: Ice Age
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index
Samuel (founder, Culture Planning LLC, a resource offering cultural insights to Fortune 500 companies) writes what is described as the “first real cultural history of the sexuality in the United States since the end of World War II.” As promised, the history begins in the 1940s, quickly moving forward to include such important icons in American sex history as Dr. Alfred Kinsey, Hugh Hefner, and William H. Masters and Virginia E. Johnson. From there, Samuel chronologically documents American sexual behavior into the first decade of 21st century. Along the way topics discussed include sex education, sex in popular media, changing sexual behaviors, pornography, the AIDS crisis, sex therapy, homosexuality, and sex in politics, capturing the shifting sexual attitudes of America....VERDICTSamuel’s sex history is for the most part from popular media sources....It is recommended to readers who are new to the subject and looking for a summary of significant events surrounding American sexuality since World War II.
— Library Journal
In the “first real cultural history of sexuality in the United States since the end of World War II,” Samuel (The American Dream: A Cultural History) provides a thoughtful overview and analysis of the complicated attitude and approach Americans have taken towards sex over the past six decades. From The Joy of Sex to Fifty Shades of Grey, Playboy to the Internet, swingers to abstinence clubs, he covers the pendulum of acceptance and repression, and includes discussion of how experts like Kinsey, Masters and Johnson, and Dr. Ruth have influenced the field. While Samuel leans towards a dry, just-the-facts approach as gleaned from magazines, newspapers, and pop culture, he keeps the ball rolling through the years, providing numerous leaping off points for further study. The result is a provocative look at how America’s Puritan heritage continues to inform cultural attitudes, leading to an uncomfortable, even unhealthy relationship with sex. Samuel claims that “the problems associated with sex have outweighed the pleasures it has offered,” and he may be right, given a half century’s evidence.
— Publishers Weekly
In this intriguing exploration of Americans' love/hate relationship with sex, Lawrence Samuel considers why, after decades of obsession and revolution, we remain sexually anxious and distressed. A lively read on a subject that interests everyone.
— Elaine Tyler May, author of America and the Pill: A History of Promise, Peril and Liberation
Sexidemic offers a whirlwind tour of the complex and often-fraught relationship between Americans and sex during the past half-century. The story, which takes us from the Kinsey Report to Queer as Folk, is revealing and raises a number of provocative and important questions.
— Simon Hall