Customer Reviews

The Century of Sex: Playboy's History of the Sexual Revolution, 1900-1999

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I find it incredibly entertaining that the reviewers voted "most helpful" were the ones who pooh-poohed this book as completely biased, anti-feminist, and generally useless. These are, no doubt, the very same people who never think to question governments, laws, or religious bodies.

I found the book a fascinating read, showing the constant tug-of-war between those who would force their morality on others(resulting in the Comstock Act, Mann Act, etc.) and those who believed in personal freedom of choice. The things televangelists are ranting about today as sure signs of the decline of our society - abortion, pornography, sex education - are... SURPRISE! the same things our nation has teetered back and forth on since the very beginning of the twentieth century.

Sure, there may be some bias, but the book's recounting of past injustices committed in the name of morality is eye-opening.

For example, Comstock created the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice and spearheaded the Comstock law, making it illegal to send "obscene material" through the mail. He built up quite the collection to show off to visiting senators, and was quite skilled at running roughshod over the judicial system. He dragged Ira Craddock to court for writing a manual to enhance the sex life of married couples and told the judge that it was "so obscene" the jury should not even be traumatized by looking at it. They convicted Craddock without judge or jury actually looking at the document in question. She committed suicide as a result. The Mann act (making it illegal to transport someone across state lines for licentuous purposes) was randomly enforced to imprison people those in power didn't like, such as a black boxer with a white girlfriend. Billy Graham's 1980's declaration that AIDS research should be banned, lest man interfere with the carrying out of God's justice, and other such absurdities are also covered. While later chapters perhaps overemphasize Playboy's influence a bit, in general the author did a great job of presenting the overall picture.

The book paints a rich picture of the underlying social climate throughout the century, putting America's periodical fits of Puritanism into perspective. Well worth the price of admission.

One could argue this book is biased, and hell, it's published in cooperation with Playboy, so that's telling in itself. But it is an interesting read, covering each decade of the 20th century, pointing out trends and controversies and boundaries, whether broken or renewed. Birth control, porn films, swinger lifestyles, AIDS, homophobia, sexual provocateurs and repressive trends are all covered and more. I found it to be very interesting and informative, and the book definitely got me thinking and I was happy to come away from the read feeling I've really learned something. For such potentially shocking material that the book covers, it never approaches the subject matter in a prurient or lecherous way. More of a sociological/historical approach to sex.

While not a picture-book, something to just be flipped through on the coffee table, it is a sharp, fun, detailed look at sex this century in the United States, and as such, it encompasses much more than the bedroom. One theme is Puritanism. The similarity between censorship battles in the Post Office nearly 100 years ago and over the Internet now can't be missed. We also see the connection between our sexuality and other joys and fears of the times -- the ups of the 20s, the downs of the 30s, etc. The other theme is the development of women's rights. Heroines such as Margaret Sanger are presented, and we see that so many of the changes in sex have been reflections of the changes in women's status, and reactions to those changes. Petersen's book is a great lens through which to view America in the 20th century. It's a rare combination: a serious handling of an important topic that is at the same time fun, interesting and accessible.

True, a admire anyone who is a revolutionary speaking as one, and therefore highly recommend this book. Has many interesting pictures, and provides a stimulating picture after returning from a hard days work. I recommend to anyone who likes photograhpy.

Five Stars...This is an excellent history of sex in America in the 20th century. It has a substantial review of censorship and its opposition through the century. The importance of sex researchers and sex philosophers is well documented. The influence of war, movies and stars on sexual change are enthralling. A fine addition to our library of sexual reference

But this is clearly beyond the editor's comprehension. In essence, his argument states that Playboy was the sole proprietor of twentieth century sexual revolution and everybody else (especially feminists) were working against the empire that was Playboy. Not only does this create a very paranoid persona, but it also makes for shoddy book writing. Therein lies the chief problem with this self-appointed text of cultural history.

Despite the generalized title of the book, it is nothing more than an advertisement for the magagzine and a disappearing way of life. According to the author, the corporation is in decline because feminists imposed their agenda on society and worked to eliminate a market for beautiful and nubile young women. He argues that society would still be great if we could return to those carefree days of yonder.

The advent of AIDS as well as expanded opportunities for young women mean that the aspiration to be a Playboy Bunny has lessened in the last 30 years. Again, the author is so wrapped up in recreating these lost days that he does not give criticial analysis to anything that would suggest Playboy's wane is a complex set of circumstances. This is dangerously immature in the field of history. While most of the country has evolved to some degree of respect for the women's movement (which explains why Phyllis Schafley is less visible) he persists in blaming women for much of what they did not start. It says a lot about this amature "pop historian" that he simplifies the protests and concerns of women's rights activists down to internalized jealuosy because they never did look as good as the bunnies. Perhaps his book would have been better if he had attempted to see what his opposition was at least attempting to say.

Indivduals interested in a more objective but shorter account of the Playboy life ought to read or view Gloria Steinem's "A Bunny's Tale" or even the MTV history of sex and rock and roll would be better than this thinly veiled advertisement for the Playboy corporation.

The book, "Century of Sex" awards Hugh Hefner, as founder and publisher of the first magazine which made voyeurism respectable and accepted behavior by middle class men, central billing for the sexual revolution. The book also argues-- unconvincingly-- that, were it not for the "liberating" impact of Hefner's glossy mag on America's puritanical and uptight attitude about sex, we would still be immaturely tittering about... well, SEX.

Of course, as we all know, Americans as a whole continue to be conflicted about sexuality in private and public life. Furthermore, there are many who argue that "Playboy," for all of its purported freeing of society's sexual hang-ups, contributed to, nay, caused, our ambivalent and guilty view of sex as merely another commodity in our commodified society.

The book starts off well enough in a sort of breezy, "isn't this fun" manner. But it ultimately gets bogged down by its own bias. The author, for many years a writer for Playboy, is blatantly anti-feminist (and anti-historical). The book never pretends to be anything but a "lay" person's view of changing attitudes towards sexuality. But as the years advance to the 60s and 70s the constant denigration of the women's movement as uptight and destructive to men and sexual emancipation becomes intrusive--and is patently unfair. The author is loyal in his deification of Mr. Hefner and his (now-waning) empire of eternally youthful, bodacious babes. Unfortunately, however, the book tells us little about real attitudes of real people about sex over the course of the last century.

I think that it is an essential book for those who admire the finer things in life such as fast cars and beautiful women. Granted this I give this book two thumbs up, and recommend it to those who are into and value all human beauty.

What do you expect from a book published by Playboy that has a title as promising as this? What I expected was what the magazine has to offer in abundance: lots of pictures and illustrations, accompanied by an illuminating text. What I got instead was reams and reams of text and just a few pictures in a section in the middle. This is not to say that this is a bad book. But with the whole of the history of sex to play with, I expected something a lot more exiting from Playboy. Which is why this book is really a disappointment.