Sex and Punishment: Four Thousand Years of Judging Desire [Hardcover]

Eric Berkowitz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 8, 2012

The “raging frenzy” of the sex drive, to use Plato’s phrase, has always defied control. However, that’s not to say that the Sumerians, Victorians, and every civilization in between and beyond have not tried, wielding their most formidable weapon: the law. At any given point in time, some forms of sex were condoned while others were punished mercilessly. Jump forward or backward a century or two (and often far less than that), and the harmless fun of one time period becomes the gravest crime in another. Judging Desire tells the story of the struggle throughout the millennia to regulate the most powerful engine of human behavior.

Writer and lawyer Eric Berkowitz uses flesh-and-blood cases—much flesh and even more blood—to evoke the entire sweep of Western sex law, from the savage impalement of an Ancient Mesopotamian adulteress to the imprisonment of Oscar Wilde in 1895 for “gross indecency.” The cast of Judging Desire is as varied as the forms taken by human desire itself: royal mistresses, gay charioteers, medieval transvestites, lonely goat-lovers, prostitutes of all stripes, London rent boys. Each of them had forbidden sex, and each was judged—and justice, as Berkowitz shows, rarely had much to do with it.
With the light touch of a natural storyteller, Berkowitz spins these tales and more, going behind closed doors to reveal the essential history of human desire.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for Sex and Punishment

"Enormously informative and entertaining…There may be no better lens through which to understand how a particular culture sees itself than its laws pertaining to sex [and] Berkowitz has a keen eye for ridiculous laws and a historian's grasp of the meaning behind them… [The book] cries out for a sequel."—Boston Globe

"[An] extraordinary book… I don't think I've ever read such an entertaining historical work. It has the wisdom granted by perspective, without the condescension of someone who thinks we're wiser than our ancestors. Whether you want to fuel your indignation, or simply furnish yourself with enough jaw-dropping data to galvanize a hundred party conversations, you really must shell out for this book. It's worth every penny."—The Guardian

"Sex and Punishment is an illuminating and deftly told account of the two urges that have done so much to define civilization: humanity’s appetite for sex and its concern to regulate the consequences. As Eric Berkowitz shows, both impulses have been in flux for centuries, and his colorful history serves as a timely reminder of just how arbitrary—and ludicrous—the moral certainties of one era can appear to the next." —Sadakat Kadri, author of The Trial: A History, from Socrates to O. J. Simpson

"Very interesting, very enlightening, very well written, and very timely; Sex and Punishment performs an important service in narrating the pre-twentieth-century history of sexual mores and regulation to a nonspecialist audience." —Richard Posner, Judge, Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and Professor at the University of Chicago Law School

“Berkowitz describes the real stories of medieval cross-dressers, London's rent boys, gay charioteers, and a whole lot of people who were judged for their forbidden sex. The book makes for an excellent, fascinating, and provocative read about carnal desire and what lengths humankind will go to fulfill and control it.” —The Advocate

"It's rare that a book so well researched and provocative is also so downright entertaining. Sex and Punishment will have you gripped and fascinated (and sometimes laughing out loud) at how legal systems over the millennia have attempted to regulate mankind's unruly carnal desires. The chapter on ancient Mesopotamia alone is worth the price of the book." —Tony Perrottet, author of Napoleon's Privates and The Sinner's Grand Tour

"In Sex and Punishment, Eric Berkowitz leads us through the inventive and ultimately futile ways that mankind has tried to tame its most troublesome pleasure. His compehensive tour is sometimes funny, more often scary but always entertaining." --A. J. Langguth, author of Patriots: The Men Who Started the American Revolution

"There may be no question more vexing than 'What is normal human behavior?' and no facet of 'normality' more arbitrarily defined—and viciously policed—than sexual morality. Eric Berkowitz has done an excellent job of showing just how far from certain any of us should be that we really know what is 'normal' or 'ethical' when it comes to human sexuality. Sex and Punishment is built on solid scholarship and spiced with plenty of sordid details that will make you the hit of any cocktail party." —Christopher Ryan, author of Sex at Dawn: The Prehistoric Origins of Modern Sexuality

About the Author

Eric Berkowitz is a writer, lawyer and journalist. He has a degree in print journalism from University of Southern California and has published in The Los Angeles Times and The Los Angeles Weekly, and for the Associated Press. He was an editor of the West Coast’s premier daily legal publication, The Los Angeles Daily Journal. He lives in San Francisco.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Counterpoint; First Edition edition (May 8, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1582437963
• ISBN-13: 978-1582437965
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 1.5 x 9.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #424,255 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Eric Berkowitz has a degree in print journalism from University of Southern California and has published in The Los Angeles Times and The Los Angeles Weekly, and for the Associated Press. He was an editor of the West Coast's premier daily legal publication, The Los Angeles Daily Journal. He lives in San Francisco. For more info, visit: www.sexandpunishmentthebook.com

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An insightful history of four thousand years of punishing desire April 26, 2012

By William Courson VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

Eric Berkowitz is a California lawyer and journalist, and has published in the Los Angeles Times, the Los Angeles Weekly, and for the Associated Press. He is an editor of the West Coast's premier daily legal publication, the Los Angeles Daily Journal. In "Sex and Punishment: Four Thousand Years of Judging Desire," he has written a fascinating, compelling insight into the mind of the homophobe, the schoolyard bully and the religiously-motivated sociopath.

This is the Dark Side, and while ugly beyond imagining its history and development is something that merits becoming educated to if only to sharpen one's perception of the roots of a purulent reality that lies behind a good many surfaces. This book accomplishes that goal with admirable efficiency!

Did you know that the Holy Inquisition did not punish girl-on-girl action unless the women used an "artificial instrument" in bed? or that that the Italian town of Treviso required that lesbians be "tied naked for a full day to a stake... and then be burned," Or that a Castillian law from the 13th century commanded that men who "sin against nature with each other" were to be "castrated before the whole populace" and then "hung up by the legs until dead, and that their bodies never be taken down?" From ancient Mesopotamia to the imprisonment of Oscar Wilde to the modern era, someone has always been trying to control sexuality and the author's fascinating and thoroughly researched new tome covers it all. The author describes the real stories of medieval cross-dressers, London's rent boys, gay charioteers, and a whole lot of people who were judged for their forbidden sexual identification and desire. The book makes for an excellent, fascinating, and provocative read about carnal desire and what lengths humankind will go to fulfill and control it.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Hypocrisy, Tragedy & the Illegal Libido May 22, 2012

By Timhrk

Format:Kindle Edition

"Sex & Punishment: Four Thousand Years of Judging Desire" by Eric Berkowitz is that truly rare animal: a scholarly work that is fun to read. In fact, a book of legal history has no right to be this entertaining. Perhaps the fact that it is so enjoyable has to do with the subject matter - Sex - and while there are plenty of opportunities to get attention through prurience, Berkowitz thankfully prefers to showcase the inherent absurdity of sex law, which is based on what is ultimately a misbegotten notion, that personal choices in sexuality jeopardizes society as a whole.

Since the dawn of time, or least recorded civilization, society has attempted to restrict sexual practices. Attempt is the key word, because Berkowitz points out that at every turn, the astonishing amount of corruption, hypocrisy and non-compliance accompanying every new sex law - not to mention the tragedies of the victims of this blatant injustice. In addition, he shows how arbitrary sex laws tend to be. What outrages law makers in one society - same sex relations, the age of consent for instance, even incest and bestiality - are treated indifferently by another.

Beginning in the ancient world, the combination of the ancient Hebrews, who Berkowitz credits not just with inventing bans against incest, homosexuality, and sex with menstruating women, but creating the concept of sin: "...the moral strictures of the ancient Jews, held together with the molasses of shame and the terror of God's punishment, have been more influential on Western sexual attitudes than any other collection of ideas."

Of course Hellenic culture of the ancient world eventually became intermingled with Hebrew thought, creating Christianity and Western Civilization. While Greek culture may on the surface seem more permissiveness than the Torah, they had their own immeasurable contribution to sex laws, or as Berkowitz credits the "...Greek Obsession: Litigation... the Greeks loved nothing more than a good sex trial."

This book may be about law, but it reads like a ripping good - and yes sometimes bawdy - yarn as Berkowitz applies his sardonic 21st century perspective to analyze ancient Rome, the Middle Ages up through the 19th century, ending with a splendid look at Flaubert's obscenity trial for Madame Bovary, Anthony Comstock's crusades against vice and obscene material in United States and Oscar Wilde's imprisonment for the love that dare not speak its name. In spite of society becoming more enlightened - advances in science, public education expansion, ending of serfdom and slavery and the growth of a working and middle class - it is stunning how sex laws gained momentum in the 19th century. No matter how ineffective to their stated purpose, and how often tragedy resulted from the hypocrisy required to enforce penalties, new zealots gained public support for new laws and sadly, as more and more repressive laws were enacted, the only thing they spawned were more new victims, and more lawbreakers.

Throughout the breadth (he's not kidding when he says 4,000 years) of this immensely readable narrative, Berkowitz echoes 20th century incidents, including lingering miscegenation laws, Bill Clinton's lying about sex under oath and the advent of same sex marriage, but he wisely stops short of looking at the gnarly sex laws that, as he puts it, "roiled" the last century up to the present day. Now that he has set the stage, the reader is left wanting more. "Sex & Punishment: Four Thousand Years of Judging Desire" makes you desire the sequel. Berkowtiz comprehensively tells us how we got here: where we are in terms of regulating the private - sex - in the public sphere - the legal system; let's hope next time he tells us more about the here and now so we can end at least some of the mistakes that have plagued humanity for so many millennia. An important book and great read. [...]

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Most of this book is fine but chapter six is terrible! November 22, 2012

By HistoryLady

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

As other reviewers have already done general reviews of the entire book, I will not bother to rehash what has already been stated. I don't usually write reviews, even though I buy and read many, many history books. I was compelled to write this review because, as the review title states, chapter six is incredibly problematic. Chapter six is entitled "The New World of Sexual Opportunity" and it tries to deal with the European attitudes towards Native Americans and Africans in the Americas (and sometimes Africa as well). The first problem with the chapter is that it is poorly organized--both chronologically and thematically. The author jumps from period to period and from empire to empire (Spanish, Portuguese, French, British, and Dutch) indiscriminately. He compares and contrasts laws from a variety of places and times without sufficient historical context to make valid arguments and to draw conclusions. The second problem is the repetitive nature of this chapter. The author's thesis for this chapter can be boiled down to "men of European descent saw the Americas as a sexual playground in which they could escape strict rules of conduct and engage in all manner of sexual congress no matter how depraved or corrupt" (I am paraphrasing from memory). He then repeats this idea over and over and over and over again while presenting several examples that are completely disjointed and add very little to the narrative. While there is little doubt that the sexual relationships between victors and vanquished in the Americas are full of power differentials, the author never entertains the idea that some of those sexual relationships were carefully negotiated arrangements that benefited the women in some small, but significant, ways. I am not saying that women were not raped by the thousands or that most of these relationships were loving and consensual unions, but I do think that an exploration of the relationships that were not based on rape would have been beneficial in this case. I was surprised that he brought up Hernan Cortes several times but did not mention his relationship to Dona Marina/Malinche who was his adviser and lover. I believe that Mr. Berkowitz was too ambitious when he decided to include this chapter in his book. He seems to have a solid grasp of European social and legal history but his knowledge of the history and practice of empire in the Atlantic world is sorely lacking.