Sexual Liberation or Sexual License?: The American Revolt Against Victorianism (American Ways Series) [Paperback]

Kevin White (Author)

Book Description

Series: American Ways Series | Publication Date: July 24, 2001

Until roughly 1900, Americans agreed on stringent standards of sexual propriety that were rigorously enforced by a "conspiracy of silence" about sex. But the twentieth century brought the beginnings of mass culture, and with it dance halls, movies, advertising, bohemian rebels, and commercial operators who began to expand the boundaries of sexual display. The century-long struggle over these boundaries is the subject of Kevin White's rich account of American attitudes toward sex. Considering the record with the practiced eye of a social historian, he chronicles the transformation in American life from Anthony Comstock to the "hootchie cootchie girls," from Margaret Sanger through Alfred Kinsey, the Beats, and the Playboy bunnies to gay liberation, Jerry Falwell, and Bill Clinton. Mr. White shows how the Progressive movement fought a rearguard action before the rise of the flapper in the 1920s swept Victorian traditions aside. In depression and war, Americans seemed to return to values of home and hearth, but soon the Kinsey Report and the rise of rock and youth culture turned a trickle into a tidal wave, sweeping aside the old sexual certainties in the 1960s. Since the mid-seventies, Mr. White observes, battle lines have been drawn around AIDS, date rape, pornography, and sexual escapades at the highest levels of government. In a lively and engaging narrative analysis, Sexual Liberation or Sexual License? explores this great and continuing cultural conflict in the full context of Americans ambiguous dialogue with their Victorian legacy.

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews

An unfortunately dull and banal history of American sexuality from the Victorian era to the dawn of the 21st century.Although this tome might provide fresh insight for the reader who mistakenly views Hugh Hefner, Madonna, and Boy George as neo-Victorians, the pickings are slim indeed for anyone sufficiently knowledgeable of popular culture to realize that Mae West is no model of sexual propriety. Sadly, the bulk of evidence that White marshals for his argument about the development of sexual mores in 20th-century America is of this colorless variety. Pity the poor reader who needs White's assistance to ascertain that Jerry Lee Lewis's "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" is inconsistent with Victorian attitudes toward sexuality. And for Lewis's song in the above sentence, one could substitute any of the utterly obvious examples that White trots out like trick ponies and then returns to the stables of anti-Victorian licentiousness. Even when White delves into primary sources (such as his quotations from 19th-century letters), he fails to build a very strong case for his conclusions. For example, he boldly declares at one point that "Victorian relationships between men could be close." Has there been a time in history when "close" relationships between men did not exist? White ventures close to interesting material at such moments, but then reverts to a generalized dichotomy between Victorian and non-Victorian. Also frustrating is his refusal to document sources; he crams a bunch of them into a concluding chapter rather than providing the reader with such information along the way. The result is a study that is too anecdotal to offer real insight to the reader. A stifling analysis. -- Copyright © 2000 Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

Provocative and well written. (A.O. Edmonds Choice )

At last—an incisive and authoritative narrative history of sexuality in modern America. (John C. Burnham )

Engaging. (Colin Walters Washington Times )

A brave and highly readable study that deserves the widest possible audience. (William L. O'Neill )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Ivan R Dee (July 24, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566633060
• ISBN-13: 978-1566633062
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,251,655 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Better than advertised here., May 30, 2004

By 

grapabo (Missouri) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sexual Liberation or Sexual License?: The American Revolt Against Victorianism (American Ways Series) (Hardcover)

For those who can't fathom that the change in sexual mores over the past century has been something far short of an unmitigated good thing, or for those without the courage to question the evidence on their side of this bitter debate, then this book is going to be a hard read. Defense mechanisms, such as belittling the author for stating what they think is obvious (references to Hugh Hefner, Jerry Lee Lewis, Mae West, etc.) and ad hominem attacks for daring to quote Robert Bork, overlook the fact that despite the multiple references to the influence of pop culture, White has a deeper analysis for the causes of how America moved away from the Victorian culture. He also questions how much America has really moved away from the Victorian standard, despite a pop culture that is insaturated with sexuality.

White's assessment of the Victorian culture is not an ideal standard -- he acknwledges that the law made divorces difficult (but less difficult over the period) and that the strict rules (including a double standard between men and women's sexual mores) resulted in an underworld that explicitly rejected those standards.

The causes of this drift from Victorianism in the mainstream culture are as much technological and economic as they are moral. As more leisure time was created through technological advances, as women were able to be economically independent, as the "dating" system proved to be an end around the traditional rules of courtship, and as society as a whole changed due to the changes in the economic infrastructure, the Victorian rules could no longer be sustained.

However, this portion of the analysis is descriptive rather than perjorative. The primary focus of the author's criticism is the changes in what men and women perceived to be the role of sex within this framework, and the role that an emerging mass media played in both the cause and effect of such changes. The Victorian standard that preserved sex within the confines of romantic love was replaced by a view that sex could be detached from love, or in the end, from any emotion at all.

If you want to gain an overall frame of reference for the changes in our culture with reference to sexuality, and can stand to have a few myths challenged, then this book is a good starting point.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Troubling and Misleading, September 5, 2002

By 

A. Lord "georgianlover" (Washington DC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sexual Liberation or Sexual License?: The American Revolt Against Victorianism (American Ways Series) (Hardcover)

White has picked an interesting subject (twentieth-century American sexuality) but his insights and comments are deeply troubling. White clearly has an agenda and while all good historians have an agenda, White's views are especially worrisome as he often ignores and manipulates evidence to reflect his own views.

Of particular concern is White's over-arching view of Victorianism. In an early chapter, White claims that "Victorianism worked. Rates of divorce and illegitimacy remained low." An interesting comment but one which is not at all supported by any evidence which White provides. Low rates of divorce and illegitimacy are not evidence of happiness and/or lack of sexual license. My understanding---drawn from British material---is that abortions were frighteningly common during the late nineteenth century and that varying forms of birth control were becoming more widely available (rates of illegitimacy are thus a dicey monitor to use to assess whether Victorians lived by their own sexual standards). Also, as any historian can tell you---divorce was uncommon simply b/c it was extraordinarily difficult to obtain. The absence of divorce in a society (esp. one where death rates sharply curtailed the length of marriages anyway) should not be read as evidence of high social/sexual standards and/or contentment with these standards.

My greatest complaint, however, is White's clear difficulty with the idea that women can assume positions other than passivity as far as sex is concerned. White is dismissive of the concept of date rape and he quotes Robert BORK to support the idea that concern abt date rape has been overdrawn (oddly enough just because a woman agrees to be kissed or fondled does NOT mean she is willing to have sex---and the same is true of men-it is not extraordinary for young women and young men to want to give their consent to sexual acts).

White also seems dismissive of the idea that greater sexual freedom brought any type of happiness or pleasure to men or women. He cites comments from bohemians who decided that they preferred non-intellectual women but ignores the great intellectual bohemian relationships of the period completely.

What kind of an historian ignores evidence? Not a very good one, I'm afraid. Give this book a miss.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars The editorial review is completely right., June 27, 2007

By 

kate wiseman - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sexual Liberation or Sexual License?: The American Revolt Against Victorianism (American Ways Series) (Paperback)

I was disgusted by the poor scholarship in this book. White quotes at will from primary documents and fellow historians without a single citation to show where he got his information. White is also guilty of broad overgeneralizations that are poorly supported. For example, the section on Victorian America includes a paragraph that claims that "a healthy society could not survive without the control of instincts" (p 4). White then quotes from an Irish "orator and parliamentarian, Edmund Burke." No Amerian sources are cited, leaving the reader to assume that what is true in Ireland at that time must also be true in America -- a blurred and unprofessional perspective. This book wasted my time.