sexuality

Gladys Bentley: Gender Outlaw

by Cookie Woolner

Gladys Bentley was one of the most popular speakeasy performers in prohibition-era New York, and used the performance category of "drag king" – women playing on stereotypes of masculinity – to be herself. 

Does Marital Status Discrimination Hold the Key to Protecting Sexual Freedoms from SCOTUS?

by Marc Stein

As concern rises that the court might revoke the rights to same-sex marriage and contraception while reinstating the criminalization of gay sex, advocates for reproductive and sexual freedom need to consider how to make the equal protection argument that rights individuals enjoy in marriage can't be denied to individuals outside of them. 

Feminism Can't Ignore the Power of Sexual Freedom

by Nona Willis Aronowitz

A half century later, the "sex wars" that split second-wave feminists remain resonant in a society where the display of sexuality sits uneasily with women's ability to pursue desire on their own terms. 

"Father Knows Best": Anti-LGBTQ Legislation and the Patriarchy

by Judith Levine

The elision of children’s interests and parents’ rights is not just bad grammar, however. It is an expression of conservative “pro-family” ideology, which posits the family as an indivisible unit where everyone’s interests are unanimous.

Susan Carruthers on The Myths and History of the "Dear John" Letter

The "Dear John" letter represents a convergence of the social history of the military and the culture of family, love and relationships. Historian Susan L. Carruthers explains how the term was coined and what she learned about romantic breakups in military history.

Muscle Motion:

by Natalia Mehlman Petrzela

A 1983 home workout video featuring the Chippendales dancers reflected the convergence of multiple cultural changes in home video, fitness culture, pornography, and the mainstreaming of female desire. Everything has a history!

Who Lost the Feminist Movement's "Sex Wars"?

by Amia Srinivasan

As a new book reconsiders the debates among feminists over sexuality and pornography by emphasizing the role of liberalism in reducing the radical demands both sides made for the remaking of relations between men and women to narrow issues of law and civil liberties, that history resonates with current controversies about the place of trans women in the feminist movement.

The Tyranny of the Female-Orgasm Industrial Complex

The writer's personal experiences, in light of a historical review of ideas about female sexuality, suggests that more knowledge has reinforced the social control of women by making pleasure obligatory rather than prohibited (Note: contains frank, explicit and extensive discussions of sexual activity).

"Where Perversion is Taught": The Untold History of a Gay Rights Demonstration at Bucks County Community College in 1968

by Marc Stein

A student protest at Bucks County (PA) Community College in 1968, sparked by the college's decision to block a speech by gay rights advocate Richard Leitsch, should be recognized as a key event in the growing movement for gay liberation. 

Retro Report Presents: How an Abstinence Pledge in the ’90s Shamed a Generation of Evangelicals

Retro Report's latest collaboration with the New York Times examines the roots and social impact of Evangelical purity culture, both for individuals and American society's approach to sexuality. 

Jeffrey Toobin and the M-Word: Let’s be Honest about what Makes this Scandal so Scandalous

by Jonathan Zimmerman

Jeffrey Toobin's scandal reflects the weight of the idea of the enlightenment individual and the fear that individuals freed from constraint would fall into corruption. 

Bawdy Civil War Letters, In the Style of Ken Burns

by Katie Hemphill

Historian Katie Hemphill's recent crash course in video editing for Zoom teaching let her fulfill a longtime goal: set the bawdiest Civil War letters she found in her research to the stirring sounds of documentary music. Content Warning: Cuss Words.

Desiring Machines

In 1993, soon after the fall of the Soviet Union, consensual same-sex relationships were decriminalized in Russia as the economy underwent a wrenching transition away from central planning. Documentarian William E. Jones documents this moment by splicing together the non-sexual scenes from gay pornography shot in the former Soviet bloc. 

The Long History Behind Donald Trump’s Outreach To LGBTQ Voters

by Neil J. Young

Gay Republicans emerged as a political force in response to both radical leadership in the gay liberation movement and the rise of evangelicals as a force in the Republican party. Today they may have to decide which fight is more important. 

Black Women in Nineteenth-Century France: An Interview with Historian Robin Mitchell

Robin Mitchell's book "Vénus Noire: Black Women and Colonial Fantasies in Nineteenth-Century France" examines how sexualized descriptions of Black women contributed to French racism.

Alexandra Finley on Her New Book, An Intimate Economy

Historian Jacob Remes discusses the new book "An Intimate Economy" with author Alexandra Finley. 

Qanon Misdirects Our Attention Away From The Real Threats To Children

by Paul M. Renfro

"Moral panics like QAnon work to distract from less outrageous, far more insidious sources of harm. Even worse, they contribute to punitive policies that separate and hurt families, perpetuate mass incarceration and keep people in a state of fear."

“The Sex Lady Talks”: Disability Rights and the Normalization of Sex in a 1980s Institution

by Elizabeth A. Nelson, Emily S. Beckman, and Modupe Labode

Therapist Lisa Freeman bucked the authorities of an Indiana psychiatric hospital to advocate for the right of residents to have consensual sex and sex education. Her work shows the ways that paternalistic values are embedded in state treatment of people with disabilities. 

The Revealing and Disturbing Story of America, Told Through 20 Years of Reality Dating Shows

Reality dating shows, for better or worse, have focused a lens on the state of love, sex and relationships in American society. Here is a list of shows that define each of the 20 years of the genre (and might be historical documents someday?)

Little Richard: Bold, Pioneering, Complex, and Unapologetic

by Elwood Watson

Little Richard left a lasting musical and cultural legacy because of his talent and his willingness to be more boldly black and sexual than other artists dared.