The pleasure's all mine
Subtitle: a history of perverse sex
By: Julie Peakman
Publisher: Reaktion Books
Published: 2013
Place of publication: London
Language: eng
Number of pages: 472
ISBN-13: 9781780231853
Subjects: Pedophilia; Homosexuality; Masturbation; Sex customs; Paraphilias; Sadomasochism; History
Description: Homosexuals, transvestites, transsexuals, sado-masochists, necrophiliacs - all of these have been, or still are, considered 'deviants'. Concomitantly there has been almost universal acceptance that unembellished vaginal penetration, performed by one man and one woman, is 'normal' sex. This is now contested. But what is perverse sex and what isn't? The Pleasure's All Mine explores the gamut of sexual activity that has been seen as strange, abnormal or deviant over the last 2,000 years. This first comprehensive history of sexual perversion examines an abundance of original sources - letters, diaries, memoirs, court records, erotic books, medical texts and advice manuals - and shows how, for ordinary people, different kinds of sex have always offered myriad different pleasures. There never was a 'normal'. Almost all sexual behaviours have travelled to and fro along a continuum of proscription and acceptance. Attitudes have changed towards masturbation, leatherwear, 'golden showers' and sado-masochism. From the specialized cultures of pain, necrophilia and bestiality to the social world of plushies and furries, and lovers of life-sized sex dolls, some previously acceptable behaviour now provokes social outrage, while activities as diverse as sodomy and wife-swapping have moved on the spectrum of acceptance from sin to harmless fun. Each 'perversion' is explored from the time it was first visible in history, to how it is viewed today, and.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Taking it straight; title: From onanism to spending; title: From Ganymedes to gays; title: From female friendships to lipstick lesbians; title: From transvestites to transsexuals; title: Man's best friend: bestiality; title: Ties that bind: sadomasochism; title: Loving the dead; title: Too close for comfort: incest; title: Child love or paedophilia?; title: Games people play; title: On body parts: fellatio, fetishism, infibulations and fisting; title: Epilogue: a limit to tolerance?