| Description |
xi, 294 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 255-286) and index. |
| Summary |
Annotation When Alfred Kinsey's massive studies Sexual Behavior in the Human Male and Sexual Behavior in the Human Female appeared in 1948 and 1953, their detailed data spurred an unprecedented public discussion of the nation's sexual practices and ideologies. As they debated what behaviors were normal or average, abnormal or deviant, Cold War Americans also celebrated and scrutinized the state of their nation, relating apparent changes in sexuality to shifts in its political structure, economy, and people. American Sexual Character employs the studies and the myriad responses they evoked to examine national debates about sexuality, gender, and Americanness after World War II. Focusing on the mutual construction of postwar ideas about national identity and sexual life, this wide-ranging, shrewd, and lively analysis explores the many uses to which these sex surveys were put at a time of extreme anxiety about sexual behavior and its effects on the nation. Looking at real and perceived changes in masculinity, female sexuality, marriage, and homosexuality, Miriam G. Reumann develops the notion of "American sexual character," sexual patterns and attitudes that were understood to be uniquely American and to reflect contemporary transformations in politics, social life, gender roles, and culture. She considers how apparent shifts in sexual behavior shaped the nation's workplaces, homes, and families, and how these might be linked to racial and class differences. |
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Annotation When Alfred Kinsey's massive studies S"exual Behavior in the Human Male "and "Sexual Behavior in the Human Female "appeared in 1948 and 1953, their detailed data spurred an unprecedented public discussion of the nation's sexual practices and ideologies. As they debated what behaviors were normal or average, abnormal or deviant, Cold War Americans also celebrated and scrutinized the state of their nation, relating apparent changes in sexuality to shifts in its political structure, economy, and people. "American Sexual Character "employs the studies and the myriad responses they evoked to examine national debates about sexuality, gender, and Americanness after World War II. Focusing on the mutual construction of postwar ideas about national identity and sexual life, this wide-ranging, shrewd, and lively analysis explores the many uses to which these sex surveys were put at a time of extreme anxiety about sexual behavior and its effects on the nation. <P>Looking at real and perceived changes in masculinity, female sexuality, marriage, and homosexuality, Miriam G. Reumann develops the notion of "American sexual character," sexual patterns and attitudes that were understood to be uniquely American and to reflect contemporary transformations in politics, social life, gender roles, and culture. She considers how apparent shifts in sexual behavior shaped the nation's workplaces, homes, and families, and how these might be linked to racial and class differences. |
| Contents |
"Sexual order in our Nation" -- "A missing sense of maleness" -- "Much the same desires as men" -- "I'm a much better citizen than if I were single" -- "An age of sexual ambiguity" |
| Subject |
Sex -- United States.
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Gender identity -- United States.
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Institute for Sex Research. Sexual behavior in the human female.
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Kinsey, Alfred C. (Alfred Charles), 1894-1956. Sexual behavior in the human male.
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Kinsey, Alfred C. (Alfred Charles), 1894-1956. Sexual behavior in the human male.
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Institute for Sex Research. Sexual behavior in the human female.
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Sexual Behavior -- history -- United States.
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Gender Identity -- United States.
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History, 20th Century -- United States.
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Social Change -- history -- United States.
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Social Identification -- United States.
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| ISBN |
0520238354 cloth alkaline paper |
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9780520238350 cloth alkaline paper |
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