Sexology in Culture

In understanding modern sexual discourse in its historical context, the text examines the writings of the key founders of sexology and the impact of their work on popular and official attitudes to sex. It discusses how influential sexology was during this period and how much power sexologists held.

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This text examines the impact of the writings of the key founders of sexology, Havelock Ellis, Richard von Krafft-Ebing and Magnus Hirschfeld on English-speaking culture from the 1880s to the early 1940s. It questions how influential sexology was during this period and how much power did sexologists actually wield. Also examined is the impact of their work on popular and official attitudes to sex, as well as issues such as the relation of "sexual science" to the law, government policy, journalism, eugenics programmes, marriage and sex manuals, and literary representation. Also mapped out are new readings of trans-sexuality, bisexuality and the centrality of race within sexology.