General Book Search for "9781780236759"

The Pleasure's All Mine

Paperback
Published : Saturday 1 October 2016
ISBN : 9781780236759
Price : €21.06


You may also like ...

Product

Licentious Worlds: Sex and Exploitation...

Hardback
14 Oct 2019

€29.25

Extended stock – Dispatch 5-7 days
Product

Hitler's Island War: The Men Who Fought...

Hardback
05 Dec 2017

€35.10

Extended stock – Dispatch 5-7 days
Product

The Pleasure's All Mine

€21.06

Extended stock – Dispatch 5-7 days

Description

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 and shows how, for ordinary people, different kinds of sex have always offered myriad different pleasures.

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 along the way the book asks why we can be so intolerant of other people's sexual preferences. Carefully researched as well as a fascinating read, and featuring a wide array of illustrations, The Pleasure's All Mine reaches conclusions that are surprising and sometimes shocking. This is an essential volume for anyone interested in the art, history and culture of sex.



Reviews