Reviews with content warning for Sexual violence - A Curious History of Sex

Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

A Curious History of Sex by Kate Lister

20 reviews

bookchatwithbeth's review against another edition

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challenging informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

I only wish some of the chapters were longer or the book twice as long. It was fascinating!!!

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bookswithgeorgia's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny informative lighthearted medium-paced

3.75

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mateoj's review

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adventurous informative medium-paced

4.0

very entertaining and informative, and I appreciated the extensive use of primary sources. It was a welcome surprise to read the disclaimer in the introduction acknowledging the existence of trans people and the fact that primary sources almost always take a cisgendered view on sex and genitalia, but I do wish Lister had done more in her own use of language to try and correct that instead of just offering a disclaimer and going on to adhere to that cis-centric perspective. A few "people with vulvas" and "people with penises" would not have been unwelcome, but nonetheless I have to give her credit for even acknowledging the issue at all. The condemnation of FOSTA/SESTA and explicit support of sex workers was also a welcome surprise.

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bryelle's review against another edition

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funny informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

History of sex and different parts of sex: sex work, sex toys, etc.

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laurastewies's review against another edition

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funny hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

3.25

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_buttercup_'s review

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funny informative lighthearted reflective medium-paced

5.0

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__lucebrennan's review

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funny informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

Engaging, informative book detailing the intricacies surrounding sex throughout history - somehow somber in places and hilarious in others!

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lena04's review against another edition

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challenging funny informative medium-paced

4.25

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unfiltered_fiction's review

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funny informative slow-paced

4.0

This book does exactly what it promises on the tin: it is a ribald and energetic exploration of the history of sex. Definitely not for those of a sensitive disposition, it takes a deep dive into a side of history which is rarely addressed in an accurate or accessible way.

I've docked a star as my academic background definitely made me quite strongly biased against elements of the book, in ways which probably won't matter much to the commercial audience of this book - I generally find commercialised academic writing a little bit of a struggle. With this book, sometimes the argument was a little incoherent, some of the content was presented in what felt like an inauthentic way to fit a social agenda or even for shock factor, which is not a great fit for academic writing. I was particularly irritated by how often the images printed in the book were never directly referred to or analysed in the main body of the text. Similarly, extended quotes from historical sources were not often properly unpacked appropriately with definitions of archaic language and a serious effort to otherwise open up their meanings to the modern reader.

However, overall, I think this is an excellent read that opens up a wealth of knowledge and presents it to readers in a funny, thoughtful, and very readable manner.

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now_booking's review

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funny informative reflective slow-paced

3.5

3.5 Stars! This is quite an interesting compendium of the interesting and unique history of sex, sexual practices and reproductive health. It’s written with a sort of academic matter-of-fact, “did you know” humour, that passes interesting facts whilst acknowledging the limitations of source data. It’s funny with its running collection of euphemisms around sex and reproductive health, but never puerile, in-depth and I suppose somewhat explicit at times by virtue of the subjects, but never in a titillating way- it’s very scholarly- kind of like a nerd-out about the historical intersection of sex and culture. Chapters focus on the relationship between sex and language, sex and sexual organs, sex and food, sex toys, hygiene, reproduction, menstruation, sex work and consent. Of course in any book investigating the history of sex in depth, gender is a sub-theme, from misogyny to queer phobia to erasure, be mindful if these are things you might find triggering.

Overall, I liked this and I enjoyed meandering through it slowly over the past couple of months. I read the book at times and listened to the audio read by the author, at other times and I found both interesting and felt that I learned a lot about the history and anthropology of sex. I recommend this if sex is something that interests you from an academic standpoint. This is entertaining but also filled with a lot of factoids and trivia. For me if there is a down side, it is that whilst there is certainly reference to non-“Western” traditions in this book, I would say to a large extent, this book focuses on Western histories of sex with to a lesser extent some focus on practices from India. And this is understandable because this book relies on (mostly verified) written histories and traditions rather than oral ones. But I would have loved to have more content around Africa and other parts of Asia (other than India) and even other indigenous populations, and I fear those narratives might be lost forever.

Whilst this author editorializes a lot, it never feels like she’s giving too much personal opinion. There is some though. If you’re a fan of the Twitter page, “Whores of Yore,” you’ll probably know the vibe and quite like this book. I recommend if sex is something you want to get nerdy about - definitely check out the cool sources cited. This is definitely a labour of love.

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