Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

A Curious History of Sex by Kate Lister

5 reviews

epellicci's review against another edition

challenging funny fast-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Lesbophobia, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Body shaming and Violence

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Classism

tlholmes's review

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual content, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Abortion

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Death, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Blood, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Abortion, Pregnancy, Outing, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

bookishwondergoth's review against another edition

funny informative lighthearted reflective medium-paced

5.0

I absolutely bloody loved this book. Irreverent, exploratory, informative and funny, 'A Curious History of Sex' absolutely obliterated my post-travel reading slump and gave me much to think about and laugh about over the last couple of days. If you’ve ever followed Kate Lister on social media, you’ll already have a rough idea of what you’re getting into. I’ll never think of the humble bicycle in quite the same way again.

This was a very excellent overview of the history of sex which which covers off a wide-range of sex-related topics at a very high level (vaginas, clits, penises, orgasms, sex toys, reproduction, contraceptives, language, legislation, medicine, sex workers…). The history Kate delves into is pretty Western, cis, and hetero-centric, but she gives a little disclaimer/explanation at the beginning and also does try to discuss and bring in other cultures and sexualities where possible. Although I’d have personally loved a bit more in-depth intersectional analysis of certain topics, there is an extensive bibliography provided along with further reading suggestions, so I mostly just strapped myself in and enjoyed the ride.

And what a ride! Some of the things human have made up or surmised with regards to sex over the centuries are truly mind-boggling and laugh out loud hilarious. Of course, on the flip side of that, humans have done a lot of fucked up, batshit crazy stuff to do with sex as well. Kate Lister drags it all out in the open and presents it with its pants down for all of us to see. Despite her academic credentials, her writing style is very informal, littered with historical slang and sprinkled with her own wry observations that I personally found very easy and an absolute delight to read. For those who don’t know Kate Lister, she is a very sex-positive and outspoken feminist who is absolutely not afraid to give her (very informed) opinion on contentious issues such as abortion and prostitution. I personally love this about her writing, but if you’re seeking a drier, more academic and objective tone when it comes to your sex history, you probably won’t find it here.

My edition of this book is also packed full of beautiful colour images that really enhanced my reading experience. They’re not at all safe for work, obviously, but definitely made me smile or wince upon multiple occasions.

Speaking of wincing, this is an adult non-fiction book about the history of sex—which is often disgusting and brutal. Expect graphic scenes of sexual and medical content, accounts and instances of sexual violence, horrifying contemporary sources packed full of sexism, misogyny and more, and an entire chapter dedicated to FGM which still managed to trigger a vasovagal syncope episode from me, despite in-text warnings from Lister.

A very thought-provoking and compulsively readable popular science book that I cannot recommend highly enough. Loved it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child death, Death, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Pregnancy, Outing, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Rape, Torture, Blood, and Alcohol

Minor: Pedophilia, Suicide, Excrement, and Vomit

This is a book about the history of sex and human attitudes to sex, so naturally, all topics associated with that are included in this book, including: graphic sexual content; pornographic images; bizarre medical experimentation and eye-wateringly torturous-looking devices; classism; racism etc. plus contemporary quotes detailing explicit sexism, misogyny, homophobia and racism. Everything is carefully and factually presented. The author herself strongly condemns these attitudes and seeks to deconstruct them in her narrative. There is also an entire chapter dedicated to FGM. The author includes 'wince warnings' in context, and she is not kidding around. Heed her warnings!

bookchatwithbeth's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Medical content

Moderate: Homophobia, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Abortion, and Sexual harassment

now_booking's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Blood, Medical content, Religious bigotry, and Abortion

Moderate: Infertility, Infidelity, and Medical trauma