Julie Peakman

I couldn't finish reading this book. It made me too angry.

The first few chapters, about what constitutes "normal" sex, masturbation, and certain elements of queerness, were interesting enough (though as a bisexual I was bothered by the fact that gay men, lesbians, and crossdressers all got their own complete chapters but there was nary a single word about people like me).

But then I got up to the chapter on sadomasochism and I just wanted to throw the damn book across the room. As a kinky person, I was really looking forward to this chapter--it was actually the main reason I picked up the book. So you can imagine how upset I was when, instead of discussion of consensual BDSM, I found discussion of stuff like Romans feeding Christians to lions, medieval saints being tortured, Victorian men raping and mutilating and murdering little boys. There was NOTHING about BDSM being practiced in a consensual and healthy way until the very end, when there was a little thing about how oh yeh you can go to a sex shop and buy a whip or whatever, no big deal--THEN WHY WERE YOU ONLY TALKING ABOUT REALLY FUCKED UP THINGS FOR THE ENTIRE CHAPTER INSTEAD OF THAT?

It infuriated me, so much that I couldn't bring myself to read the rest of the book. It's as if the author was so busy writing chapters about things that are actually fucked up (e.g. pedophilia, incest) that she felt as if she had to bring that attitude to even things that, when practiced the right way, aren't problematic at all. I was very disappointed.… (more)

Each chapter is written as it's own entity and while it doesn't delve deeply into what's going on it does talk about many topics about sex and various sexual goings-on in, mostly England, of the 18th Century. An invaluable work for historical novelists this would allow readers to know what was considered normal and abnormal for people of the time. What was considered titilating and what was considered downright obscene.

I found it a fairly easy read, though you probably wouldn't like other folks to be looking over your shoulder when you read this, some of the headings are downright suggestive and some of the illustrations (particularly in the Scottish Secret Sex Socieities) leave little to the imagination! Overall it does treat it's subject well, with an odd nod and smile to the audience and overall treating it with a light touch. It tries hard to be objective (a difficult task with the subject matter) and in my opinon succeeds. Julie Peakman is quite a readable writer, I would look for other works by her.… (more)