
Culture
10 Books on the History of Women, Sex, and Pleasure
08/03/2021
It’s March, which means it’s time to celebrate all kinds of accomplishments by women. Including female sexual revolutionaries! In honor of Women’s History Month—and of International Women’s Day—here are 10 books that’ll teach you about female writers, activists, entrepreneurs, and ordinary women who changed the history of sex and pleasure.
The lower classes and women of color have been largely cut out of the story of sexual revolutions. In what Hartman calls a “speculative history,” she tries to right that wrong. This lyrical history book lovingly tells of the inner lives, pleasures, and conquests of inner-city Black women at the turn of the 20th century—women who pursued pleasure and sexual authenticity no matter the cost.
In this classic, meticulously researched history, Lillian Faderman takes the reader through six decades of the evolution of lesbian relationships, from 1900 to 1960. In her interviews with normal women (not just famous ones), she gives us a detailed glimpse of what it was like to be a lesbian before the LGBTQ civil rights movements.
In the 19th century, America raged against the ills of masturbation—and women were at the forefront of these protests. April R. Haynes tells of how and why women from all walks of life united to condemn what was then called “self-abuse.”
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10 Books on the History of Women, Sex, and Pleasure