Author Description
In this book Hera Cook traces the path of sexuality in England, and shows how its route was determined by the gradual exertion of control over fertility. Most sexual activity had major economic and social costs, the most fundamental of which was the physical cost of children upon women's bodies. Around 1800 birth rates reached historical heights. Using a combination of demographic and qualitative sources, Dr Cook examines the connection between the struggle to lower fertility and the increasing repression of sexuality throughout the nineteenth century. Contraception became a viable option in the early twentieth century. The book charts the resulting slow relaxation of attitudes to sexuality and the remaking of heterosexual physical behaviour, culminating in the sexual revolution of the 1960s.
Menrva's Summary
THE THESIS
This book investigates the historical correlation between the exertion of fertility control and the evolution of sexual behavior among English women from 1800 to 1975. Dr. Hera Cook, a historian specializing in gender and sexuality, utilizes a synthesis of demographic data and qualitative historical sources to argue that the repression and eventual liberation of sexuality were fundamentally tied to the economic and physical costs of childbearing. By examining the transition from high birth rates in the nineteenth century to the sexual revolution of the 1960s, the author provides a framework for understanding how contraception reshaped heterosexual norms.
THE SCOPE MAP
What You Will Find
- Demographic analysis of birth rates in England from 1800 to 1975
- Historical examination of the link between fertility control and sexual repression
- Qualitative assessment of changing social attitudes toward heterosexual behavior
- Documentation of the impact of contraceptive availability on women's bodily autonomy
Scope Limits
- The analysis is geographically restricted to England
- The study focuses primarily on heterosexual dynamics rather than broader queer sexual histories
THE AUTHORITY PERSPECTIVE
Scholars and historians frequently cite this work as a significant contribution to the study of gendered history and the social impact of reproductive technology. Readers often note the academic density of the prose, which balances rigorous demographic data with nuanced social analysis.
Page Count:
432
Publication Date:
2004-01-01
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
ISBN-10:
0191530891
ISBN-13:
9780191530890
History
Great Britain
Contraception
Woman Studies
Women
Gender Studies
Sociology
Womens Studies
British History