#BlogTour ‘A Curious History Of Sex’ by Kate Lister

About the book…

This is not a comprehensive study of every sexual quirk, kink and ritual across all cultures throughout time, as that would entail writing an encyclopaedia. Rather, this is a drop in the ocean, a paddle in the shallow end of sex history, but I hope you will get pleasantly wet nonetheless.

The act of sex has not changed since people first worked out what went where, but the ways in which society dictates how sex is culturally understood and performed have varied significantly through the ages. Humans are the only creatures that stigmatise particular sexual practices, and sex remains a deeply divisive issue around the world.

Attitudes will change and grow – hopefully for the better – but sex will never be free of stigma or shame unless we acknowledge where it has come from.

Huge thanks as always to blogtour organiser supreme, Anne Cater of Random Things and publishers Unbound for my gifted review copy of ‘A Curious History Of Sex’ by Kate Lister

Right now, I am going to admit that it’s a hard act to follow this book , it’s very likely to be my non-fiction book of the year. There, I said it, the challenge is out there. There aren’t enough stars for me to award this book, I am absolutely certain that a copy belongs in every library, the curious reader should be directed at it in much the same way that so many MANY men need to be directed to the clitoris.

Which, by the way, seems to be according to Kate’s research, pretty much the route of all evil despite the systematic failure to locate, understand or please it-it is however, the source of much mutilation, burning, excision,malignmant and a key site for the devil to attach himself to-seriously,check out pages 39-68, for the focus on the body part which shall forever after be known as ‘ the boy in the boat.’

In this mighty tome, which contains both black and white illustrations, Kate expounds upon her themes of the social history of sex. Whilst the act itself has remained pretty much the same since time began, the way we humans categorise, compartmentalise and chastise those methods of intercourse and understaning of how our bits work ,is an entirely different matter.

Extending from the meanings of words which pepper our daily vocabulary, commonly used eoithets and slang, to a chronological history of genitalia(uses thereof), orgasms, sex aids, sex as a commodity and as an expression of self.

Fascinating as well as being ribald, this is similar to having the best, and most interesting lecture you have ever had. A weighty tome of 400+ pages, it contains not just impeccably researched topics such as the sexualisation of bicycles in the Victorian era, it has a HUGE breadth of further reading and notes. Which for someone who loves footnotes,is an absolute joy.

Kate’s style is brillaint, she at once has you guffawing, gasping and groaning at the misundertandings people in the past have about what goes where, and what shouldn’t go anywhere. Just when you think we as a race have advanced our understanding of the pleasure principle, she shocks you with something indecently recent -for example, it was only in 2010 that researchers actually shown that clitoral stimulation is needed to orgasm. It has at most points in history been seen as a sign of immaturity to not be able to come without this necessary friction. This is wonderful news to the 75% of women who have been saying this all along!

Shock and awe are induced by the barbed penis rings, worn by men to prevent too many erections due to the notion that semen was an essential essence, a holy fluid which should only be spilt for procreation purposes. Or the fact that monkey and babboon testicles were grafted into a substantial amount of men in the 19th and 20th century in order to ‘absorb’ their essence and extend life-apparently, masturbation robbed men of their ‘vim’ in a Samson-esque feat of unintended robbery. Spoiler alert, it did not extend anyone’s lives and indeed curtailed a great many apes!

Couched in the most accessible prose, this is incredibly accessible, impeccably researched and imbued with wit and flair. I want to scream from the rooftops just how much I love this book!

I could go on, and on, and share extract after extract with you, honestly this book is spilling over with the kind of information that you want to read and share aloud, but far better is for you to buy it and see for yourself. However, a small warning as if it hasn’t explicitly been said, this is not the kind of book you leave lying around the house where curious children or relatives could pick it up.

Not unless you want to have some very indepth conversations far earlier than you expected to have them….

Or maybe that is exactly what you need to do!

About the author…

Dr Kate Lister is a lecturer in the School of Arts and Communication at Leeds Trinity University. Kate primarily researches the literary history of sex work and curates the online research project, Whores of Yore, an interdisciplinary digital archive for the study of historical sexuality. Kate has also published in the medical humanities, material culture, Victorian studies and Neo-Medievalism. She regularly writes about the history of sexuality for inews, Vice, and the Wellcome Trust. Kate won the Sexual Freedom Publicist of the Year Award in 2017.

Twitter @unbounders @WhoresOfYore @annecater

Links-https://www.thewhoresofyore.com/