Documenting Intimate Matters: Primary Sources for a History of Sexuality in America

by Thomas A. Foster (Editor), John D'Emilio (Introduction)

Over time, sexuality in America has changed dramatically. Frequently redefined and often subject to different systems of regulation, it has been used as a means of control; it has been a way to understand ourselves and others; and it has been at the center of fierce political storms, including some of the most crucial changes in civil rights in the last decade. Edited by Thomas A. Foster, Documenting Intimate Matters features seventy-two documents that collectively highlight the broad diversity inherent in the history of American sexuality. Complementing the third edition of Intimate Matters, by John D’Emilio and Estelle B. Freedman—often hailed as the definitive survey of sexual history in America—the multiple narratives presented by these documents reveal the complexity of this subject in US history. The historical moments captured in this volume will show that, contrary to popular misconception, the history of sexuality is not a simple story of increased freedoms and sexual liberation, but an ongoing struggle between change and continuity.

Genres: Sexuality, History, Nonfiction, College

256 pages, Paperback

First published October 15, 2012

About the author

Thomas A. Foster is Professor of History at Howard University, in Washington, DC, and author of Sex and the Eighteenth-Century Man: Massachusetts and the History of Sexuality in America, and Sex and the Founding Fathers: The American Quest for a Relatable Past. He is also editor of Long Before Stonewall: Histories of Same-Sex Sexuality (NYU Press, 2007), New Men: Manliness in Early America (NYU Press, 2011), and Documenting Intimate Matters: Primary Sources for a History of Sexuality in America.

Reviews

[Finlo Maloney]

super great read, very insightful easy to understand descriptions that help to comprehend the primary sources but allow you to create your own perceptions. fun to annotate. whoever formatted this did a great job. <333

[Mills College Library]

392.6 D6376 2013

[Emily Holcomb]

An impressive collection of fascinating primary source material about sexuality in the colonial period and later.

[Hanna]

A lovely break from historical criticism that allows you to see history for yourself, no opinions attached.