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Fierce Desires: A New History of Sex and Sexuality in America
From an esteemed scholar, a richly textured, authoritative history of sex and sexuality in America—the first major account in three decades.
The first sweeping history of sex and sexuality in America since John D’Emilio and Estelle Freedman’s classic work, Intimate Matters, Rebecca L. Davis’s Fierce Desires presents a story of dramatic and often surprising change. Davis’s absorbing narrative takes us across four hundred years, from two-spirit people among the Pueblo Indians in the seventeenth century to the gay rights activist Kiyoshi Kuromiya in the twentieth. At every step, she documents the existence of gender nonconformity, queer love, and abortion—facts of sexual life deemed by the Right to be very recent inventions. At the same time, Davis argues that Americans shifted from understanding sexual behaviors as meaningful but secondary reflections of otherwise nonsexual personal qualities to understanding sexuality as a fundamental aspect of the human condition, essential to what makes a person who they are. Creating a new genealogy of sexual pioneers, Davis writes back into history people and ideas that have been forgotten, ignored, or intentionally suppressed.
The first sweeping history of sex and sexuality in America since John D’Emilio and Estelle Freedman’s classic work, Intimate Matters, Rebecca L. Davis’s Fierce Desires presents a story of dramatic and often surprising change. Davis’s absorbing narrative takes us across four hundred years, from two-spirit people among the Pueblo Indians in the seventeenth century to the gay rights activist Kiyoshi Kuromiya in the twentieth. At every step, she documents the existence of gender nonconformity, queer love, and abortion—facts of sexual life deemed by the Right to be very recent inventions. At the same time, Davis argues that Americans shifted from understanding sexual behaviors as meaningful but secondary reflections of otherwise nonsexual personal qualities to understanding sexuality as a fundamental aspect of the human condition, essential to what makes a person who they are. Creating a new genealogy of sexual pioneers, Davis writes back into history people and ideas that have been forgotten, ignored, or intentionally suppressed.
480 pages, Hardcover
Published September 3, 2024
70 people are currently reading
1027 people want to read
About the author
Rebecca L. Davis
4 books7 followersRebecca L. Davis is a professor of history at the University of Delaware. She writes the Carnal Knowledge newsletter and is a co-host of This Is Probably a Really Weird Question, a podcast about sexual health and history.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
January 21, 2025
Fierce Desires is a book I would only recommend to certain people. It reads almost like a textbook. For many readers, you may be invested and eager to hear new perspectives and insights, but also not always captivated. Regardless, this read is a well of information! Anyone open to learning more about these topics would gain so much from reading it. It’s truly an amazing historical account.
There were moments when the author did an excellent job presenting the information through the lens of one person’s or one family’s experiences while backing it up with other historical references and points. This helped connect the reader to both the individual stories and the broader history. However, I did feel there were some points and topics that could have been explored further. Still, I can understand why the author framed the book the way they did, particularly given how many books are now delving deeper into issues of sexuality, sexual identity, and gender. Undoubtedly, Fierce Desires stands apart from much of the commentary and literature currently out there.
Yes, the book felt long, but with the wealth of stories and information on these topics, it could have been even longer. I think the author did a great job of focusing on specific events and occurrences while ensuring they connected through a common thread, making it easier for readers to follow along and retain the information. I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to take a deeper look into how sex and gender have played huge roles historically—often in ways we don’t expect. Anyone who reads this will leave with something new to consider!
There were moments when the author did an excellent job presenting the information through the lens of one person’s or one family’s experiences while backing it up with other historical references and points. This helped connect the reader to both the individual stories and the broader history. However, I did feel there were some points and topics that could have been explored further. Still, I can understand why the author framed the book the way they did, particularly given how many books are now delving deeper into issues of sexuality, sexual identity, and gender. Undoubtedly, Fierce Desires stands apart from much of the commentary and literature currently out there.
Yes, the book felt long, but with the wealth of stories and information on these topics, it could have been even longer. I think the author did a great job of focusing on specific events and occurrences while ensuring they connected through a common thread, making it easier for readers to follow along and retain the information. I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to take a deeper look into how sex and gender have played huge roles historically—often in ways we don’t expect. Anyone who reads this will leave with something new to consider!
September 28, 2024
If you are looking for titillation, don't bother reading this book. That's not what it is. If, however, you want to know more about sex and its place in American culture, buy it now! I was blown away by historical events that I had either forgotten or never knew. And Ms. Davis' writing was exquisite -- she kept you wanting more and anxious to see what she had to say on the next page. I loved this book!
December 8, 2025
I am bad at reading on my kindle so I waited months to finally finish the third part of this book but I'm mad I took so long. this book is a must-read: a history of gender relations, queer experiences, and a documentation of the ever-changing american understanding of everything thus entailed.
modern-day gender relations are entirely unprecendented, and are the direct result of centuries of struggle for sexual freedom. these freedoms do so much for us; that it precisely why they are being targeted. the most important thing I came away with is that reproductive justice and reproductive freedom are the foundation of any hope of equality.
Opponents of LGBTQ+ rights deny that sexuality and gender nonconformity have histories at all because recognition of a past populated by gender-nonconforming people, non-scandalous expressions of queer desire, and multiple (rather than homogeneous) ideas about sexual morality would undermine their cause entirely.
modern-day gender relations are entirely unprecendented, and are the direct result of centuries of struggle for sexual freedom. these freedoms do so much for us; that it precisely why they are being targeted. the most important thing I came away with is that reproductive justice and reproductive freedom are the foundation of any hope of equality.
Opponents of LGBTQ+ rights deny that sexuality and gender nonconformity have histories at all because recognition of a past populated by gender-nonconforming people, non-scandalous expressions of queer desire, and multiple (rather than homogeneous) ideas about sexual morality would undermine their cause entirely.
October 17, 2024
Read this book if you're in the mood for something: informative, reflective, & medium-paced
Content Warnings
Book Rating: 4.5 stars
This book was an intriguing look into the history of the views on sexuality in the United States, in a timeline from Indigenous People's views before North America was settled by Europeans until today.
Those views, as well as laws on certain things surrounding sexuality, have vacillated over time. From people tending towards polyamory to being able to openly live as a non-binary person, or as a trans person, to everyone having to be in the closet and acts of "gay" sex being punishable by death to today's views on sexuality.
The book cites examples from historical records, which I appreciated. The people the author talked about were made into someone you could relate to. The author kept the book interesting this way, as this could have been a dry topic for a book.
My only complaint is that the author got a bit overly descriptive in parts, which made the book a bit longer.
Narrator Rating: 4.75 stars
The narrator did an excellent job. They added to the book and made it more enjoyable and engaging.
I received an audio advanced reader copy through Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Content Warnings
April 22, 2025
Il libro afferma che per capire la situazione attuale della sessualità negli Stati Uniti è necessaria un'opera di contestualizzazione storica, e infatti parte a narrare dal '600 per arrivare con calma sino ai nostri giorni.
Ma è già il libro stesso a essere fortemente contestualizzato, a segnalare con non poca chiarezza da che parte vuole stare: nell'introduzione fa tutto un discorso sui pronomi; poi annuncia di usare il termine "persone schiavizzate" al posto di "schiavi", perché altrimenti si darebbe l'idea che la schiavitù sia connaturata all'individuo e questo è disumanizzante; poi, per riferirsi a chi viene dai paesi latinoamericani, usa il termine "latinx", con la "x", una tipica cosa inclusiva verso maschî e femmine (ma va detto che negli USA il termine "latinx" è usato soprattutto da attivisti e accademici, mentre molti degli stessi "latinx" manco sanno che esista). Ma soprattutto, procedendo con la lettura, mi accorgo che "Black" è sempre scritto con la maiuscola, mentre "white" sempre con la minuscola, e facendo un po' di ricerche scopro che è un modo per riconoscere l'identità comunitaria dei neri e prendere le distanze dal suprematismo bianco. Ok. Del resto il libro stesso parla spesso di "privilegio bianco" (oltre che "maschile") e si premura di indicare sempre il colore della pelle delle persone che racconta (ma è davvero così importante? io preferisco pensare che siamo tutti esseri umani).
Ma al di là di questa vaga ossessione con l'igiene lingusitica, il libro è comunque più equilibrato di quel che darebbe a sospettare dalle premesse. Certo, ha alcune fisse tipiche di certo attivismo contemporaneo: quella delle identità etniche, quella dell'oppressione, quella degli squilibri di potere, quella della sessualità come pericolo per la donna, ma sono fisse che non colorano tutta l'analisi o perlomeno non troppo a fondo.
Semmai, un difetto c'è soprattutto nel modo in cui il libro è costruito: è lungo, ma le sue pagine sono comunque poche per percorrere ben cinque secoli di storia, che a volte è riportata sì nel dettaglio, ma più spesso per brevi flash poco legati tra loro, con alcuni fatti o fenomeni costretti in appena poche righe. Inoltre a volte si mette a privilegiare la narrazione di vicende personali più che la ricostruzione di movimenti storici: serviva davvero spendere tutte quelle pagine per descrivere le ultime ore di vita, quasi minuto per minuto, di un attivista infettato dall'IHV? Sarà commovente ed esemplificativo, ma forse quello spazio poteva essere speso meglio.
Al di là del suo equilibrio, che c'è, in diversi passaggi il libro va comunque preso con cautela e dimostra di essere figlio del proprio tempo. Non ha le posizioni del femminismo radicale, quelle per cui la sessualità è inevitabilmente una forma di oppressione, anzi, di violenza dell'uomo verso la donna, non chiude le porte in faccia a fenomeni come la pornografia, ma in qualche modo vede comunque con sospetto anche il femminismo "sex-positive", che a suo dire non terrebbe abbastanza in considerazione i pericoli del sesso.
Ma è già il libro stesso a essere fortemente contestualizzato, a segnalare con non poca chiarezza da che parte vuole stare: nell'introduzione fa tutto un discorso sui pronomi; poi annuncia di usare il termine "persone schiavizzate" al posto di "schiavi", perché altrimenti si darebbe l'idea che la schiavitù sia connaturata all'individuo e questo è disumanizzante; poi, per riferirsi a chi viene dai paesi latinoamericani, usa il termine "latinx", con la "x", una tipica cosa inclusiva verso maschî e femmine (ma va detto che negli USA il termine "latinx" è usato soprattutto da attivisti e accademici, mentre molti degli stessi "latinx" manco sanno che esista). Ma soprattutto, procedendo con la lettura, mi accorgo che "Black" è sempre scritto con la maiuscola, mentre "white" sempre con la minuscola, e facendo un po' di ricerche scopro che è un modo per riconoscere l'identità comunitaria dei neri e prendere le distanze dal suprematismo bianco. Ok. Del resto il libro stesso parla spesso di "privilegio bianco" (oltre che "maschile") e si premura di indicare sempre il colore della pelle delle persone che racconta (ma è davvero così importante? io preferisco pensare che siamo tutti esseri umani).
Ma al di là di questa vaga ossessione con l'igiene lingusitica, il libro è comunque più equilibrato di quel che darebbe a sospettare dalle premesse. Certo, ha alcune fisse tipiche di certo attivismo contemporaneo: quella delle identità etniche, quella dell'oppressione, quella degli squilibri di potere, quella della sessualità come pericolo per la donna, ma sono fisse che non colorano tutta l'analisi o perlomeno non troppo a fondo.
Semmai, un difetto c'è soprattutto nel modo in cui il libro è costruito: è lungo, ma le sue pagine sono comunque poche per percorrere ben cinque secoli di storia, che a volte è riportata sì nel dettaglio, ma più spesso per brevi flash poco legati tra loro, con alcuni fatti o fenomeni costretti in appena poche righe. Inoltre a volte si mette a privilegiare la narrazione di vicende personali più che la ricostruzione di movimenti storici: serviva davvero spendere tutte quelle pagine per descrivere le ultime ore di vita, quasi minuto per minuto, di un attivista infettato dall'IHV? Sarà commovente ed esemplificativo, ma forse quello spazio poteva essere speso meglio.
Al di là del suo equilibrio, che c'è, in diversi passaggi il libro va comunque preso con cautela e dimostra di essere figlio del proprio tempo. Non ha le posizioni del femminismo radicale, quelle per cui la sessualità è inevitabilmente una forma di oppressione, anzi, di violenza dell'uomo verso la donna, non chiude le porte in faccia a fenomeni come la pornografia, ma in qualche modo vede comunque con sospetto anche il femminismo "sex-positive", che a suo dire non terrebbe abbastanza in considerazione i pericoli del sesso.
October 11, 2025
3.5
interesting subject but the presentation was a bit dry
interesting subject but the presentation was a bit dry
October 31, 2024
wow… literally a masterclass in narrative non fiction. should be required reading in every gender studies course and honestly in english classes cus this is how you write non fiction!!
this long 400 year account about how gender and sexuality has been viewed over the course of america was so well researched and gave me so many new places to start when deepening my own research… like wtf.. wdym the mormons were polygamist swingers who had to convert to monogamy in order for Utah to be a state??
it was also refreshing that as a white woman Davis didn’t shy away from including the histories of black men and women into this account…. especially how slavery influenced the way we view gender and sexuality today… all around 10s all across the board. the way it takes us all the way into the present of 2024 was scary too. you would think after the centuries of repression and violence to maintain order society would’ve progressed but the way she brings us into the present just highlights how necessary the institution of heterosexuality is to the white supremacist project and how they’ll do anything to maintain it…. crazy
this long 400 year account about how gender and sexuality has been viewed over the course of america was so well researched and gave me so many new places to start when deepening my own research… like wtf.. wdym the mormons were polygamist swingers who had to convert to monogamy in order for Utah to be a state??
it was also refreshing that as a white woman Davis didn’t shy away from including the histories of black men and women into this account…. especially how slavery influenced the way we view gender and sexuality today… all around 10s all across the board. the way it takes us all the way into the present of 2024 was scary too. you would think after the centuries of repression and violence to maintain order society would’ve progressed but the way she brings us into the present just highlights how necessary the institution of heterosexuality is to the white supremacist project and how they’ll do anything to maintain it…. crazy
December 14, 2025
Hi,
I hope all is progressing well.
Fierce Desires: A New History of Sex and Sexuality in America by Dr. Rebecca L. Davis, PhD, explores sex and sexuality in America excellently through explicit dynamics of social-legal connections, attending well to addressing relevance of the historical dynamics of which the text examines beyond implicit historical dynamics in relation to the contexts of the book. I decide to buy then read the book out of curiosity: how might the text navigate dynamics of sex and sexuality? When reading the text, I consider the concept of non-linear-geographical culture area alignments (considering the concept of culture areas from The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity by Dr. David Graeber, PhD, and Dr. David Wengrow, PhD), to consider extending possibilities of realities along the timelines the text navigates, more so to keep an imaginative open mind (of, what else might be happening elsewhere?) along the historical navigating within Fierce Desires: A New History of Sex and Sexuality in America by Dr. Rebecca L. Davis, PhD. The text explores a lot of the history of sex and sexuality in America without bias though of an arguably humanizing inquisitiveness as the text maintains a keen focus on dynamics of sex and sexuality through history in connection with violence (of all forms, not only of what one may consider of a/ physical dynamic[s]).
The text offers valuable insights of sex and sexuality in America though one may well-regard the dynamics of sex and sexuality in America are likely not the core factors affecting social-economical dynamics in America, especially considering a growing population of individuals seeking to navigate fiscal-social dimensions. The text offers subtle examinations of other social-economical considerations in line with fiscal-social dimensions though remains well-constant—without being tangential—of its course to inform of sex and sexuality in America in connection with violence (of all forms, not only of what one may consider of a/ physical dynamic[s]). There are many intricate psychological dynamics of spectrums of human beings which one may connect with contexts of the text though one may arguably find beyond the scope of the historical examination through the text though greatly connect to dynamics of violence. I find the text quite enjoyable to read, enlighteningly informative, and a fine pathway to comprehend dynamics of sex and sexuality in America, especially considering epigenetic dimensions. The text does not offer a thorough examination of sex and sexuality in connection with individuals with different abilities and/or needs (consider individuals experiencing a form of neurodivergence). There is one great legal area of importance which the text does not engage, not even theoretically (perhaps so as to not breach a historical framework): legal dynamics in connection with sex and sexuality which breach private health information (PHI) under Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). One of the greatest directions of a better-kinder-stabler humanity will be humanity able to live non-violently with multi-stability.
Additionally, I find the following texts may assist with further deliberating concepts of contexts within Fierce Desires: A New History of Sex and Sexuality in America by Dr. Rebecca L. Davis, PhD: The Pornography Wars: The Past, Present, and Future of America’s Obscene Obsession by Dr. Kelsy Burke, PhD, Come Together: The Science (and Art!) of Creating Lasting Sexual Connections by Dr. Emily Nagoski, PhD, It's Your Body: The Young Woman's Guide to Empowered Sexual Health by Dena Moes, RN, CNM, Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ by Dr. Daniel Goleman, PhD, All in Her Head: The Truth and Lies Early Medicine Taught Us About Women's Bodies and Why It Matters Today by Dr. Elizabeth Comen, MD, The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, MD, Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom: Creating Physical and Emotional Health and Healing (Newly Updated and Revised 5th Edition) by Dr. Christiane Northrup, M.D., The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander, JD, The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read (and Your Children Will Be Glad That You Did) by Philippa Perry, a Psychotherapist, The Girls' Guide to Growing Up Great: Changing Bodies, Periods, Relationships, Life Online by Sophie Elkan with Laura Chaisty and Dr. Maddy Podichetty as well as Illustrations by Flo Perry, Better Sex Through Mindfulness: How Women Can Cultivate Desire by Dr. Lori A. Brotto, Men's Complete Health Guide: Expert Answers to the Questions You Don't Always Ask by Dr. Neil H. Baum, MD, Dr. Scott D. Miller, MD, MBA, Dr. Mindi S. Miller, PharmD, and Dr. David F. Mobley, MD, FACS, The Penis Book: A Doctor's Complete Guide to the Penis—From Size to Function and Everything in Between by Dr. Aaron Spitz, M.D., A Man's Guide to Healthy Aging: Stay Smart, Strong, and Active (A Johns Hopkins Press Health Book) by Edward H. Thompson, Jr., and Lenard W. Kaye (with contributions from contributors which receive credits at the end of the book), Come As You Are (Revised and Updated): The Surprising New Science That Will Transform Your Sex Life by Dr. Emily Nagoski, Ph.D, The Joy of Sex by Dr. Alex Comfort, M.B., D.Sc., The MindBody Code: How to Change the Beliefs That Limit Your Health, Longevity, and Success by Dr. Mario Martinez, It Didn't Start with You: How Inherited Family Trauma Shapes Who We Are and How to End the Cycle by Mark Wolynn, You Are Not Broken: Stop "Should-ing" All Over Your Sex Life by Dr. KJ Casperson, MD, Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia by Dr. Sabrina Strings, PhD, Tantric Orgasm for Women by Diana Richardson, Love Worth Making: How to Have Ridiculously Great Sex in a Long-Lasting Relationship by Dr. Stephen Snyder, M.D., Urban Tantra: Sacred Sex for the Twenty-First Century by Barbara Carrellas, The Love Prescription: Seven Days to More Intimacy, Connection, and Joy by Dr. John Gottman, PhD, and Dr. Julie Schwartz Gottman, PhD, Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus: The Classic Guide to Understanding the Opposite Sex by Dr. John Gray, PhD, Why Good Sex Matters: Understanding the Neuroscience of Pleasure for a Smarter, Happier, and More Purpose-Filled Life by Dr. Nan Wise, PhD, The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan, Perv: The Sexual Deviant in All of Us by Dr. Jesse Bering, PhD, The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis, She Comes First: The Thinking Man's Guide to Pleasuring a Woman by Ian Kerner, Sexual Happiness for Women: A Practical Approach by Maurice Yaffe and Elizabeth Fenwick, The Ultimate Guide to Orgasm for Women: How to Become Orgasmic for a Lifetime by Mikaya Heart, Exploring Sexuality and Disability: A Guide for Human Service Professionals with contributions and edits by Dr. Shanna Katz Kattari, PhD, MEd, CSE (with further contributions from contributors which receive credits at the beginning of the book), The Science of Sex by Kate Moyle, a Psychosexual and Relationship Therapist, (illustrations by Jocelyn Covarrubias), The Sex Talk You Never Got: Reclaiming the Heart of Masculine Sexuality by Sam Jolman, MA, LPC, Sacred Sex Ed: For Presence, Pleasure, & Purposeful Relating by Leola, SEX EDUCATION FOR TEENAGERS: ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS YOU DON’T WANT TO ASK YOUR PARENTS ABOUT PUBERTY, DATING, AND STAYING SAFE by Riley Rhodes, The Right to Sex by Dr. Amia Srinivasan, PhD, and Hatha Yoga Pradipika: Light on Hatha Yoga by Yogi Swatmarama (in tandem with extensive exploratory commentary on the basis of practical research of Swami Muktibodhananda).
Onward and Upward,
Kevin Dufresne
www.Piatures.com
IG: @Dufreshest
I hope all is progressing well.
Fierce Desires: A New History of Sex and Sexuality in America by Dr. Rebecca L. Davis, PhD, explores sex and sexuality in America excellently through explicit dynamics of social-legal connections, attending well to addressing relevance of the historical dynamics of which the text examines beyond implicit historical dynamics in relation to the contexts of the book. I decide to buy then read the book out of curiosity: how might the text navigate dynamics of sex and sexuality? When reading the text, I consider the concept of non-linear-geographical culture area alignments (considering the concept of culture areas from The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity by Dr. David Graeber, PhD, and Dr. David Wengrow, PhD), to consider extending possibilities of realities along the timelines the text navigates, more so to keep an imaginative open mind (of, what else might be happening elsewhere?) along the historical navigating within Fierce Desires: A New History of Sex and Sexuality in America by Dr. Rebecca L. Davis, PhD. The text explores a lot of the history of sex and sexuality in America without bias though of an arguably humanizing inquisitiveness as the text maintains a keen focus on dynamics of sex and sexuality through history in connection with violence (of all forms, not only of what one may consider of a/ physical dynamic[s]).
The text offers valuable insights of sex and sexuality in America though one may well-regard the dynamics of sex and sexuality in America are likely not the core factors affecting social-economical dynamics in America, especially considering a growing population of individuals seeking to navigate fiscal-social dimensions. The text offers subtle examinations of other social-economical considerations in line with fiscal-social dimensions though remains well-constant—without being tangential—of its course to inform of sex and sexuality in America in connection with violence (of all forms, not only of what one may consider of a/ physical dynamic[s]). There are many intricate psychological dynamics of spectrums of human beings which one may connect with contexts of the text though one may arguably find beyond the scope of the historical examination through the text though greatly connect to dynamics of violence. I find the text quite enjoyable to read, enlighteningly informative, and a fine pathway to comprehend dynamics of sex and sexuality in America, especially considering epigenetic dimensions. The text does not offer a thorough examination of sex and sexuality in connection with individuals with different abilities and/or needs (consider individuals experiencing a form of neurodivergence). There is one great legal area of importance which the text does not engage, not even theoretically (perhaps so as to not breach a historical framework): legal dynamics in connection with sex and sexuality which breach private health information (PHI) under Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). One of the greatest directions of a better-kinder-stabler humanity will be humanity able to live non-violently with multi-stability.
Additionally, I find the following texts may assist with further deliberating concepts of contexts within Fierce Desires: A New History of Sex and Sexuality in America by Dr. Rebecca L. Davis, PhD: The Pornography Wars: The Past, Present, and Future of America’s Obscene Obsession by Dr. Kelsy Burke, PhD, Come Together: The Science (and Art!) of Creating Lasting Sexual Connections by Dr. Emily Nagoski, PhD, It's Your Body: The Young Woman's Guide to Empowered Sexual Health by Dena Moes, RN, CNM, Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ by Dr. Daniel Goleman, PhD, All in Her Head: The Truth and Lies Early Medicine Taught Us About Women's Bodies and Why It Matters Today by Dr. Elizabeth Comen, MD, The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, MD, Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom: Creating Physical and Emotional Health and Healing (Newly Updated and Revised 5th Edition) by Dr. Christiane Northrup, M.D., The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander, JD, The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read (and Your Children Will Be Glad That You Did) by Philippa Perry, a Psychotherapist, The Girls' Guide to Growing Up Great: Changing Bodies, Periods, Relationships, Life Online by Sophie Elkan with Laura Chaisty and Dr. Maddy Podichetty as well as Illustrations by Flo Perry, Better Sex Through Mindfulness: How Women Can Cultivate Desire by Dr. Lori A. Brotto, Men's Complete Health Guide: Expert Answers to the Questions You Don't Always Ask by Dr. Neil H. Baum, MD, Dr. Scott D. Miller, MD, MBA, Dr. Mindi S. Miller, PharmD, and Dr. David F. Mobley, MD, FACS, The Penis Book: A Doctor's Complete Guide to the Penis—From Size to Function and Everything in Between by Dr. Aaron Spitz, M.D., A Man's Guide to Healthy Aging: Stay Smart, Strong, and Active (A Johns Hopkins Press Health Book) by Edward H. Thompson, Jr., and Lenard W. Kaye (with contributions from contributors which receive credits at the end of the book), Come As You Are (Revised and Updated): The Surprising New Science That Will Transform Your Sex Life by Dr. Emily Nagoski, Ph.D, The Joy of Sex by Dr. Alex Comfort, M.B., D.Sc., The MindBody Code: How to Change the Beliefs That Limit Your Health, Longevity, and Success by Dr. Mario Martinez, It Didn't Start with You: How Inherited Family Trauma Shapes Who We Are and How to End the Cycle by Mark Wolynn, You Are Not Broken: Stop "Should-ing" All Over Your Sex Life by Dr. KJ Casperson, MD, Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia by Dr. Sabrina Strings, PhD, Tantric Orgasm for Women by Diana Richardson, Love Worth Making: How to Have Ridiculously Great Sex in a Long-Lasting Relationship by Dr. Stephen Snyder, M.D., Urban Tantra: Sacred Sex for the Twenty-First Century by Barbara Carrellas, The Love Prescription: Seven Days to More Intimacy, Connection, and Joy by Dr. John Gottman, PhD, and Dr. Julie Schwartz Gottman, PhD, Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus: The Classic Guide to Understanding the Opposite Sex by Dr. John Gray, PhD, Why Good Sex Matters: Understanding the Neuroscience of Pleasure for a Smarter, Happier, and More Purpose-Filled Life by Dr. Nan Wise, PhD, The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan, Perv: The Sexual Deviant in All of Us by Dr. Jesse Bering, PhD, The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis, She Comes First: The Thinking Man's Guide to Pleasuring a Woman by Ian Kerner, Sexual Happiness for Women: A Practical Approach by Maurice Yaffe and Elizabeth Fenwick, The Ultimate Guide to Orgasm for Women: How to Become Orgasmic for a Lifetime by Mikaya Heart, Exploring Sexuality and Disability: A Guide for Human Service Professionals with contributions and edits by Dr. Shanna Katz Kattari, PhD, MEd, CSE (with further contributions from contributors which receive credits at the beginning of the book), The Science of Sex by Kate Moyle, a Psychosexual and Relationship Therapist, (illustrations by Jocelyn Covarrubias), The Sex Talk You Never Got: Reclaiming the Heart of Masculine Sexuality by Sam Jolman, MA, LPC, Sacred Sex Ed: For Presence, Pleasure, & Purposeful Relating by Leola, SEX EDUCATION FOR TEENAGERS: ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS YOU DON’T WANT TO ASK YOUR PARENTS ABOUT PUBERTY, DATING, AND STAYING SAFE by Riley Rhodes, The Right to Sex by Dr. Amia Srinivasan, PhD, and Hatha Yoga Pradipika: Light on Hatha Yoga by Yogi Swatmarama (in tandem with extensive exploratory commentary on the basis of practical research of Swami Muktibodhananda).
Onward and Upward,
Kevin Dufresne
www.Piatures.com
IG: @Dufreshest
July 1, 2025
(This is my review for the Gay & Lesbian Review, July 2025, with a few additions.)
THE SUBTITLE of Fierce Desires announces an ambitious agenda: “A New History of Sex and Sexuality in America,” hinting at a challenge to John D’Emilio and Estelle Freedman’s influential book Intimate Matters: A History of Sexuality in America, first published in 1988 (with subsequent editions in 1998 and 2012), which conceptualizes American sexuality as the historical development of privacy, moving from the primacy of the family toward greater individualism. Rebecca Davis, a history professor at the University of Delaware, has set out to rethink the subject by integrating new scholarship that has widened the scope of attention to include nonwhite Americans and sexual minorities, and has brought to the fore a conceptual distinction between sex and gender.
Davis’ strategy is to recount this four-century history by telling stories. Eighteen generally chronological chapters, each dedicated to one person or a few people of interest, provide the guiding dots the reader is invited to connect. This strategy tends to favor the scandalous and the outrageous or dramatizes the pedestrian-- generally problematic in historiography, but especially unhelpful when it comes to writing about sexuality, a private domain on which public attention cast appears as a distortion. For instance, when Davis writes about erotic literature in America of the 19th century, it appears unnecessarily scandalous or sanctimonious. But why should the prevalence of "porn" be a surprise? Only the lack thereof may merit attention.
We begin in Colonial America, with a suggestive episode based on two pages of court proceedings in 1629 in Jamestown, Virginia. Following fornication allegations against an intersex English immigrant named Thomas or Thomasine Hall, the local court ordered that Hall be known formally in the community as both a man and a woman, and be recognized as such by donning a combination of female and male attire. Davis is critical of this ruling—somewhat contradicting her own rule against imposing 21st-century standards on past ages—charging that the court “effectively created a gender category, but in doing so mocked Hall’s identity.” And yet, one could argue that the court actually minimized innovation, resorting to the categories of man and woman, while reducing gender to a matter of clothing worn in public. And Hall’s identity? How little do we know about that! Still, I’d reckon that a person who crossed the ocean, shifted not once between places and forms of employment, and, yes, alternated between presentation as man and woman according to fancy or expediency, would not be given to be mocked easily.
The discussion of homosexuality in Colonial and early American law gives rise to some fascinating points: for example, that New Haven Colony, overly zealous even by Puritan standards, was the only Colonial jurisdiction to expressly outlaw sex between women (but only until 1664, when Connecticut absorbed New Haven, expiring the prohibition). Centuries later, the story of gay liberation and AIDS is told through the activist Steve (Kiyoshi) Kuromiya, who was born in 1943 in an internment camp for Japanese Americans in Wyoming. Kuromiya lived through the Civil Right Movement, anti-Vietnam War activism, the pre-Stonewall thrust for LGBT rights, the Gay Liberation era that followed, the advent of AIDS and ACT UP, and the push for medical marijuana legalization in the 1990s. Davis makes a point of Kuromiya being born in the nadir of official discrimination against Japanese Americans, but glosses over the American significance of the fact that Kurimiya turned an activist on campus at Penn, which he attended as a Benjamin Franklin Fellow on a full scholarship. Davis devotes over three pages (in a narrative of a little over 300 pages) to the agony of Kuromiya dying from AIDS complications, in 2000. To be sure, HIV has had an immense impact on sexuality, but is a hospital scene a reasonable way of channelling it?
The book ends with the recent trans culture war (the book came out before the 2024 election). This last item, alas, is a missed opportunity because the detailed discussion of gender affirming care and other trans health medical guidelines seems to be intended mainly as criticism of the anti-trans state law onslaught. This misses the mark twice over: first, a focus on political cliches distracts from the challenging dilemma of designing a liberal, scientifically-informed medical policy that is mindful of youngsters’ wishes while hewing to the Hippocrates do-no-harm principle. Second, it interprets noise as impact, thus misconstruing the particular and historical role of conservative backlash (awkwardly represented throughout the book by its most boorish and offensive reincarnations) in shaping social and political reality. The backlash is, to be sure, influential, but also defensive and reactive to perceptions of change.
An implicit question lingers as one reads this book. What is specifically American about American sexuality? Would a book about, say, Canadian sexuality—or Mexican, British, European, or global sexuality—be all that different, or is there something uniquely American about it? Davis’ approach is to focus on the racial history of the U.S., rendering the American story one of the interplay between oppression and liberation. Is America truly a “melting pot” when it comes to sexuality? Davis’ focus on power relations quietly replaces the tired old myth of the lingering impact of puritanism, which some people take as an explanation for American men trudging the beaches in baggy swimming trunks while their European counterparts sport revealing Speedos.
In the end, it is perhaps up to every reader to formulate their own answer. The conditions that Davis considers—political control, conservative backlash, the authority of science, among others—are all there for the weighing. One can cook these ingredients in numerous ways to varying effect, but the American sexual story, and our understanding of it, remains a work in progress.
THE SUBTITLE of Fierce Desires announces an ambitious agenda: “A New History of Sex and Sexuality in America,” hinting at a challenge to John D’Emilio and Estelle Freedman’s influential book Intimate Matters: A History of Sexuality in America, first published in 1988 (with subsequent editions in 1998 and 2012), which conceptualizes American sexuality as the historical development of privacy, moving from the primacy of the family toward greater individualism. Rebecca Davis, a history professor at the University of Delaware, has set out to rethink the subject by integrating new scholarship that has widened the scope of attention to include nonwhite Americans and sexual minorities, and has brought to the fore a conceptual distinction between sex and gender.
Davis’ strategy is to recount this four-century history by telling stories. Eighteen generally chronological chapters, each dedicated to one person or a few people of interest, provide the guiding dots the reader is invited to connect. This strategy tends to favor the scandalous and the outrageous or dramatizes the pedestrian-- generally problematic in historiography, but especially unhelpful when it comes to writing about sexuality, a private domain on which public attention cast appears as a distortion. For instance, when Davis writes about erotic literature in America of the 19th century, it appears unnecessarily scandalous or sanctimonious. But why should the prevalence of "porn" be a surprise? Only the lack thereof may merit attention.
We begin in Colonial America, with a suggestive episode based on two pages of court proceedings in 1629 in Jamestown, Virginia. Following fornication allegations against an intersex English immigrant named Thomas or Thomasine Hall, the local court ordered that Hall be known formally in the community as both a man and a woman, and be recognized as such by donning a combination of female and male attire. Davis is critical of this ruling—somewhat contradicting her own rule against imposing 21st-century standards on past ages—charging that the court “effectively created a gender category, but in doing so mocked Hall’s identity.” And yet, one could argue that the court actually minimized innovation, resorting to the categories of man and woman, while reducing gender to a matter of clothing worn in public. And Hall’s identity? How little do we know about that! Still, I’d reckon that a person who crossed the ocean, shifted not once between places and forms of employment, and, yes, alternated between presentation as man and woman according to fancy or expediency, would not be given to be mocked easily.
The discussion of homosexuality in Colonial and early American law gives rise to some fascinating points: for example, that New Haven Colony, overly zealous even by Puritan standards, was the only Colonial jurisdiction to expressly outlaw sex between women (but only until 1664, when Connecticut absorbed New Haven, expiring the prohibition). Centuries later, the story of gay liberation and AIDS is told through the activist Steve (Kiyoshi) Kuromiya, who was born in 1943 in an internment camp for Japanese Americans in Wyoming. Kuromiya lived through the Civil Right Movement, anti-Vietnam War activism, the pre-Stonewall thrust for LGBT rights, the Gay Liberation era that followed, the advent of AIDS and ACT UP, and the push for medical marijuana legalization in the 1990s. Davis makes a point of Kuromiya being born in the nadir of official discrimination against Japanese Americans, but glosses over the American significance of the fact that Kurimiya turned an activist on campus at Penn, which he attended as a Benjamin Franklin Fellow on a full scholarship. Davis devotes over three pages (in a narrative of a little over 300 pages) to the agony of Kuromiya dying from AIDS complications, in 2000. To be sure, HIV has had an immense impact on sexuality, but is a hospital scene a reasonable way of channelling it?
The book ends with the recent trans culture war (the book came out before the 2024 election). This last item, alas, is a missed opportunity because the detailed discussion of gender affirming care and other trans health medical guidelines seems to be intended mainly as criticism of the anti-trans state law onslaught. This misses the mark twice over: first, a focus on political cliches distracts from the challenging dilemma of designing a liberal, scientifically-informed medical policy that is mindful of youngsters’ wishes while hewing to the Hippocrates do-no-harm principle. Second, it interprets noise as impact, thus misconstruing the particular and historical role of conservative backlash (awkwardly represented throughout the book by its most boorish and offensive reincarnations) in shaping social and political reality. The backlash is, to be sure, influential, but also defensive and reactive to perceptions of change.
An implicit question lingers as one reads this book. What is specifically American about American sexuality? Would a book about, say, Canadian sexuality—or Mexican, British, European, or global sexuality—be all that different, or is there something uniquely American about it? Davis’ approach is to focus on the racial history of the U.S., rendering the American story one of the interplay between oppression and liberation. Is America truly a “melting pot” when it comes to sexuality? Davis’ focus on power relations quietly replaces the tired old myth of the lingering impact of puritanism, which some people take as an explanation for American men trudging the beaches in baggy swimming trunks while their European counterparts sport revealing Speedos.
In the end, it is perhaps up to every reader to formulate their own answer. The conditions that Davis considers—political control, conservative backlash, the authority of science, among others—are all there for the weighing. One can cook these ingredients in numerous ways to varying effect, but the American sexual story, and our understanding of it, remains a work in progress.
March 24, 2025
an easy b underwhelming read that i forced myself to finish while traveling. each chapter tells the story of a person that illustrates some facet of how their era saw sexuality. i admire the attempt at narrative and the book’s sweeping range, but the chapters lack sufficient synthesis and analysis — it’s not always clear what the point is or how certain trends change over time. i would’ve loved some exploration of the broader factors that shape govt and public attitudes towards sexuality (i.e. economic incentives, racial hierarchy) and the impact of cultural changes. in the absence of that historical work, the chapters can seem pointless, confused, and occasionally lurid. and what analysis you do see i sometimes found myself distrusting OR sharply disagreeing w — esp in part III.
what i enjoyed from the book, however, was the peek at the strange ways people viewed sexuality prior to our modern understanding of it as an identity + the emphasis on how dizzying and often self-contradictory messages abt sexuality are
what i enjoyed from the book, however, was the peek at the strange ways people viewed sexuality prior to our modern understanding of it as an identity + the emphasis on how dizzying and often self-contradictory messages abt sexuality are
April 10, 2025
Great, accessible writing about the history of sexuality in the US (compelling stories made this a quick read), but I probably wasn’t the audience. I was hoping for more analysis and interpretation of history. That was what made D’Emilio and Freedman’s Intimate Matters so wonderful! Much of this material was familiar from books like These Truths, Intimate Matters, and When Brooklyn Was Queer. For folks just getting into the history of sexuality, this could be awesome.
December 30, 2024
I need everyone to know that back in ye olde days of homophobia there was a secret group of therapists who were trying to help the rest of the American Psychological Association understand that being gay wasn’t a mental illness. That group’s name? The GayPA.
March 22, 2025
Interesting chronological look at cultural ideas regarding sexuality and gender/gender identity in the U.S. since the colonial era. I think I enjoyed reading about earlier history more than the more contemporary issues, just because I knew less about them. The book covers a range of topics: Spanish and English colonial powers' efforts to force Indigenous peoples to conform to their own norms around sex, family formation and gender; how these norms were wielded by people with power (i.e., white men) to control people with less (i.e., women, Black people, people who were enslaved, Indigenous people); the proliferation of erotic literature in early America (people weren't prude the way we imagine they were); the lack of a concept of, and thereby lack of explicit stigma regarding, homosexuality until around the late 1800s, which allowed for people to engage in same-sex intimate relationships; religious movements that challenged monogamy and/or encouraged or required multiple sex or marriage partners (e.g., Mormonism); Anthony Comstock and how the Comstock Act had social and health-related repercussions, especially for women; Alfred Kinsey and sex research in the mid-20th century that demonstrated that human sexuality is a spectrum, rather than a discrete binary; Betty Dodson and pro-sex feminism versus the anti-porn movement of the 1970s and 80s; forced sterilization of minoritized people; sexual harassment and abuse; and HIV and AIDS. The book ends with a laundry list of prevailing issues today, including transphobia and gender affirming care, exaggerated concerns over children's sexual and social "safety," young people not having much sex, porn (mis)shaping people's ideas about what constitutes healthy sex practices, incels, and polyamory.
February 13, 2025
My two start rating results from the average of four stars for its historical content, zero stars for the political narrative accompanying the history. I'm far left of center politically but still didn't find Davis' political arguments even partially convincing. Good history - bad polemics.
Not sure how this book got such good ratings, unless it was because some readers were glad to see their stories told here. The book starts slowly but picks up when the early chapters recount the basis for many of our laws on sex, obscenity, and "decency" late in the 19th century. I found that section of the book most interesting.
As a cis gender male, didn't know many specifics of the gay/trans liberation movements, other than what I've learned from friends who participated. Lots of detail about those issues but didn't really buy the tie-in between sexual freedom and political freedom. The political side of the story was definitely the thinnest gruel. Interesting stuff regardless. Just not buying all the connections and tie-ins Davis makes between her thesis and the supporting facts.
Two factual misstatements somehow got past the Norton editors. Carol Mosely Braun took Alan Dixon's Senate seat, NOT John Dixon (p. 304). Second, Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk sits in the Northern District Court in Amarillo, TX, not in Oklahoma.(p. 344) Pedantic maybe. However, if two such low hanging pieces of fruit are incorrect, what does that suggest about the rest of the manuscript?
Not sure how this book got such good ratings, unless it was because some readers were glad to see their stories told here. The book starts slowly but picks up when the early chapters recount the basis for many of our laws on sex, obscenity, and "decency" late in the 19th century. I found that section of the book most interesting.
As a cis gender male, didn't know many specifics of the gay/trans liberation movements, other than what I've learned from friends who participated. Lots of detail about those issues but didn't really buy the tie-in between sexual freedom and political freedom. The political side of the story was definitely the thinnest gruel. Interesting stuff regardless. Just not buying all the connections and tie-ins Davis makes between her thesis and the supporting facts.
Two factual misstatements somehow got past the Norton editors. Carol Mosely Braun took Alan Dixon's Senate seat, NOT John Dixon (p. 304). Second, Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk sits in the Northern District Court in Amarillo, TX, not in Oklahoma.(p. 344) Pedantic maybe. However, if two such low hanging pieces of fruit are incorrect, what does that suggest about the rest of the manuscript?
May 15, 2025
As the subtitle suggests, this is a history of sex and sexuality in America. What Davis demonstrates is that there has been diverse sexual expression since the earliest aspects of American culture and, often, it was treated as fairly moral and even decent (to use the old word for sexually appropriate). This kind of history is not part of my normal reading diet, so to speak, but, as a Christian, it was a helpful to dip my toes into this book to hear not merely theoretical accounts (so Trueman) as how we are where we are as a society regarding sexuality but actually stories and accounts of real people, events, publications, etc. Beyond history, I found her final comments in the last chapter about the complexity attending sexual expression in the second decade of the 21st century helpful. It is a graphic enough of a book that I would definitely recommend it only for an adult audience.
April 17, 2025
This is a great book to read if you are taking your first step into this expansive subject. I’ve read a couple of books that touch on this so I knew a good chunk of the information in here, but it was easy to follow and I liked the way that the chapters flowed into each other. The photographs were also a pleasant surprise! With how many years this book covers, you get a lot of info in only 350 pages, and as it is an (inclusive!) overview you learn about a lot of people and events that you can use as a jumping off point for more learning.
I’m just not sure why the title of the book is “Fierce Desires.” The subtitle is much more accurate.
I’m just not sure why the title of the book is “Fierce Desires.” The subtitle is much more accurate.
October 7, 2025
I really enjoyed the first half, because all of that information was new to me. Well-researched and fascinating!
Understandably, she focuses more on sexual outliers because those are the stories that end up in the historical record. We learn a little about “average” people’s attitudes towards sex, but I wish we learned more.
I didn’t like the last section on contemporary sex politics. I felt like she was rushing to a lot of conclusions without backing them up (conclusions that I agree with, but still, that’s bad writing). And I’m already familiar with that history, so I was bored.
Still worth reading for the older history!
Understandably, she focuses more on sexual outliers because those are the stories that end up in the historical record. We learn a little about “average” people’s attitudes towards sex, but I wish we learned more.
I didn’t like the last section on contemporary sex politics. I felt like she was rushing to a lot of conclusions without backing them up (conclusions that I agree with, but still, that’s bad writing). And I’m already familiar with that history, so I was bored.
Still worth reading for the older history!
November 24, 2024
This book is a tour de force. The author provides a sweeping and surprising overview of the history of sexuality in America, often using fascinating individual (and little-known) stories to illustrate larger themes. I was particularly impressed by its very nuanced approach to how issues such as race and class intersected with issues of gender and sexuality: the author shows that the history of sexuality is not monolithic but rather varied and shaped by multiple factors. This is an authoritative history that anyone interested in the subject should read.
November 18, 2024
Rebecca L. Davis's "Fierce Desires: A New History of Sex and Sexuality in America" provides a fascinating look at American struggles over sexual identity and expression. Starting with seventeenth-century English settlers in New England and Virginia to present-day America, Davis writes about which kinds of sex are "acceptable" and which are not. Davis also considers the development of American sexual identity. Readers interested in this aspect of American life should seek "Fierce Desires."
December 23, 2024
A fairly, despite it's title, clinical dissertation on the nature, existance, and legislation of interactions of a 'sexual' nature in the environs of the United States. Using individual examples found throughout history to make points about how laws were encated, effected people, were the fought against, sometimes overturned, and sometimes return, it seems to say keep your eyes open to overreach by viewing history. How well that's working is a bit of a head-scratcher.
February 10, 2025
One of the most well-researched and inclusive texts on the history of sexuality. As a historian, this is exactly the type of historical research I love to do and read. I could barely put the book down. It was incredible to see queer history so well integrated into history of sexuality - the historiography of which is often separated.
March 1, 2025
Quite an insightful read on how the American perspective on sex and gender have changed (or rather not changed) over the course of hundreds of years, touching upon the eras of colonialism, slavery, and the sexual liberation movement. It explores the concept of gender identity and sexuality, noting figures who were likely to be the pioneers of their respective eras.
December 19, 2024
If you have read much on the subject of the history of attitudes around sexuality in this country you will not find much new here. In fact, the book is strangely boring given the topic. However it may be informative for some and I can’t complain about the research.
February 14, 2025
The first part of the book contained more detail than captured my interest. The second half of the book was more interesting because it dealt more directly with contemporary issues. Still, it was at times a bit of a slog.
April 5, 2025
This was surprisingly boring for the subject matter. It felt way longer than it needed to be and the author's attempt to make sure no one was offended by how people were being described made it insufferable to read.
July 10, 2025
Informative and accessible social history demonstrating the constant strife and diversity of sex in America. Strong focus on oppressive laws, cultural and political defiance, and how these two forces have shaped and reshaped collective understanding of sexual desire and liberation across generations. While the book itself may not be overly remarkable, the ideas, movements, and individual stories that animate it certainly are. And the book's value as a complex and divergent historical overview is more than apparent.
July 18, 2025
This book was a fun history of sexuality. I do think the other could have gone a little deeper on some of the topics, but maybe the point was to be an introductory summary of various movements and evolutions.
February 7, 2025
A new telling of how America got to its current space around sexuality
May 18, 2025
Enjoyable update on the classic Intimate Matters, by D'Emilio and Freedman. Topic focused, with several interesting biographies along the way.
June 13, 2025
Packed full of information, so valuable and so important.
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