What do you think?
Rate this book
Impotence: A Cultural History
As anyone who has watched television in recent years can attest, we live in the age of Viagra. From Bob Dole to Mike Ditka to late-night comedians, our culture has been engaged in one long, frank, and very public talk about impotence—and our newfound pharmaceutical solutions. But as Angus McLaren shows us in Impotence, the first cultural history of the subject, the failure of men to rise to the occasion has been a recurrent topic since the dawn of human culture.
Drawing on a dazzling range of sources from across centuries, McLaren demonstrates how male sexuality was constructed around the idea of potency, from times past when it was essential for the purpose of siring children, to today, when successful sex is viewed as a component of a healthy emotional life. Along the way, Impotence enlightens and fascinates with tales of sexual failure and its remedies—for example, had Ditka lived in ancient Mesopotamia, he might have recited spells while eating roots and plants rather than pills—and explanations, which over the years have included witchcraft, shell-shock, masturbation, feminism, and the Oedipal complex. McLaren also explores the surprising political and social effects of impotence, from the revolutionary unrest fueled by Louis XVI’s failure to consummate his marriage to the boost given the fledgling American republic by George Washington’s failure to found a dynasty. Each age, McLaren shows, turns impotence to its own purposes, using it to help define what is normal and healthy for men, their relationships, and society.
From marraige manuals to metrosexuals, from Renaissance Italy to Hollywood movies, Impotence is a serious but highly entertaining examination of a problem that humanity has simultaneously regarded as life’s greatest tragedy and its greatest joke.
350 pages, Hardcover
First published April 15, 2007
About the author
Angus McLaren
30 books3 followersAngus McLaren is professor emeritus of history at the University of Victoria, British Columbia, and a leading historian of sexuality.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
September 16, 2017
FYI - Only read relevant chapters to my research
Book is an long chronological look at male impotence in the Western world. McLaren's research ranges from Ancient Greece and Rome to medieval Christian texts, sexual humor in 17th-century England, 19th-century medical texts, and the modern day coverage of Viagra. He focuses primarily on England and the United States, drawing from other related periods and places as needed. McLaren is correct that more attention needs to be paid to male sexuality and male bodies throughout history; he posits his work against the many works that have interrogated female sexuality and bodies, leaving (and some even arguing) that male sexuality and bodies have remained static throughout history. McLaren follows this focus throughout the book by only looking at male impotence and how people and cultures have explained it and given it meaning in society, but this presents the same problem McLaren charged others with. I wish he had made connections between male and female "sexual problems" and why male impotence, opposed to female sexual "problems", became dominant in society. Or, while explaining how impotence had different diagnoses and lack of a clear definition over the centuries, how it was different to or similar to female barrenness or other "sexual problems".
McLaren's work is accessible and clearly organized; each chapter covers a different period and with a well-crafted argument. It is a strong overview of this little studied subject, providing a good starting point for anyone interested in the topic or needs to know where to find other existing scholarly work on the subject.
Book is an long chronological look at male impotence in the Western world. McLaren's research ranges from Ancient Greece and Rome to medieval Christian texts, sexual humor in 17th-century England, 19th-century medical texts, and the modern day coverage of Viagra. He focuses primarily on England and the United States, drawing from other related periods and places as needed. McLaren is correct that more attention needs to be paid to male sexuality and male bodies throughout history; he posits his work against the many works that have interrogated female sexuality and bodies, leaving (and some even arguing) that male sexuality and bodies have remained static throughout history. McLaren follows this focus throughout the book by only looking at male impotence and how people and cultures have explained it and given it meaning in society, but this presents the same problem McLaren charged others with. I wish he had made connections between male and female "sexual problems" and why male impotence, opposed to female sexual "problems", became dominant in society. Or, while explaining how impotence had different diagnoses and lack of a clear definition over the centuries, how it was different to or similar to female barrenness or other "sexual problems".
McLaren's work is accessible and clearly organized; each chapter covers a different period and with a well-crafted argument. It is a strong overview of this little studied subject, providing a good starting point for anyone interested in the topic or needs to know where to find other existing scholarly work on the subject.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review