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What Wild Ecstasy: The Rise and Fall of the Sexual Revolution
From the former editor of Penthouse Forum comes a detailed exploration of the sexual revolution and its issues, including the works of Masters and Johnson, Deep Throat, controversy over freedom of expression, and the rights of gays and lesbians. 35,000 first printing.
448 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1977
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About the author
John Heidenry
13 books4 followersFounding editor of St. Louis Magazine and the St. Louis Literary Supplement. Former executive editor of The Week.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 4, 2011
This is not the definitive history of the post-WWII sexual "revolution" in American culture, but it is certainly a good read and has led me in positive directions.
While in general agreement with libertarian political and legal attitudes about sex, I'm personally rather conservative in behavior and pretty much inexperienced so far as anything beyond conventional heterosexual monogamy. Living in Illinois, the state which, thanks to the Playboy Foundation, first liberalized laws governing sex between consenting adults, I've probably never even broken the law. For me, the idea of sex without love is an uncomfortable one. I have it well, and plausibly, rationalized in terms of the common emotional importance of sex, possible pregnancies and disease transmission, but, honestly, I'm prejudiced by very questionable romantic ideals and the painful consequences to my family of maternal infidelities.
Of course, I lived through the revolution he speaks of and it certainly influenced me--more, in fact, than I knew before reading the book. Womens' Liberation was simply a given, like anti-imperialism, and so were gay rights and the like. Indeed, I belonged to a Mens' Group in college which was dominated by gays and tried, quite unsuccessfully, to overcome my heterosexualism. The pill was commonplace by the time I entered college. Indeed, I met one of its originators at my girlfriend's home, her family being friends with his. The clitoral orgasm was well-established. Indeed, until reading Freud, I had been unaware that it had ever been controversial. Pornography was readily available, even to children willing to make just a little effort. Sex was commonly discussed--even by me, but only after losing my virginity in college.
But the business of free love, despite the virtual absence of any really serious STD during the seventies, the free and easy love-making chronicled in the book, was, to me and to most, but not all, of my friends, more a matter of theory than of practice. Indeed, most of my male friends lost their virginity in college or later and effectively practiced serial monogamy. Infidelity was a matter of shame and guilt. Yet we, the radicals and the freaks, were rather more openly loving and kind than our parents. It was not uncommon for men to hold one another affectionately--despite the prevailing homophobia. Hugs at greetings and partings were often heartfelt and much more than perfunctory.
I had expected, even hoped for, some titillation upon picking this volume up at the local used bookstore, Armadillo's Pillow. That expectation was disappointed, but more than made up for by the text.
Part of What Wild Ecstasy is about the relevant sciences, part about the laws, part about the politics and part about the business of sex. All are interwoven along with a few primary figures who come up again and again, some well-known, some unknown to me prior to reading. This interweaving technique makes for an engrossing experience as one is never bored by too much at once about a single topic and is often inspired to continue on to find out what happens next when he returns to a discarded thread of the discussion.
Ecstasy includes a lot of laughs. Some of it is simply funny or absurd. Other parts, however, are darkly amusing--particularly the repeated instances of members of the Christian Right being caught out a hypocrites, if not criminals. But the book can also be quite serious.
For me the high point was in reading the account of a transexual in the fifties, a female embodied as a male. I've really known a transexual, been exposed to that subculture or even thought about it much, but Heidenry got me into her story, the pathos of it, so much that I wept for her. Any book than can get me into another's head like he appeared to do in that account, particularly when the other is so initially alien, even off-putting, deserves much praise.
Finally...the spoiler. If the book has a point, it is the repeated discovery (often referenced to sexual athletes) that affectionately open physical contact between people, not sex per se, is what is most important.
While in general agreement with libertarian political and legal attitudes about sex, I'm personally rather conservative in behavior and pretty much inexperienced so far as anything beyond conventional heterosexual monogamy. Living in Illinois, the state which, thanks to the Playboy Foundation, first liberalized laws governing sex between consenting adults, I've probably never even broken the law. For me, the idea of sex without love is an uncomfortable one. I have it well, and plausibly, rationalized in terms of the common emotional importance of sex, possible pregnancies and disease transmission, but, honestly, I'm prejudiced by very questionable romantic ideals and the painful consequences to my family of maternal infidelities.
Of course, I lived through the revolution he speaks of and it certainly influenced me--more, in fact, than I knew before reading the book. Womens' Liberation was simply a given, like anti-imperialism, and so were gay rights and the like. Indeed, I belonged to a Mens' Group in college which was dominated by gays and tried, quite unsuccessfully, to overcome my heterosexualism. The pill was commonplace by the time I entered college. Indeed, I met one of its originators at my girlfriend's home, her family being friends with his. The clitoral orgasm was well-established. Indeed, until reading Freud, I had been unaware that it had ever been controversial. Pornography was readily available, even to children willing to make just a little effort. Sex was commonly discussed--even by me, but only after losing my virginity in college.
But the business of free love, despite the virtual absence of any really serious STD during the seventies, the free and easy love-making chronicled in the book, was, to me and to most, but not all, of my friends, more a matter of theory than of practice. Indeed, most of my male friends lost their virginity in college or later and effectively practiced serial monogamy. Infidelity was a matter of shame and guilt. Yet we, the radicals and the freaks, were rather more openly loving and kind than our parents. It was not uncommon for men to hold one another affectionately--despite the prevailing homophobia. Hugs at greetings and partings were often heartfelt and much more than perfunctory.
I had expected, even hoped for, some titillation upon picking this volume up at the local used bookstore, Armadillo's Pillow. That expectation was disappointed, but more than made up for by the text.
Part of What Wild Ecstasy is about the relevant sciences, part about the laws, part about the politics and part about the business of sex. All are interwoven along with a few primary figures who come up again and again, some well-known, some unknown to me prior to reading. This interweaving technique makes for an engrossing experience as one is never bored by too much at once about a single topic and is often inspired to continue on to find out what happens next when he returns to a discarded thread of the discussion.
Ecstasy includes a lot of laughs. Some of it is simply funny or absurd. Other parts, however, are darkly amusing--particularly the repeated instances of members of the Christian Right being caught out a hypocrites, if not criminals. But the book can also be quite serious.
For me the high point was in reading the account of a transexual in the fifties, a female embodied as a male. I've really known a transexual, been exposed to that subculture or even thought about it much, but Heidenry got me into her story, the pathos of it, so much that I wept for her. Any book than can get me into another's head like he appeared to do in that account, particularly when the other is so initially alien, even off-putting, deserves much praise.
Finally...the spoiler. If the book has a point, it is the repeated discovery (often referenced to sexual athletes) that affectionately open physical contact between people, not sex per se, is what is most important.
October 30, 2017
They said that the birth control pill would change everything. It almost did, for a decade or two, until STDs, libidinal burnout, and the Meese Commission put a stop to the fun. This book is a historical overview of those years, with elements of sociology and sexology. A history of the changes, good and bad, during “the giddy decade” when sex came out of the closet. Changes in sexual mores, in hemlines, in permissiveness. The growth of the pornography industry. The evolution of porn from artful erotica to “full-frontal” and hard core. Women’s liberation, LGBT liberation. Free-love cults, swinging clubs, wife swapping, orgies and group sex. Reactions to the changes from the Religious Right and radical feminists.
Here are discussions of censorship, adultery, abortion, AIDS, prostitution, bizarre sex practices, and many other topics. Sex researchers such as Masters and Johnson. Pornographers and porn actors. Is pornography demeaning to women? Does it incite to rape? Does the Mafia control the porn business? Is sex therapy legitimate or a scam? Can sexual orientation be changed by therapy? How prevalent is homosexuality? These are only a few of the issues discussed. Are sex surveys such as the Kinsey Report to be believed?
Some stats from various surveys:
One in three or four women has had an abortion. (page 125)
Three out of ten pregnancies end in abortions. (122)
Two thirds of white males have had sex with prostitutes. (21)
Median number of sex partners over a lifetime: 7.3. (354)
Median frequency of intercourse: once per week. (354)
The author calls for sexual freedom, a permanent sexual revolution emancipated from false inhibitions, guilt, and hang-ups. He wants to rescue sexuality from the grips of “politicians, clergies, and ideologues.” His book covers human sexuality from just about every angle, normal and abnormal. It is fair and sympathetic to sexual minorities.
Recommended to readers who would like to understand those years and those changes. Could be better organized but the research is good and the writing is excellent. The topic is interesting, though sordid at times in its excesses. Not recommended to prudes. I wish the type fonts were larger and easier to read, but they are readable. Indexed and sourced, but no illustrations.
Here are discussions of censorship, adultery, abortion, AIDS, prostitution, bizarre sex practices, and many other topics. Sex researchers such as Masters and Johnson. Pornographers and porn actors. Is pornography demeaning to women? Does it incite to rape? Does the Mafia control the porn business? Is sex therapy legitimate or a scam? Can sexual orientation be changed by therapy? How prevalent is homosexuality? These are only a few of the issues discussed. Are sex surveys such as the Kinsey Report to be believed?
Some stats from various surveys:
One in three or four women has had an abortion. (page 125)
Three out of ten pregnancies end in abortions. (122)
Two thirds of white males have had sex with prostitutes. (21)
Median number of sex partners over a lifetime: 7.3. (354)
Median frequency of intercourse: once per week. (354)
The author calls for sexual freedom, a permanent sexual revolution emancipated from false inhibitions, guilt, and hang-ups. He wants to rescue sexuality from the grips of “politicians, clergies, and ideologues.” His book covers human sexuality from just about every angle, normal and abnormal. It is fair and sympathetic to sexual minorities.
Recommended to readers who would like to understand those years and those changes. Could be better organized but the research is good and the writing is excellent. The topic is interesting, though sordid at times in its excesses. Not recommended to prudes. I wish the type fonts were larger and easier to read, but they are readable. Indexed and sourced, but no illustrations.
October 17, 2012
"[B]y 1980, three out of every ten pregnancies in the United States ended in abortion." (122)
"'Underneath every bit of distorted, grotesque behavior, I always found a little bit of human simplicity.'" (quoting Wilhelm Reich, 166)
"Hard-core box office receipts now [mid-1970s] accounted for 17 percent of the motion picture industry, with grows revenues in excess of $500 million. As an industry, pornography (including soft-core) had con from under-the-counter obscurity to a $2 billion high profile in less than ten years." (210)
"A survey of New York City [AIDS] victims found that, during an average month in the year they came down with the disease, each gay victim had an average of ten or more partners." (337)
"'Underneath every bit of distorted, grotesque behavior, I always found a little bit of human simplicity.'" (quoting Wilhelm Reich, 166)
"Hard-core box office receipts now [mid-1970s] accounted for 17 percent of the motion picture industry, with grows revenues in excess of $500 million. As an industry, pornography (including soft-core) had con from under-the-counter obscurity to a $2 billion high profile in less than ten years." (210)
"A survey of New York City [AIDS] victims found that, during an average month in the year they came down with the disease, each gay victim had an average of ten or more partners." (337)
January 8, 2010
copy p 183-to 185 for distribution to AASECT local
I quickly decided there was much I couldn't verify so I turned to the section on SM. He has no idea what he is talking about. He clearly is not experienced in the communities of sex and he evidently doesn't even know whom to ask.
He seems to focus on court cases and media issues
From the former editor of Penthouse Forum comes a detailed exploration of the sexual revolution and its issues, including the works of Masters and Johnson, Deep Throat, controversy over freedom of expression, and the rights of gays and lesbians. 35,000 first printing.
Index has several listings for IASHS, SAR and Exedus Trust DHS.
see p 183
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews