|
The Invention of Heterosexuality |  | Author: Jonathan Ned Katz
Publisher: University Of Chicago Press
Category: Book
List Price: $16.00
Buy Used: $2.90
as of 9/8/2010 03:31 CDT details
You Save: $13.10 (82%)
Seller: belltowerbooks
Rating:  reviews
Media: Paperback
Pages: 305
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.8
ISBN: 0226426017
Dewey Decimal Number: 306.760918210904
EAN: 9780226426013
ASIN: 0226426017
Publication Date: June 15, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
| | |
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
“Heterosexuality,” assumed to denote a universal sexual and cultural norm, has been largely exempt from critical scrutiny. In this boldly original work, Jonathan Ned Katz challenges the common notion that the distinction between heterosexuality and homosexuality has been a timeless one. Building on the history of medical terminology, he reveals that as late as 1923, the term “heterosexuality” referred to a "morbid sexual passion," and that its current usage emerged to legitimate men and women having sex for pleasure. Drawing on the works of Sigmund Freud, James Baldwin, Betty Friedan, and Michel Foucault, The Invention of Heterosexuality considers the effects of heterosexuality’s recently forged primacy on both scientific literature and popular culture. “Lively and provocative.”—Carol Tavris, New York Times Book Review “A valuable primer . . . misses no significant twists in sexual politics.”—Gary Indiana, Village Voice Literary Supplement “One of the most important—if not outright subversive—works to emerge from gay and lesbian studies in years.”—Mark Thompson, The Advocate
|
| Customer Reviews:
 Turning the tables August 22, 2001
Hugo Schwyzer (Pasadena, CA USA)
26 out of 28 found this review helpful
Though I confess to some sympathy towards the "queer essentialist" side of the ledger, Katz's "Invention of Heterosexuality" is a clever, daring, and wonderfully readable account of the construction of heterosexual identity. This is a fine text for undergraduates new to the study of historical sexuality, perhaps so much so because it is both scholarly and accessible. Katz does a fine job of skewering Foucault for "his highly abstract level of discourse, his elusive prose, and his unwillingness to clarify his meaning with sufficient concrete examples." As a historian of sexuality who is a bit tired of our late French friend, Katz's words elicited a hearty "amen" from me! All things considered, a worthy (and brief) contribution to the field, with a daring new angle.
 Rare, Critical Look at "Normal" August 10, 2001
Rebecca Young (New York, NY)
13 out of 14 found this review helpful
Jonathan Katz is a scrupulous, witty historian who gets better with every book. In "The Invention of Heterosexuality," Katz takes up one of the most neglected tasks in scholarship on sexuality, which is to look directly at what is considered 'normal', how it got to be considered normal, and how that norm has changed over time. This book is deceptively easy to read, given how challenging it is to dominant assumptions about sexuality. I recommend it highly!
good intro to the social construction of sexuality November 21, 2000
Lumi (The Frigid Midwest)
12 out of 13 found this review helpful
For those who believe that heterosexuality and homosexuality are timeless orientations, this book is a useful eye-opener. Katz traces the development of the idea of a homosexual identity, paying attention to the role played by psychoanalysis and sexology. This is a readable book, not off-puttingly jargon-filled.
|
|
|
CERTAIN CONTENT THAT APPEARS ON THIS SITE COMES FROM AMAZON SERVICES LLC. THIS CONTENT IS PROVIDED ‘AS IS’ AND IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE OR REMOVAL AT ANY TIME. | |
