Estelle B. Freedman - Intimate Matters: A History of Sexuality in America

Intimate Matters

A HISTORY OF SEXUALITY IN AMERICA

Third Edition

John DEmilio and Estelle B. Freedman

THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS
CHICAGO & LONDON

for Jim and for Susan

The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637
The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London

Copyright 1988, 1997, 2012 by John DEmilio and Estelle B. Freedman
All rights reserved. Originally published 1988.
Second Edition 1997
Third Edition 2012
Printed in the United States of America

21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 1 2 3 4 5

ISBN-13: 978-0-226-92380-2 (paper)
ISBN-13: 978-0-226-92381-9 (e-book)

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

DEmilio, John.
Intimate matters : a history of sexuality in America / John DEmilio and Estelle B. Freedman. Third edition.
pages. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-226-92380-2 (pbk. : alk. paper) ISBN 978-0-226-92381-9 (e-book) 1. Sex customsUnited StatesHistory. I. Freedman, Estelle B., 1947 II. Title.
HQ18.U5D45 2012
306.70973dc23

2012022897

This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (Permanence of Paper).

Preface to the Third Edition

We had three purposes in mind when we first wrote Intimate Matters: to provide legitimacy for the emerging field of sexual history; to clarify what was known at the time by constructing an interpretive framework; and, in synthesizing current knowledge of sexuality in US history, to reveal what subjects required further investigation. The publication of this third edition has given us an opportunity to assess these goals, to suggest the direction the field has taken since the book originally appeared in 1988, and to bring the historical narrative up to the early twenty-first century.

When we decided to undertake an interpretive synthesis of the history of sexuality, we sensed that this small scholarly field was poised to take off in both volume and scope. The new social history of the 1960s and 1970s was encouraging the study of everyday life, while a burgeoning literature on womens history further legitimated explorations of sexuality in the past. We did not anticipate, however, how quickly the field would mature. Measured by scholarly publications alone, the history of sexuality soon became a growth industry. In 1990, the Journal of the History of Sexuality began publication; in 1993, the Journal of American History created a new subject category on sexuality to list recent scholarly articles and dissertations in this field, along with another new category for studies of gay and lesbian history.

In the meantime, both commercial and university presses have created publication series devoted to the study of sexuality and inclusive of its history. While European studies have dominated the Oxford University Press series Studies in the History of Sexuality, the Gender and Sexuality series of the University of Although we cannot take credit for this scholarly explosion, we are delighted that our early hopes of an invigorated historical investigation of sexuality have been far exceeded. We are equally pleased that the history of sexuality has infiltrated mainstream scholarship, although not yet to the extent that it might.

Revisiting Intimate Matters for the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of its publication, we were pleased to find that our overall interpretation remains persuasive. We argued, for instance, that the dominant meaning of sexuality changed over the course of US history from a primary association with reproduction within families to a primary association with emotional intimacy and individual physical pleasure. The growth of a commercial economy helped encourage this shift, which occurred in different ways for different social groups. Simultaneously, sexuality often served to perpetuate social hierarchies, especially those of gender, class, and race. The transformation from a reproductive, familial society to a more individualistic, commercialized and, indeed, deeply sexualized one has engendered recurrent efforts to redefine and/or regulate sexual morality. In the twentieth century these efforts have become highly politicized, both locally and nationally.

While the contours of our interpretation remain, in this edition we have made two kinds of revisions. First, we have brought the story up to date in the final two chapters, taking into account the decades surrounding the turn of the twenty-first century. Second, in an afterword we offer a review of the historical literature on sexuality that has appeared since the initial publication of this book, expanding upon a briefer review that appeared in the second edition. This new essay, which updates the original bibliography, explores how recent scholarship supplements, confirms, or challenges the interpretive framework offered in the original edition.

In completing these tasks we had the able assistance of Zachary Blair, Annelise Heinz, Catherine Jacquet, Stephen Seely, and Jason Stodolka; the thoughtful feedback from Leila Rupp; and the continuing support of our editor at the University of Chicago Press, Doug Mitchell. We thank all of them, as well as the students who have taken our courses on the history of sexuality at the University of IllinoisChicago and at Stanford University. As always, we remain deeply grateful to our respective partners, Jim Oleson and Susan Krieger.

John DEmilio

Chicago

Estelle B. Freedman

San Francisco

Acknowledgments

In the course of writing this book, we have incurred numerous debts. The list of colleagues and friends who have read the manuscript in various stages of composition and have offered invaluable criticisms is long. We thank Allan Brub, Albert Camarillo, Clay Carson, Antonia Castaeda, Carl Degler, Mary Felstiner, Bert Hansen, Margo Horn, Susan Krieger, Mary Beth Norton, Jim Oleson, Elizabeth Pleck, Deborah Rhode, Ellen Rothman, Mary Ryan, Katherine Stern, and Jack Winkler for reading drafts of chapters. Nancy Cott, William Chafe, Lisa Duggan, Emily Honig, Jonathan Katz, Elaine Tyler May, and Sharon Thompson gave us useful comments on the entire manuscript. We are also grateful to a series of able graduate research assistants who greatly facilitated our work: Allida Black, Phil Ethington, Meg Johnson, Sue Lynn, Peggy Pascoe, Julie Reuben, and Mary Wood. David Lubin offered helpful advice on visual sources. Martin Duberman, Noralee Frankel, Elaine Tyler May, Mary Beth Norton, Elizabeth Pleck, and Laurel Ulrich generously shared sources from their own research.

The staffs of the libraries at Stanford University and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro have been extremely helpful in tracking down obscure references. Those at the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Reproduction, and Gender at Bloomington and the Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library at Radcliffe College made research visits there efficient and profitable. A summer fellowship from the UNCG Excellence Foundation, a semesters freedom from teaching, and a fellowship for the Study of Modern Society and Values from the American Council of Learned Societies provided John DEmilio time and money necessary for completing this book. Fellowships from the American Association of University Women and the Stanford Humanities Center gave Estelle Freedman a critical year during which to work on the book. A Pew Foundation Grant from Stanford University provided funds for travel and research; a faculty grant from the Program in Feminist Studies at Stanford made possible bibliographical assistance. The Academic Computer Center at UNCG and Instructional Research and Information Systems at Stanford gave us valuable instruction, funds, and equipment for preparing the manuscript. The students in our courses on the history of sexuality have encouraged us greatly, while the history club of UNCG, the faculty at UNCGs Residential College, and the Stanford Humanities Center provided forums in which some of these ideas could be presented.