Recommended Reading

Quite often people will ask me for suggestions about books related to sexuality.  In my personal collection, I have a little over 350 books related to the subject.  They range the gamut from cheesy, poorly written autobiographies to human sexuality textbooks to rich, robust explorations of the history of sexuality.  Though I am proud of the entire collection, my pride and joy are the original copies of both volumes of Alfred Kinsey^W (Sexual Behavior in the Human Male, and Sexual Behavior in the Human Female), and original copies of four Havelock Ellis^W‘ of the volumes in his series, Studies in the Psychology of Sex.¹.

I have read at least portions of every one of them, too.  The best ones have captured my attention enough to read in their entirety.  Of course, many of the books were required reading for the various classes I’ve had in sexuality, gender studies, psychology, and sociology.

With that in mind, I thought I’d use this post to suggest some reading material for those of you who have some interest in human sexuality from more than just a cursory perspective. All of these books are ones I consider the best of the best and aren’t overly academic or hard to read.

Most of these books are available used through Amazon’s system for a tiny fraction of what they cost originally (some as little as one penny plus S/H).  If you want to buy a new copy, please buy from Barnes and Noble or some vendor other than Amazon (reason is explained HERE).  If you buy the used copy, Amazon gets only a few cents, so that’s okay, especially if it saves you money.

If you’re in need of a book recommendation on a sexuality-related subject that is above and beyond what I have listed here, contact me and I’ll see if I can suggest one to you.  And if you do buy one or more of these, feel free to come back and let us know what you thought of it. 

Historical Perspective

Mythology of Sex, Sarah Denning.  This book explores the rich history of sexuality and the role it has played in society since ancient times, including examinations of how prostitution fit into life at several places throughout history.   Very well written and easy to read.

History Laid Bare: Love, Sex, and Perversity from the Ancient Etruscans to Warren G. Harding, Richard Zacks.  This book is chock full of interesting tidbits of information about sexuality throughout history (well, trough the time of Warren Harding’s presidency, anyway).  You could play Sexual Trivial Pursuits after reading this book.

Sex Seen: The Emergence of Modern Sexuality in America, Sharon R. Ullman.  This book offers an excellent examination of the way sex fits into American society as proffered through public display (plays, media, magazines, etc.), and includes good examination of how the courts and legal system have impacted and shaped what we see on the screen, stage, or in print.

Twentieth-Century Sexuality: A History (Family, Sexuality and Social Relations in Past Times), Angus McLaren.  If you only get one book on the history of sexuality, this is the one to get.  McLaren’s book is an excellent study of how we view sexuality today and how our society got to be where it is today with respect to how we view sexuality.  It discusses the very first attempts at sex education, for example, as well as abortion, the pill, the “white slave” hysteria, and so forth.  Get this book first!

Intimate Matters: A History of Sexuality in America, John D’Emilio and Estelle B. Freedman.  This is a well-documented, interesting read about the history of sexuality in America from the 1600s to the late 20th Century.  It is probably the best book on that specific subject in my library.

Orgasm and the West: A History of Pleasure from the 16th Century to the Present, Robert Muchembled and David Fernbach.  This is an interesting examination of the history of pleasure and all of those who’ve attempted to suppress it.  It provides you with some insight into what eventually became the “culture wars” as we know it today.

Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex, Mary Roach.  This is a very entertaining book to read, with a lot of humor spread throughout the book.  It explains how science has helped us to understand human sexuality and offers example of the kinds of research that have taken place in an attempt to understand what drives us sexually.

Sociological & Academic Studies

Sexual Conduct: The Social Sources of Human Sexuality (Social Problems and Social Issues), William Simon and John Gagnon.  The authors explain how our sexuality is socialized and how it is impacted by our social experiences from childbirth through old age.  It includes discussions on homosexuality, lesbianism, prostitution, pornography, and even homosexual conduct within prisons.

America’s War on Sex: The Attack on Law, Lust and Liberty, Marty Klein.  If you want to understand how those who’ve wished to suppress human sexuality have been able to do so, and how they’re succeeding at it today, this is a must read.  Dr. Klein is perhaps the pre-eminent writer on the subject of sex and the law these days.  You’ll be pissed at how politicians have fucked individual rights over.

The Social Construction of Sexuality (Contemporary Societies), Steven Seidman.  Seidman questions the assumptions about what constitutes “natural” and “unnatural” sexuality, and investigates the political and social consequences of privileging certain sexual practices while stigmatizing others (including porn, sex work, BDSM, etc.).  It’s only 120 or so pages long and is an easy but enlightening read.

Sexual Deviance, Second Edition: Theory, Assessment, and Treatment, Richard Laws, PhD, and William T. O’Donohue PhD.  This is a textbook and reads like one.  It is a thorough examination of many aspects of sexual deviance, including chapters devoted to understanding, assessing, and treating individuals with specific paraphilias (pedophilia, frotteurism, fetishism, exhibitionism, etc.).

The Invention of Heterosexuality, Jonathan Ned Katz.  Katz argues that heterosexuality is a social construct rather than a natural, unambiguous given, and contends that heterosexuality as a universal, presumed, normative ideal was invented by men such as Kertbeny, Sigmund Freud and German psychiatrist Richard von Krafft-Ebing.  He explores the history of same-sex behavior, including experiences from ancient Greece.  A very enlightening read – it’ll make you think differently about same sex activity.

The History of Sexuality, Vol. 1: An Introduction, Michel Foucault.  Foucault is difficult to read, so I am only recommending the first of his three books on sexuality.  If you can get through this and want to continue reading, feel free to buy the other two.  His philosophy is constructed around the assertion that regulation of sexuality is the work of power elites who are seeking to garner and protect their position of social dominance.

Prostitution

Love For Sale: A World History of Prostitution, Nils Johan Ringdal.  If you only get one book on prostitution, this is the one to have.  It covers the sale of sexual services thoughout history, from the Whore of Babylon to prostitution in the Bible, to modern day feminist interpretation of prostitution’s role in society.  It is very easy to read and very enlightening for those who only know prostitution from what you see portrayed in the mainstream media today.

Mayflower Madam: The Secret Life of Sydney Biddle Barrows, Sydney Biddle Barrows.  Sydney is widely credited with building the first “professional” escort service.  This book explains how she became involved with escort work and why she felt compelled to build her own agency.  And, of course, it includes information about her downfall.  A very interesting read, especially if you’d like some background on why escort services operate like they do these days.

Callgirl: Confessions of an Ivy League Lady of Pleasure, Jeannette Angell.  Jeannette’s book was the first book I read about escort, or call-girl, work.  She lays everything out matter-of-factly – what she enjoyed, what she didn’t enjoy, how she felt about what she was doing, why she did it, and so forth.  It’s probably the best and most direct “how the girl next door became a hooker” book I’ve seen.

Upstairs Girls: Prostitution In The American West, Michael Rutter.  This book is an excellent study of how prostitution worked in the western United States during the late 19th Century.  It explains why women did what they did, how the various cities tried to regulate them, how they conducted their business, and how many of them ended up destitute or worse.

For Women Only

Sexual Fluidity: Understanding Women’s Love and Desire, Dr. Lisa M. Diamond.  This book is a must for women who wish to understand why they feel the way they do about sexual attraction to other women.  It explains why the author believes all women have a fluid sexuality, why it is like that, and its implications for relationship development.  She uses about 100 different women to help you understand that female sexuality spreads across a wide range of normative behaviors.

So there you have it.  A nice beginner’s list of books related to human sexuality and, of course, since this is an escort blog, books about prostitution.  Feel free to let me know what you think of them.

1. You can download the text of those from Project Gutenberg, if you’re interested. [↩]

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