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"Encompassing the long 18th century, this reader examines a broad and enticing variety of topics in the history of sexuality in Georgian times. It includes discussion of sexual perversion, erotic gardens, gentlemen's secret societies, flagellation, pornography, writings of courtesans and the world of female friendship, revealing the secret or hidden meanings circulating between mainstream and covert activities of the 18th century. Including material previously available only in academic journals, revising these for a new readership and including two completely new chapters, Julie Peakman draws connections between these pieces and situates them within current debates. Her introduction examines how the covert life of Georgian sex was integrated from low life and high places, in brothels and palaces. Aimed at undergraduate and graduate students of gender, history of sexuality, sex literature and 18th-century history, Amatory Pleasures is an invaluable reader of the work of a key scholar in the field."--

Handcuffs, paddles, whips-the words alone are enough to make a person blush. Even by our society's standards, the practice of things like BDSM is still very hush-hush, considered deviant sexual behavior that must be kept hidden. But the narrow view of what is thought of as "normal" sex-a vanilla act performed by one man and one woman-is more and more contested these days. And as Julie Peakman reveals, normal never really existed; for everyone, different kinds of sex have always offered myriad pleasures, and almost all sexual behaviors have traveled between acceptance and proscription. The P

Handcuffs, paddles, whips--the words alone are enough to make a person blush. Even by our society's standards, the practice of things like BDSM is still very hush-hush, considered deviant sexual behavior that must be kept hidden. But the narrow view of what is thought of as "normal" sex--a vanilla act performed by one man and one woman--is more and more contested these days. And as Julie Peakman reveals, normal never really existed; for everyone, different kinds of sex have always offered myriad pleasures, and almost all sexual behaviors have traveled between acceptance and proscription. The Pleasure's All Mine examines two millennia of letters, diaries, court records, erotic books, medical texts, and more to explore the gamut of "deviant" sexual activity. Delving into the specialized cultures of pain, necrophilia, and bestiality and the social world of plushies, furries, and life-size sex dolls, Peakman considers the changing attitudes toward these, as well as masturbation, "golden showers," sadomasochism, homosexuals, transvestites, and transsexuals. She follows the history of each behavior through its original reception to its interpretation by sexologists and how it is viewed today, showing how previously acceptable behaviors now provoke social outrage, or vice versa. In addition, she questions why people have been and remain intolerant of other people's sexual preferences.

A fascinating glimpse into the history of sexual perversions and diversions including fetishism, cross-dressing, 'effeminate' men and 'masculinized' women, sodomy, tribadism, masturbation, necrophilia, rape, paedophilia, flagellation, and sado-masochism, asking how these sexual inclinations were viewed at a particular time in history