Devotions and Desires: Histories of Sexuality and Religion in the Twentieth-Century United States
Gillian Frank, Bethany Moreton, and Heather R. White
Abstract
At a moment when “freedom of religion” rhetoric fuels public debate, it is easy to assume that sex and religion have faced each other in pitched battle throughout modern U.S. history. Yet, by tracking the nation’s changing religious and sexual landscapes over the twentieth century, this book challenges that zero-sum account of sexuality locked in a struggle with religion. It shows that religion played a central role in the history of sexuality in the United States, shaping sexual politics, communities, and identities. At the same time, sexuality has left lipstick traces on American religious h ... More
At a moment when “freedom of religion” rhetoric fuels public debate, it is easy to assume that sex and religion have faced each other in pitched battle throughout modern U.S. history. Yet, by tracking the nation’s changing religious and sexual landscapes over the twentieth century, this book challenges that zero-sum account of sexuality locked in a struggle with religion. It shows that religion played a central role in the history of sexuality in the United States, shaping sexual politics, communities, and identities. At the same time, sexuality has left lipstick traces on American religious history. From polyamory to pornography, from birth control to the AIDS epidemic, this book follows religious faiths and practices across a range of sacred spaces: rabbinical seminaries, African American missions, Catholic schools, pagan communes, the YWCA, and much more. What emerges is the shared story of religion and sexuality and how both became wedded to American culture and politics.
The volume, framed by a provocative introduction by Gillian Frank, Bethany Moreton, and Heather R. White and a compelling afterword by John D’Emilio, features essays by Rebecca T. Alpert and Jacob J. Staub, Rebecca L. Davis, Lynne Gerber, Andrea R. Jain, Kathi Kern, Rachel Kranson, James P. McCartin, Samira K. Mehta, Daniel Rivers, Whitney Strub, Aiko Takeuchi-Demirci, Judith Weisenfeld, and Neil J. Young.
Keywords:
history of religion,
history of sexuality,
American religions,
religious pluralism,
twentieth century United States,
secularism,
sexularism,
sexual liberalism,
same-sex marriage,
marriage
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2018 |
Print ISBN-13: 9781469636269 |
| Published to North Carolina Scholarship Online: September 2018 |
DOI:10.5149/northcarolina/9781469636269.001.0001 |
Authors
Affiliations are at time of print publication.
Gillian Frank, editor
Princeton University
Bethany Moreton, editor
Dartmouth College
Heather R. White, editor
University of Puget Sound
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