Welcome
FIERCE DESIRES: A NEW HISTORY OF SEX AND SEXUALITY IN AMERICA
"[F]ascinating . . . [Davis] wants to show how the battles of today—over issues like gender nonconformity and reproductive rights—have antecedents that have been forgotten or suppressed."
—Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker
"Davis's sprawling account of sex and sexuality over the course of American history traverses the various behaviors, beliefs, debates, identities, and subcultures that have shaped the way we understand connection, desire, gender, and power. Comprehensive, rigorous, and unafraid to challenge readers, this history illuminates the present with brutal and startling clarity."
—Sophia Stewart, The Millions
"In this time of fierce debates over issues such as abortion, LGBTQ+ rights, and medical treatment for transgender youths, Davis offers a powerful corrective to a static picture of the past….Deeply researched and revealing."
—Kirkus Reviews, starred review
Fierce Desires is on the list!
Boston Globe: "20 Books We Can't Wait to Read This Fall"
The Next Big Idea Club: September 2024 "Must Read" Books
Apple Books: "Fall's Most Anticipated" nonfiction titles
The Millions: "Most Anticipated: The Great Summer 2024 Preview"
The New Yorker: "The Best Books We Read This Week," August 28, 2024
Kirkus Reviews: "20 Best Books to Read in September"
Rebecca answers "3Q" about Fierce Desires on The Society Pages of the Council on Contemporary Families (August 27, 2024)
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Registration is open! Class meets October 8, 15, and 22, 2024, 12:00–1:00 pm ET
From the Roundtable course description:
At a time when issues of LGBTQ+ book bans, trans rights, and abortion access are dominating headlines and driving voters to the polls, it might appear that sexuality is newly significant to American culture — but that's just not the case. Sexuality has a history! In fact, Americans have long fought over sexual rights and expression, and the identities people claim today represent only one result of those struggles.
This three-part course sheds light on the people, ideas, and policies that have made sexuality such a crucial force in America today. Each session will examine a major era in this history, illuminating how dramatically and meaningfully sexuality in America has changed, from the 1600s to the present. You'll discover how much of what we think of as sexually normal was not well-understood hundreds of years ago, and how even the concept of a sexual identity itself is historically recent.
This is a live, virtual course hosted by Roundtable, which includes interactive opportunities and post-course recordings available for all course participants. Click here to register.