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Why We Lost the Sex Wars

Sexual Freedom in the #MeToo Era
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Why We Lost the Sex Wars by Lorna N. Bracewell offers a revisionist history of feminist sexual politics from the 1970s to the 1990s, uncovering the complex alliances and rivalries that shaped debates on pornography, commercial sex work, LGBTQ+ identities, and BDSM. Bracewell highlights the overlooked contributions of Black and ‘Third World’ feminists and analyses how these historical conflicts inform contemporary issues like trigger warnings, carceral feminism, and "sex-positive" feminism’s limits. Featuring figures such as Andrea Dworkin, Audre Lorde, and Catharine MacKinnon, this book reshapes our understanding of feminist theory and its ongoing relevance.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book will engage readers interested in feminist history, political theory, gender studies, and contemporary sexual politics, as well as scholars seeking a nuanced understanding of feminist sexual debates and their lasting impact.

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"Reexamining feminist sexual politics since the 1970s-the rivalries and the remarkable alliances"--

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Reexamining feminist sexual politics since the 1970s—the rivalries and the remarkable alliances

Since the historic #MeToo movement materialised in 2017, innumerable survivors of sexual assault and misconduct have broken their silence and called out their abusers publicly—from well-known celebrities to politicians and high-profile business leaders. Not surprisingly, conservatives quickly opposed this new movement, but the fact that "sex positive" progressives joined in the opposition was unexpected and seldom discussed. Why We Lost the Sex Wars explores how a narrow set of political prospects for resisting the use of sex as a tool of domination came to be embraced across this broad swath of the political spectrum in the contemporary United States.

To better understand today's multilayered sexual politics, Lorna N. Bracewell offers a revisionist history of the "sex wars" of the 1970s, '80s, and '90s. Rather than focusing on what divided antipornography and sex-radical feminists, Bracewell highlights significant points of contact and overlap between these rivals, particularly the trenchant challenges they offered to the narrow and ambivalent sexual politics of postwar liberalism. Bracewell leverages this recovered history to illuminate in fresh and provocative ways a range of current phenomena, including recent controversies over trigger warnings, the unimaginative politics of "sex-positive" feminism, and the rise of carceral feminism.

By foregrounding the role played by liberal concepts such as expressive freedom and the public/private divide as well as the long-neglected contributions of Black and "Third World" feminists, Bracewell upends much of what we think we know about the sex wars and makes a strong case for the continued relevance of these debates today.

Why We Lost the Sex Wars provides a history of feminist thinking on topics such as pornography, commercial sex work, LGBTQ+ identities, and BDSM, as well as discussions of notable figures such as Patrick Califia, Alan Dershowitz, Andrea Dworkin, Elena Kagan, Audre Lorde, Catharine MacKinnon, Cherríe Moraga, Robin Morgan, Gayle Rubin, Nadine Strossen, Cass Sunstein, and Alice Walker.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

"Why We Lost the Sex Wars is a fascinating read that intertwines archival research with incisive theoretical analysis, revealing the complexity of the feminist debates once framed as a clear-cut ‘war’. Lorna N. Bracewell importantly centres feminists of colour, whose roles are often overlooked, providing essential insights into the history of late twentieth-century feminism and its influence on today’s debates," praises Nancy Hirschmann, author of Gender, Class, and Freedom in Modern Political Theory.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781517906740

Publisher: University of Minnesota Press

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 23 March 2021

Country: United States

Imprint: University of Minnesota Press

Audience: General / adult, Professional and scholarly

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 38.0mm

Width: 140.0mm

Height: 216.0mm

Weight: 250g

Pages: 320

About the Author

Lorna N. Bracewell is assistant professor of political science at Flagler College. In 2017 she received the American Political Science Association's Okin-Young Award in Feminist Political Theory.

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