Sex in the Archives by Barry Reay

Sex in the Archives - Writing American Sexual Histories
 
The archive has assumed a new significance in the history of sex, and this book visits a series of such archives, including the Kinsey Institute's erotic art; gay masturbatory journals in the New York Public Library; the private archive of an amateur pornographer; and one man's lifetime photographic dossier on Baltimore hustlers. Shedding new light on American sexual history, the topics covered are both fascinating and wide-ranging: the art history of homoeroticism; casual sex before hooking-up; transgender; New York queer sex; masturbation; pornography; sex in the city.
This book will appeal to a wide readership: those interested in American studies, sexuality studies, contemporary history, the history of sex, psychology, anthropology, sociology, gender studies, queer studies, trans studies, pornography studies, visual studies, museum studies, and media studies.
 
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'The erotic histories in words and pictures that Reay finds in the archives are breathtakingly revealing of the sexual histories of the twentieth century. They are beautifully and sympathetically told, worlds within worlds, that have left their traces in the libraries and manuscript collections of the western world.' Thomas Laqueur, Helen Fawcett Distinguished Professor Emeritus, University of California, Berkeley