Children and sexuality : the Greeks to the Great War / edited by George Rousseau.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Rousseau, G. S. (George Sebastian)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Children and sex--Europe--History.

Children and sex.

Sex crimes--Europe--History.

Sex crimes.

Sex customs--Europe--History.

Sex customs.

Moral conditions.

History.

Europe--Social life and customs.

Europe.

Manners and customs.

Europe--Moral conditions.

Physical Description:

xviii, 371 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Basingstoke [England] ; New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2007.

Summary:

Children and Sexuality probes the hidden relations between children and sexuality in case studies from the Greeks to the Great War. The cases revived extend from Alcibiades to Lewis Carroll, from the Ancient Greeks to the Victorians, each recounted with scrupulous vigilance to detail and nuance. The author do nor blindly accept the current cant about rampant child seduction as a recent phenomenon. Nor do they collectively agree that abuse occurred historically primarily in the absence of sufficient protection of children's rights. They demonstrate that much scandal of the past indulged adult fantasies about adult sexuality and loss of innocence, especially the quest for possession of perfect bodies. This collection is grounded in history and literature, biography and social relationships, yet also engages with current debates in literary and cultural history, and with the new history of childhood. It goes a long way toward demonstrating that consideration of children and sexuality have moved on from what they were when the American Psychohistorian Lloyd deMause wrote about it a generation ago. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 Introduction / George Rousseau Rousseau, George 1

Part I The Ancient and Early Modern World

2 Juvenile Crime, Aggression and Abuse in Fifth-century Athens: a Case Study / Michael Vickers Vickers, Michael, Daphne Nash Briggs Briggs, Daphne Nash, Josephine Crawley Quinn Quinn, Josephine Crawley, Alfonso Moreno Moreno, Alfonso 41

3 Incest between Adults and Children in the Medieval World / Elizabeth Archibald Archibald, Elizabeth, Elisabeth Dutton Dutton, Elisabeth 85

4 'Under-Age' Sexual Activity in Reformation Geneva / William G. Naphy Naphy, William G., Tom Betteridge Betteridge, Tom, Nick Davidson Davidson, Nick 108

5 Privilege, Power and Sexual Abuse in Georgian Oxford / George Rousseau Rousseau, George, Tim Hitchcock Hitchcock, Tim 142

Part II Victorians and Edwardians

6 'You Have Made me Tear the Veil From Those Most Secret Feelings': John Addington Symonds Amidst the Children / George Rousseau Rousseau, George, Katherine D. Watson Watson, Katherine D. 173

7 Platonic Dons, Adolescent Bodies: Benjamin Jowett, John Addington Symonds, Walter Pater / Stefano Evangelista Evangelista, Stefano, Richard Dellamora Dellamora, Richard 206

8 The Nineteenth-Century Photographic Likeness and the Body of the Child / Lindsay Smith Smith, Lindsay, Lawrence Gasquet Gasquet, Lawrence 237

9 Victorian Girlhood: Eroticizing the Maternal, Maternalizing the Erotic: Same-Sex Relations between Girls, c. 1880-1920 / Alison Hennegan Hennegan, Alison, Josephine McDonagh McDonagh, Josephine 268

10 At Once A-sexual and Anal: Baden-Powell and the Boy Scouts / Elleke Boehmer Boehmer, Elleke, Mark Harrison Harrison, Mark 299

Part III The Anthropological View

11 Child Sexual Abuse - an Anthropological Perspective / Heather Montgomery Montgomery, Heather 319.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0230525261

9780230525269

OCLC:

173748944

Online:

Publisher description

Contributor biographical information