Before Wilde : sex between men in Britain's age of reform / Charles Upchurch.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Upchurch, Charles, 1969-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Gay men--Great Britain--History.

Gay men.

Gay men--Great Britain--Social conditions.

Men--Sexual behavior--Great Britain--History--19th century.

Men.

Homosexuality--Great Britain--History--19th century.

Homosexuality.

Sex--Great Britain--History--19th century.

Sex.

Great Britain--History--19th century.

Great Britain.

Great Britain--Social conditions--19th century.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (289 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Berkeley : University of California Press, c2009.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This book examines changing perceptions of sex between men in early Victorian Britain, a significant yet surprisingly little explored period in the history of Western sexuality. Looking at the dramatic transformations of the era-changes in the family and in the law, the emergence of the world's first police force, the growth of a national media, and more-Charles Upchurch asks how perceptions of same-sex desire changed between men, in families, and in the larger society. To illuminate these questions, he mines a rich trove of previously unexamined sources, including hundreds of articles pertaining to sex between men that appeared in mainstream newspapers. The first book to relate this topic to broader economic, social, and political changes in the early nineteenth century, Before Wilde sheds new light on the central question of how and when sex acts became identities.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Tables

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Part One. Understandings

Part Two. Early Nineteenth-Century Changes

Part Three. Implications

Notes

Select Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 247-264) and index.

ISBN:

9780520943582

0520943589

OCLC:

851160315