Sexual politics and feminist science : women sexologists in Germany, 1900-1933 / Kirsten Leng.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Leng, Kirsten, 1979- author.

Series:

Signale (Ithaca, N.Y.)

Signale : modern German letters, cultures, and thought

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Women sexologists--Germany--History--20th century.

Women sexologists.

Feminists--Germany--History--20th century.

Feminists.

Sexology--Germany--History--20th century.

Sexology.

Women--Sexual behavior--Germany--History--20th century.

Women.

Sex role--Germany--History--20th century.

Sex role.

Feminism and science--Germany--History--20th century.

Feminism and science.

Women--Sexual behavior.

History.

Germany.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

xii, 377 pages ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Ithaca : Cornell University Press : Cornell University Library, 2018.

Summary:

Kirsten Leng restores the work of female sexologists to the forefront of the history of sexology. While male researchers who led the practice of early-twentieth-century sexology viewed women and their sexuality as objects to be studied, not as collaborators in scientific investigation, Leng pinpoints nine German and Austrian "women sexologists" and ?female sexual theorists? to reveal how sex, gender, and sexuality influenced the field of sexology itself. Leng's book makes it plain that women not only played active roles in the creation of sexual scientific knowledge but also made significant and influential interventions in the field. Sexual Politics and Feminist Science provides readers with an opportunity to rediscover and engage with the work of these pioneers. Leng highlights sexology?s empowering potential for women, but also contends that in its intersection with eugenics, the narrative is not wholly celebratory. By detailing gendered efforts to understand and theorize sex through science, she reveals the cognitive biases and sociological prejudices that ultimately circumscribed the transformative potential of their ideas. Ultimately, Sexual Politics and Feminist Science helps readers to understand these women?s ideas in all their complexity in order to appreciate their unique place in the history of sexology.0.

Contents:

Introduction : women and sexology : knowledge, possibilities, and problematic legacies

The emergence of sexology in early twentieth century Germany

As natural as eating, drinking, and sleeping : redefining the female sex

Challenging the limits of sex : envisioning new gendered subjectivities and sexualities

Troubling normal, taking on patriarchy : criticizing male (hetero)sexuality

The erotics of racial regeneration : eugenics, maternity, and sexual

New social and moral values will have to prevail : negotiating crisis and opportunity in the First World War

Fluid gender, rigid sexuality : constrained potential in the post-war period.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Leng, Kirsten, 1979- author. Sexual politics and feminist science

ISBN:

9781501709302

1501709305

9781501709319

1501709313

OCLC:

975488948