rrizzo@bbncca.ARPA (Ron Rizzo) (06/26/85)
[Gobble, gobble!] The current (7/8/85) issue of The New Republic contains a review essay by historian Lawrence Stone of more than 2 dozen of the most important books & articles on "The History Of Sex" and sexuality (pp 25-37). In its brief 15 or so years, this new field of historical research has made some of the most startling finds in recent scholarship. Worth reading for its bibliography alone (which I'll post later when I have more time), Stone's chronological survey of findings is very readable & useful for obtaining the broad outlines of the subject. But Stone's summarizing is unreliable about details. Taken aback by a statement attributed to Kenneth Dover (author of GREEK HOMO- SEXUALITY), I flipped through my copy of Dover's book and found Stone's description a collection of greater & lesser distortions plus one blatantly false remark: Using Dover's book, Stone cites Aristophanes' LYSISTRATA (in which the housewives of Athens go on sexual strike against their men) as evidence that by that time Athens was "basically heterosexual" in contrast to the previous period (ie, no major sexual alternatives to their wives existed for the men). But Dover in fact (p 148-149) takes pains to make an opposite point: Aristophanes exercised dramatic license to make his plot work by ignoring not only homosexual outlets, but pros- titution & masturbation, which we know were culturally approved & available then. Dover uses Aristophanes to emphasize how misleading even "realistic" literature can be as a source of sociological inference. Yet Stone commits precisely this fallacy & in effect uses Dover as his authority! So readers unacquainted with the works under review should take Stone's summaries with a grain of salt. It's still well worth reading for it describes major changes in our conventional historical views of law, religion, customs & popular attitudes concerning sex & sexuality. Regards, Ron Rizzo