An End to Shame: Shaping our Next Sexual Revolution (book)
'An End to Shame: Shaping our Next Sexual Revolution
Ira L. Reiss, Ph.D., with Harriet M. Reiss
Prometheus Books, Buffalo, New York
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Reiss, Ira L. An end to shame : shaping our next sexual revolution / Ira L. Reiss. -- p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-87975-635-7
1. Sex customs - United States. 2. Sexual ethics - United States. I. Title.
HQ18.USR39 1990 --- 306.7TO73-dc20 90-44403 CIP
Product details
- Hardcover: 287 pages
- Publisher: Prometheus Books (November 1990)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0879756357
- ISBN-13: 978-0879756352
- Product Dimensions: 0.8 x 6.5 x 9.2 inches
- Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
About the author
Ira L. Reiss is a sociologist with primary interests in studying the way society impacts our sexual attitudes and behaviors. He also has interests in the study of gender and family, particularly as they relate to sexuality. He attended Syracuse University for his B.S. degree and the Pennsylvania State University for his M. A. and Ph. D. degrees. His major area in graduate school was sociology and his minor areas were cultural anthropology and philosophy. His doctoral course work in sociology and philosophy was done at Columbia University and his French and German language study was taken at Yale University.
Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- 1. America's Rendezvous with Sexual Reality
- 2. Alice in Wonderland: Sexual Upbringing in America
- 3. Teenage Sex: A Time for Acceptance
- 4. The Stalled Sexual Revolutions of This Century
- 5. AIDS, Condoms, and the Epidemic of Sexual Myths
- 6. Clarifying Our Fantasies about Pornography
- 7. Rape: The Ultimate Inequality
- 8. Sex Therapy: Conforming to a Troubled Society
- 9. The Role of Religion in Our Sexual Crisis
- 10. Shaping the Next Sexual Revolution
Introduction
Time is running out for our society. A flood of sexual problems is on the verge of breaking through the porous dam of our present-day sexual customs. If we are to keep from being overwhelmed, we must make dramatic changes in our way of thinking about sexuality. I was persuaded to write this book by repeatedly hearing people hailing the causes of our sexual crisis as the cure! Many politicians, ministers, educators, and parents maintain that if only we were less tolerant of sexual choice, if only we taught "just say no," then we would be more "decent" and our sexual crisis would fade away. I believe that this intolerant, self-righteous, dogmatic approach to sexuality is precisely what has made us the world leader in all major sexual problems. And it is exactly what we must reject.
As a sociologist who has devoted his career to the study of sexuality, I cannot remain silent while our sexual problems in AIDS, teenage pregnancy, rape, and child sexual abuse continue to plague us. I want to get beyond scientifically describing and explaining this sexual crisis and to start suggesting ways of alleviating our society's pain. Increasingly over the years, I began to realize that the "pure" science approach was not helping us to resolve our sexual problems, despite good research being reported in our scientific journals and books. Social science was not getting through to our politicians, ministers, educators, and parents. If social science was to communicate to the public, it would have to do so in plain English prose and with relevance to resolving the major sexual crisis our country is facing.
In the area of sexuality, the so-called pure scientific stance is buttressed by the scientist's fear of public criticism. Few people will criticize a scientist who simply reports that teenage sexuality is increasing. But if that scientist goes further and suggests that we try to cope with that by encouraging contraceptive usage among high-school students, then public criticism will surely follow. As a result, the scientific community, like so much of the public, has focused too much on describing our problems rather than seeking creative ways of resolving them.
Do we really want our social scientists to be "neutral" and silent on issues that tragically impinge on our lives? Don't we prefer a knowledgeable scientist who shares with us insights into how to lessen rape, pregnancy, child abuse, or AIDS? Don't we want the science of humans to be humane? Can't a scientist be fair while admitting that he or she is not free of values? Couldn't we judge better whether facts are being distorted in the work of scientists who tell us what their values are than in the work of scientists who profess to be "value-free"? My answer to these questions led me to write this book and offer my views as to why American society is so prone to sexual problems and what we can do to resolve the sexual crisis we have created.
My values strongly favor democracy and so I support personal choice and accept the fact that there are many ways, and not just one way, to achieve a good life. In sum, like most Americans I support giving people the freedom to choose their personal lifestyles in religion, politics, education, and occupation. This support for the right of the individual to choose incorporates the essence of what I call pluralism. The tragedy is that we have not applied pluralism very well in the area of sexuality. In this book, I try to show precisely how we can do that.
We have created a shame about sexuality that imposes upon each of us a silence about openly declaring and defending our right to sexual choices. As I've noted, even in the 1990s we hear cries of "just say no," which is basically a call to ignorance, a rejection of individual choice, and a distrust of the ability of American youth to act with honesty, equality, and responsibility. I reject dogmatic sexual values that try to impose abstinence on all Americans, just as I would object to imposing one religion or one political party on all Americans. It is time we rid ourselves of shame and timidity and start to speak out more honestly and openly about sexuality. We must claim our sexual rights or the sexual disasters that we have today will claim us. To exercise our sexual rights we need to support pluralism in sexual choice and reject sexual dogmatism.
I have written this book in an informal style and have made it relevant to our everyday life. I have set aside the use of jargon and technical presentations. But for those who are interested in examining further the research bases of what I say there are abundant notes at the back of the book relevant to all the major points I make. You can check my sources and see whether I have been fair with the evidence; you can check my reasoning and see whether that is sound; and you can check my solutions and the pluralistic values involved in them and see whether you agree.
I am presenting my criticism of our society and my proposed solution in as clear and forthright a fashion as I know how.
I see what I am doing in this book as a form of societal therapy. The patient is our society and I am seeking to find ways to help that "patient" control the tragic sexual problems that we find so ever present in our lives. I think you will find what I say to be of value to you in your personal search for greater rewards and for reduced risk in your sexual lives. I am suggesting what I firmly believe is our best hope, at this late hour, to rescue America from the sexual crisis in which it is mired.
Ira L. Reiss
Minneapolis July 1990
Reviews
The most concise way of revealing the intent of this 287-page book is to quote, verbatim, the first paragraph of his introduction to the book:
- Time is running out for our society. A flood of sexual problems is on the verge of breaking through the leaky dam of our present-day sexual customs. If we are to keep from being overwhelmed, we must make dramatic changes in our way of thinking about sexuality. I was persuaded to write this book by repeatedly hearing people hailing the causes of our sexual crisis as the cure! Many politicians, ministers, educators, and parents maintain that if we were only less tolerant of sexual choice, if we only taught "just say no," then we would be more "decent" and our sexual crisis would fade away. I believe that this intolerant, self-righteous, dogmatic approach to sexuality is precisely what has made us the world leader in all major sexual problems. And it is exactly what we must reject.
The authors do just that in this book. The book is readable and is thoroughly documented by an extensive bibliography. The footnotes to the text are gathered together at the end of the book. Ignoring the footnotes causes no confusion or difficulty in following the line of reasoning. The footnotes are merely citations for the data discussed, and further discussions of that particular subject.
The first author of this book is a professor in the sociology department of the University of Minnesota. He is the author of eleven books, four monographs, and more than 100 professional articles and commentaries. He is the former president of the International Academy of Sex Research, the National Council on Family Relations, and the Society for the Scientific Study of Sex. Among the many awards he has received for his research is the 1994 Kinsey Award for Distinguished Scientific Achievement.
Discussion:
The authors acknowledge the scope of the most recognized sexual problems in the United States, and cite data which establish the magnitude of each of these problems. These problems are AIDS, teenage pregnancy, rape, and sexual abuse of children. These results are then compared to comparable figures for Australia, Sweden, and England, as well as with other western industrialized countries where data are available.
The authors point out that the United States now has more cases of AIDS than any other country in the world. Our rate of teenage pregnancy, for those under 15 years of age, is five times that of other developed countries of the world, even though our rate of sexual activity is no higher. The frequency of rape in the United States is several times that of England, West Germany, and France. The United States has one of the highest rates of sexual abuse of children. Sexually, therefore, the United States has the worst track record of any of the western industrialized countries
The authors maintain that AIDS, teenage pregnancy, rape, and sexual abuse of children are not separate problems each with a different specific social cause; common causes underlie all these sexual problems. The fundamental causes of our sexual crisis are the underlying unrealistic and self-defeating ideas about sexuality that have crippled our society's ability to cope with any sexual problem. They believe that our leaders (politicians, teachers, religious leaders, etc.) are not solving the problem, but are still leading us in the direction that has not worked in the past and which has little hope of working now. They are also preventing us from acquiring the information needed to rationally analyze these problems and their possible solutions. They claim that other countries that have made progress in these areas have learned to change their culture but that we are resisting that. This book examines the data and proposes a plan similar to that used by others.
The perennial American "solution" to sexual problems has always been to restrict sexuality, to 'just say no." The authors propose instead that we accept the reality of sexual behavior, and encourage improved preparation for avoiding disease and pregnancy. The causes for rape are principally centered in the present belief of man's superiority to women, and our culture's hero worship for the macho male attitude. This combination makes it easy to vent on women any hostile feelings a man may have, and do this in a physically aggressive way.
The ultimate cure for all these disturbing problems requires us to abandon the traditional family values of male superiority, and remove all, or nearly all, of the restrictions (legal, religious, or moral) on any adult consensual sexual activity when the act is entered into with honesty, equality, and responsibility. The authors believe that such a change in thinking about sex will not only produce great benefits in reducing the frequency of the foregoing sexual catastrophes, but will provide a saner perspective to deal with other sexual problems such as unwed mothers, abortion, prostitution, pornography, sex education of children, violence and sexuality in the media, and psychiatric counseling for sexual dysfunctions.
They believe that a change in our attitude will provide a better background to determine what limits, if any, should be placed on the media (radio, TV, newspapers, magazines, films, records, videos, etc.) in using language or discussing events or advertising products or services pertaining to our sexuality as human beings. It will also indicate if the public should bring pressure upon these same media operators to abandon their present interest in preserving the ineffectual and counterproductive "traditional family values" approach to sexuality.
Neither the title nor the subtitle of this book would interest me enough to read it. A different title could possibly attract a wider readership. However, I recommend it as must reading for anyone with an open mind. The authors present data to support their claims and present a compelling argument for their proposals. Dissemination of this information could start whatever dialog is necessary to possibly achieve the solution to our society's sexual problems.
Reviewed by Howard T. Mooers, Wayzata, Minnesota.
Source of the above: http://web.archive.org/web/20001119112100/http://www.ipt-forensics.com/journal/volume4/j4_1_br1.htm
Importance to BoyLovers
This book is mostly pro-sex, and takes a stand regarding BoyLovers which is somewhat sympathetic. Provides some very good arguments against the current attitudes in society about the sexuality of youth. Unfortunately, some of the author's views are colored by (false or misleading) "feminist" dogma, which is something widely prevalent and must simply be taken with a healthy grain of salt.
Note: A "corrected" edition, without OCR errors, is hoped to be available soon - it is now in preparation.
See also
External links
The book (unfortunately containing a few OCR errors) may be read online here: http://www.sexarchive.info/BIB/AETS/bind.htm
