The History of Women’s Sexuality

Dr. Thomas Laquer, author of "Orgasm, Generation, and the Politics of Reproductive Biology," is a distinguished history professor at the University of California, Berkeley. Laquer received his PhD from Princeton in 1971 and has since circulated various books and articles predominately on the history of sex. His latest endeavor was published by Zone Books in 2004 and was entitled, "Solitary Sex: A Cultural History of Masturbation". Laquer is a popular speaker worldwide and is currently completing a book on the subject of death and memory.

In "Orgasm, Generation, and the Politics of Reproductive Biology," the author compares the history of the view of the human body, especially of women, while furnishing the history of men's and women's differing sexual freedom, ideas about sex and gender differences, and how the escalation and downfall of sexual acceptability coincided with society's political reconstruction and reformation throughout time. Although human bodies have forever been concise, the expression or social ideal of feminine biology and sexuality has changed since the 18th century Enlightenment and repeatedly agreed with conventional political thought throughout history.

Laquer supports the article well with a number of sources. He chose to cite sources of varying publication dates, from years 1564 to 1984. Most of the scholars quoted are, however, male. In an article discussing the biology of women, one would expect to receive more input from the true experts on women's bodies, women themselves. The lack of variety of foundation suggests the article's subjectivity and may not be comfortable to all readers.

The piece is written in chronological order, offering ideologies that correspond with events pertaining to the subject. It begins in the late eighteenth century, explaining ideas of the time about views of the body and the female orgasm. Radical views of femininity caused political disruption, resulting in the desensitization of women's sexuality and especially the clitoris in relation to the female orgasm. It was believed that sexual pleasure did not need to take place to reproduce, and so accounts of female stimulation by the clitoris came