The Making of Victorian Sexual Attitudes Book

"Reveals a wealth of nineteenth-century thought and behavior."--London Review of Books How were Victorian sexual attitudes formed? In this sequel to the groundbreaking Making of Victorian Sexuality, Michael Mason draws startling conclusions about the ideology behind the sexual moralism of nineteenth-century England. Taking into account the relative contributions of evangelical religion and radical-secular ideals to the period's dominant sexual culture, Mason argues that to be "Victorian" about sex was in fact to be progressive, optimistic, emancipated--and therefore modern. While The Making of Victorian Sexuality told us what Victorians were doing in their sex lives, The Making of Victorian Sexual Attitudes tells us what they thought about sex, and why. Mason calls into question the influence of the evangelical movement on nineteenth-century moralism, and reveals that, paradoxically, it was the more conservative radical creeds of the sexologist Dr. George Drysdale, and of the secularist Charles Bradlaugh, which converged to provide a framework for pro-sensual developments in sexual culture at the end of Victoria's reign. This lively and provocative study of Victorian sexual attitudes will make informative and entertaining reading for all those interested in Victorian life and culture.Read More