Outspoken Women An Anthology of Women's Writing on Sex, 1870&82111969 [Paperback]

Studying a broader period than its contemporaries, this comprehensive study reveals a neglected tradition of British womens writing from the Victorian era to the sexual revolution of the 1960s. Outspoken Womenbrings together the many and varied non-fictional writings of British women on sexual attitudes and behaviour, beginning nearly a hundred years prior to the second wave of feminism. 

Commentators cover a broad range of perspectives and include Darwinists, sexologists, and campaigners against the spread of VD, as well as women writing about their own lives and experiences. Covering all aspects of the debate from marriage, female desire and pleasure, to lesbianism, prostitution, STDs, and sexual ignorance, Lesley A. Hall studies how the works of this era didnt just criticise male-defined mores and the dark side of sex, but how they increasingly promoted the possibility of a brighter view and an informed understanding of the sexual life.

Halls remarkable anthology is an engaging examination of this fascinating subject and it provides students and scholars with an invaluable source of primary material.

Contents.  Introduction.  The Victorians  The Suffrage Era  The Stopes Era  Depression and War  Sex in a Welfare State  Biographical Notes on Authors.  Bibliography of Works Cited.  Further Reading

'This book augments Hall's already considerable contribution to the historiography of sexuality and gender. In short, a marvellous teaching resource, a stimulator (I hope) to further research into this neglected area of the history of sexuality, and just a fascinaitng read'.The Galton Institue Newsletter

The study reveals a muchneglected tradition of British women's writing on sex, and provides, a most engaging examination of this flc*