Sex in the Heartland

by Beth L. Bailey

Book Overview

Sex in the Heartland is the story of the sexual revolution in a small university town in the quintessential heartland state of Kansas. Bypassing the oft-told tales of radicals and revolutionaries on either coast, Beth Bailey argues that the revolution was forged in towns and cities alike, as "ordinary" people struggled over the boundaries of public and private sexual behavior in postwar America.

Bailey fundamentally challenges contemporary...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0674009746
• ISBN13: 9780674009745
• Release Date: October 2002
• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.77 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.1" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

A well-supported thesis

To begin, I need to note that if given the option I would have rated this book 3.5 stars. But since I wasn't given that option I felt this book was closer to a four star piece of work than a three star book. Bailey's main point in this book is that the sexual revolution was about more than "free love", and in fact had its roots in seemingly unrelated trends, such as the advent of mass media, interstate highways, and the growth of federal government power. Bailey does a great job in illustrating how such trends led to an environment in which the sexual revolution was possible. Her articulation of how administrators (at KU and in the army, for example) shifted from morals to practical outcomes was also very convincing. On the other hand, I do feel compelled to dock Bailey 1 (or 1.5) stars because her presentation was one-sided and often inaccurate in its portrayal of the "traditionalists". The bulk of her writing is dedicated to articulating and exploring the meaning of the various factions of the revolution. I certainly think doing this is important, especially for a book on this topic. However, Bailey fails to get into the ideology/philosophy/theology behind the "traditional" views, which causes her portrayals of those views to be simplistic and monolithic. She is too willing to accept the verdict that all of "traditional" society was oppressive to women, minorities, homosexuals, or even different world-views. I think Bailey could learn a lot from the likes of W. Bradford Wilcox or Timothy Keller, who demonstrate that most people of the "traditionalist" camp in mainstream society actually are perverting the meaning of Scripture. One example, especially pertinent to this book, would be the issue of "female subordination", as Bailey puts it. Timothy Keller, in particular, would absolutely refute that the Bible supports the subordination or oppression of women, and in fact he places a high level of emphasis on the meaning of love when the Bible commands men to "love their wives" in Ephesians. To be clear, Keller is one of the "traditional" fundamentalist conservative Christians that Bailey groups in with the rest, and I find his view of male/female relations more liberating than the views that come out of the sexual revolution. In any event, this was a valuable read that helped me put the sexual revolution in its proper historical context. For this reason I would recommend this book to those wanted to getting a better understanding of the sexual revolution, its foundations, and its principal actors.

Thoughts from the Heartland

This is an excellent book recommended to me by my history proffesor here at the University of Kansas. My main reason for writing this reveiw is to denounce the view of susan jordan "susan in hollywood." I cannot believe she says those things about boys from kansas. I myself am from western kansas and for someone to say that is very distrubing and really makes you wonder how she imagined such a thing being commonplace. some people should just stay in hollywood

very smart and accessible book about an important topic

This is a very accessible, well-written book which at the same time provides a complex analysis of American's changing attitudes and assumptions regarding sexual practices. While focusing on Lawrence, Kansas, (very useful for understanding how individuals and institutions reacted within a specific context), it says much about the country as a whole. It is refreshingly forthright without being unnecessarily salacious. And it manages to inform without taking all the fun out of the topic-quite a balancing act!

An excellent history of sex in flyover country

The sexual revolution didn't just happen in New York and San Francisco, and this book tell the story of how the sexual revolution came to the liberal college town of Lawrence, KS.This book has a lot of fascinating stories, such as the history of birth control in Lawrence, the story of the town's attempt to "protect" itself from 10,000 sex-crazed young men working the nearby arms factory during WWII, and the history of gay liberation in the area.Anyone interested in sexual/cultural politics and social issue will really enjoy this one.