The Invention of Heterosexuality

By Jonathan Ned Katz

Book Overview

"Heterosexuality," assumed to denote a universal sexual and cultural norm, has been largely exempt from critical scrutiny. In this boldly original work, Jonathan Ned Katz challenges the common notion that the distinction between heterosexuality and homosexuality has been a timeless one. Building on the history of medical terminology, he reveals that as late as 1923, the term "heterosexuality" referred to a "morbid sexual passion," and that its current usage emerged to legitimate men and women having sex for pleasure. Drawing on the works of Sigmund Freud, James Baldwin, Betty Friedan, and Michel Foucault, The Invention of Heterosexuality considers the effects of heterosexuality's recently forged primacy on both scientific literature and popular culture.

"Lively and provocative."-Carol Tavris, New York Times Book Review

"A valuable primer . . . misses no significant twists in sexual politics."-Gary Indiana, Village Voice Literary Supplement

"One of the most important-if not outright subversive-works to emerge from gay and lesbian studies in years."-Mark Thompson, The Advocate

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0226426017
• ISBN13: 9780226426013
• Release Date: June 2007
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Length: 305 Pages
• Weight: 0.83 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.1" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Turning the tables

Though I confess to some sympathy towards the "queer essentialist" side of the ledger, Katz's "Invention of Heterosexuality" is a clever, daring, and wonderfully readable account of the construction of heterosexual identity. This is a fine text for undergraduates new to the study of historical sexuality, perhaps so much so because it is both scholarly and accessible. Katz does a fine job of skewering Foucault for "his highly abstract level of discourse, his elusive prose, and his unwillingness to clarify his meaning with sufficient concrete examples." As a historian of sexuality who is a bit tired of our late French friend, Katz's words elicited a hearty "amen" from me!All things considered, a worthy (and brief) contribution to the field, with a daring new angle.

Rare, Critical Look at "Normal"

Jonathan Katz is a scrupulous, witty historian who gets better with every book. In "The Invention of Heterosexuality," Katz takes up one of the most neglected tasks in scholarship on sexuality, which is to look directly at what is considered 'normal', how it got to be considered normal, and how that norm has changed over time. This book is deceptively easy to read, given how challenging it is to dominant assumptions about sexuality. I recommend it highly!

good intro to the social construction of sexuality

For those who believe that heterosexuality and homosexuality are timeless orientations, this book is a useful eye-opener. Katz traces the development of the idea of a homosexual identity, paying attention to the role played by psychoanalysis and sexology. This is a readable book, not off-puttingly jargon-filled.