The Origins of Sex: A History of the First Sexual Revolution by Faramerz Dabhoiwala (review)

In The Origins of Sex Faramerz Dabhoiwala charts and explains the ways in which modern sexual attitudes developed out of fundamental shifts in ideas that occurred in the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Over six chapters The Origins of Sex traces the changes to religious, political, legal and intellectual thought that affected how men and women conceptualised sex and acted upon their sexual desires. The book explores the transformation from perceiving sexual behaviour as a public action that affected all members of the community, to something that was essentially private and only of public concern in certain circumstances. As Dabhoiwala argues, this change was spurred by the rise of religious toleration, which allowed for increasing discussion of sexuality and the many ways in which it could be expressed. Across the period morality was increasingly scrutinised and debated as it became apparent that different religious groups could adopt a range of moral frameworks. Concurrently, interactions with other races and nations demonstrated the plurality of sexual systems that existed in the world, systems that functioned without causing social and moral disorder. These new ways of thinking undermined the status of scripture as the fundamental means of justifying sexual morality. Additionally, as Dabhoiwala suggests, the rise of print culture, particularly newspapers and periodicals, allowed for an open public debate on the role and extent of sexual restrictions that called upon a range of intellectual, religious and social ideas. Thus sexual drive and sexual activity came increasingly to be seen as natural and not inherently threatening, overturning previous ideas that unbridled and unrestricted sexuality would lead to social disorder.

The scope and aims of this work are extensive: as well as the detailed analysis of the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the book includes discussion of the medieval period and sixteenth century, and also touches upon modern attitudes. The book also aims to trace shifts in the western world. However, this scope is problematic. Despite some references to France, America and Ireland, there is little sense that this book fully discusses the Western world. Attitudes to sexuality were not consistent across Europe, particularly not across confessional boundaries, something which could have been more clearly illuminated. Moreover, even though Dabhoiwala’s analysis provides a clear and forceful argument, working on such a scale means that in places some more detailed analysis would be appreciated to supplement the broader arguments outlined. In the first chapter on the medieval and early modern culture of sexual discipline, Dabhoiwala draws conclusions about the attitudes of the populace based upon those doing the prosecuting and seeking to pass new laws. Although he notes the high number of cases being prosecuted at this time there is only minor engagement with the tension inherent in the implication that the large number of cases meant that in practice many people disregarded sexual discipline and behaved as they wished.

The examination of legal, political and intellectual climates across the period covered in the book demonstrates Dabhoiwala’s sophisticated analysis of a rich and engaging range of source material. Yet, in places, claims to be discussing popular culture are founded on a more restricted source range: popular opinions are often implied by examination of novels, plays and engravings. Although these provide a sense of popular culture, a more diverse picture may have been painted by the more frequent inclusion of a broader range of materials, such as ballads and joke collections, for example. It is problematic to articulate a history of ideas and attitudes; the thoughts of a population are rarely cohesive, and often contested. Dabhoiwala navigates these difficulties with care, stressing his central argument while highlighting the many different modes of thought that existed at each point. Only occasionally does this appear to present a progressive linear narrative of developments. The views and ideas presented here are predominantly from the top—the elites and middling classes. The lower classes are shown, but often through the lens of those...