Regulating Desire

From the Virtuous Maiden to the Purity Princess

By J. Shoshanna Ehrlich | Publisher: State University of New York Press

About the book

Starting with the mid-nineteenth-century campaign by the American Female Moral Reform Society to criminalize seduction and moving forward to the late twentieth-century conservative effort to codify a national abstinence-only education policy, Regulating Desire explores the legal regulation of young women's sexuality in the United States. The book covers five distinct time periods in which changing social conditions generated considerable public anxiety about youthful female sexuality and examines how successive generations of reformers sought to revise the law in an effort to manage unruly desires and restore a gendered social order. J. Shoshanna Ehrlich draws upon a rich array of primary source materials, including reform periodicals, court cases, legislative hearing records, and abstinence curricula to create an interdisciplinary narrative of socially embedded legal change. Capturing the complex and dynamic nature of the relationship between the state and the sexualized youthful female body, she highlights how the law both embodies and shapes gendered understandings of normative desire as mediated by considerations of race and class.

Editions of Regulating Desire

Hardcover
ISBN 9781438453057
Paperback
ISBN 9781438453040
PDF
ISBN 9781438453064

Read an Excerpt

Starting with the mid-nineteenth-century campaign by the American Female Moral Reform Society to criminalize seduction and moving forward to the late twentieth-century conservative effort to codify a national abstinence-only education policy, Regulating Desire explores the legal regulation of young women's sexuality in the United States. The book covers five distinct time periods in which changing social conditions generated considerable public anxiety about youthful female sexuality and examines how successive generations of reformers sought to revise the law in an effort to manage unruly desires and restore a gendered social order. J. Shoshanna Ehrlich draws upon a rich array of primary source materials, including reform periodicals, court cases, legislative hearing records, and abstinence curricula to create an interdisciplinary narrative of socially embedded legal change. Capturing the complex and dynamic nature of the relationship between the state and the sexualized youthful female body, she highlights how the law both embodies and shapes gendered understandings of normative desire as mediated by considerations of race and class.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Regulating Desire about?

Starting with the mid-nineteenth-century campaign by the American Female Moral Reform Society to criminalize seduction and moving forward to the late twentieth-century conservative effort to codify a national abstinence-only education policy, Regulating Desire explores the legal regulation of young women's sexuality in the United States. The book covers five distinct time periods in which changing social conditions generated considerable public anxiety about youthful female sexuality and examines how successive generations of reformers sought to revise the law in an effort to manage unruly desires and restore a gendered social order. J. Shoshanna Ehrlich draws upon a rich array of primary source materials, including reform periodicals, court cases, legislative hearing records, and abstinence curricula to create an interdisciplinary narrative of socially embedded legal change. Capturing the complex and dynamic nature of the relationship between the state and the sexualized youthful female body, she highlights how the law both embodies and shapes gendered understandings of normative desire as mediated by considerations of race and class.

What core themes, tropes, or subjects are explored in Regulating Desire?

History and Archaeology > History > History of the Americas

Where can I read a sample of Regulating Desire?

You can read an official preview of the few pages here https://www.book2look.com/book/9781438453057

How long is Regulating Desire and how many pages does it have?

Regulating Desire has 224 page(s)

Who is/are the Author/s of the book Regulating Desire?

J. Shoshanna Ehrlich

Who is the Publisher of the book Regulating Desire?

State University of New York Press

What are the ISBN numbers for the physical and digital editions?

Regulating Desire is available as hardcover(ISBN 9781438453057) and paperback(ISBN 9781438453040) and pdf(ISBN 9781438453064)

Where can I buy Regulating Desire online or support local independent bookshops?

You can buy Regulating Desire from below

Where can I buy Regulating Desire?