SEX SELLS!

ISBN-13: 978-0-8133-4248-1
Writer: Rodger Streitmatter
Title: Sex Sells!
Subttile: The Media’s Journey from Repression to Obsession
Language: English
Place of Publication: Cambridge, MA
Publisher: Westview Press, A Member of the Perseus Books Group
Year of Publication: 2004
Format: 151x232mm
Pages:xix+283 printed on alk. Paper; Notes, 247; Index, 273
Illustrations: 1 colour picture by Jeff Watts on the back flap; more illustrations are available at the writer's homepage http://academic2.american.edu/~rstreit/
Jacket Design: Wendy Halitzer
Binding: Boards  in colour dust jacket
Weight: 559gr.
Original Price: USD 26.00 / 36.95 (Canada)
Entry No.: 2011016
Entry Date: 22^nd August 2011

BOOK DESCRIPTION

In 1953 Lucille Ball became pregnant, the censors required the characters on I Love Lucy  to say only that the wacky redhead was “in the family way.: The feared the word “pregnant” might conjure up, in the minds of viewers, images of a man and woman having sexual intercourse. Now, some fifty years later, from giant billboards featuring nearly nude models in Times Square to Bill Clinton’s creative definition of sex to Madonna and Britney’s prime-time kiss, sex pervades virtually every aspect of public life. What happened?

Sex Sells! Illuminates this arc from repression to obsession, showing how sexual mores have changed during the last five decades. Not only does the authpr examine the broad range of media genres that have reflected this libidinous journey, but he also shows how the media have played a leading role in propelling the Sexual Revolution. Streitmatter argues that much of the media’s sexual content is actually beneficial, because it gives parents and educators a way to broach difficult subjects like AIDS, sexual identity, and appropriate sexual behavior.

In our age of continuing sexual liberation, such a clear understanding of the sometimes cynical, sometimes idealistic history behind the “sexing-up” of America is more important than ever before.