Prescription for Heterosexuality - by Carolyn Herbst Lewis (Paperback)

About the Book

Prescription for Heterosexuality: Sexual Citizenship in the Cold War Era

Book Synopsis

In Prescription for Heterosexuality, Carolyn Herbst Lewis explores how medical practitioners, especially family physicians, situated themselves as the guardians of Americans' sexual well-being during the early Cold War years. She argues that many doctors believed that a satisfying sexual relationship with very specific attributes and boundaries was the foundation of a successful marriage, a source of happiness in the American family, and a crucial building block of a secure nation. Drawing on hundreds of articles and editorials in both medical journals and popular and professional literature, Lewis traces how medical professionals affirmed certain heterosexual desires and acts while labeling others as unhealthy or deviant.

Review Quotes

"A valuable addition to the growing list of studies of domestic and sexual containment."--Journal of American History

"An elegant book that illuminates the intersection of medicine, sexuality, and citizenship in the Cold War era."--American Historical Review

"Recommended. All levels/libraries."--CHOICE

About the Author

Carolyn Herbst Lewis is assistant professor of history at Grinnell College.