America's War on Sex: The Continuing Attack on Law, Lust, and Liberty, 2nd Edition

by Marty Klein Ph.D.

Overview

Americans are more vulnerable today than ever to anxiety about sexual danger, to believing that their sexuality is not "normal" or moral, and to laws and public policies that restrict their rights, criminalize their consenting behavior, and confuse and miseducate their children. In the second edition of America's War on Sex: The Continuing Attack on Law, Lust, and Liberty, psychologist, sex therapist, and courtroom expert witness Marty Klein sets the record straight and uncovers how the "Sexual Disaster Industry" works—a powerful social and political propaganda machine that is supported by the very citizens it victimizes.

This book analyzes eight "battlegrounds" in which America's War on Sex is being fought and examines how each one is the focus of an unrelenting struggle to regulate sexuality in direct contradiction to our Constitutional guarantees, scientific fact, and the needs of average Americans. Klein places these various attacks on our rights in historical context, explains how the money and political power are coordinated from the same sources, and shows how the Religious Right inflames Americans' anxiety about sexuality even as it proposes repressive schemes to reduce that anxiety. This book tackles a sensitive and volatile topic head-on, addressing how the political, social, historical, religious, and emotional issues surrounding public policy interfaces with sexuality as no other work has before.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781440801297
Publisher:	ABC-CLIO, Incorporated
Publication date:	04/13/2012
Series:	Sex, Love, and Psychology
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	226
File size:	501 KB

About the Author

Marty Klein, PhD, has been a certified sex therapist and licensed marriage and family therapist for over 30 years.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments vii

Foreword Nadine Strossen ix

Introduction to Second Edition: From Bush to Obama-Little or No Relief from the War on Sex xvii

1 You're the Target: Why a War on Sex? 1

2 Battleground: Sex Education-Where Children Come Second 7

3 The Most Powerful "Minority" in the United States 27

4 Battleground: Reproductive Rights 33

5 The Sexual Disaster Industry 51

6 Battleground: Broadcast "Indecency" 57

7 Yes, They Really Said That 79

8 Battleground: Adult Entertainment-Feverish Dreams, Real Estate Nightmares 85

9 How They Do It: Ammunition in the War on Sex 97

10 Battleground: The Internet 105

11 America Does Not Guarantee Your Right to Be Comfortable: The Lowest Common Erotic Denominator Project 125

12 Batdeground: The War on "Pornography" 131

13 Extreme Religion and Public Policy 157

14 Battleground: Sexual Privacy and Sexual Minorities-Civil Rights or Immoral Privileges? 169

15 Revolutionizing American Government-Bad News for Democracy 189

Epilogue: One Bright Spot 193

Notes 195

Selected Bibliography 215

Index 217

What People are Saying About This

Susie Bright

“Marty takes apart American sex panics with surgical precision.”

Reverend Barry Lynn

"Edgy, provocative, and highly persuasive. With a clinician's attention to nuance and an advocate's passion for understanding, Klein forces us to confront why any free nation would go to war with its most intimate impulses."

Susie Bright

"Marty takes apart American sex panics with surgical precision."

Dr. Pepper Schwartz

“I really loved this well-documented and well-written book. For anyone with any affection for sexual privacy, sexual literacy, and sexual choices, this book is a must-read."

Lawrence Walters

“With a compelling style and exhilarating pace, this is the most comprehensive treatment of this topic to date. And what a spellbinding speech you gave us.”

Dr. Robert Francoeur

“One of the most important and practical books on sex since the Sexual Revolution began. It demolishes dozens of unsupported claims commonly made by the Religious Right and fundamentalist politicians.”

Editorial Reviews

Klein's careful work torpedoing the erotophobic war against sex had to be done, and he did it well.” —Jourbanal of Sex Research

From the Publisher