Kinky History
A Rollicking Journey Through Our Sexual Past, Present, and Future
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Kinky History
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Narrated by:
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Esmé Louise James
About this listen
A provocative journey through human sexual history, packed with fun factoids and forgotten stories, from the historian and storyteller behind Kinky History, @esme.louisee on TikTok
Contrary to popular belief, our predecessors had all sorts of obscene hobbies long before Christian Grey hit the scene. In this enlightening romp, learn about the first instances of homosexuality on record from the ancient world and the diverse history of nonbinary gender; encounter a thousand years’ worth of hilarious and horrifying contraceptive methods; consider the positive and negative effects of the widespread availability of pornography in the digital age—and how our relationship to it changed during the pandemic; take a sneaky riffle through centuries of bedside drawers; and discover the dirty little secrets of luminaries such as Julius Caesar, James Joyce, Albert Einstein, and Virginia Woolf.
Esmé Louise James also identifies the key tipping points that directly inform current beliefs around sex to place the past in conversation with the present. By educating ourselves about the weird, wonderful, and varied spectrum of human sexuality and experience, we can normalize and destigmatize sex, write people of marginalized sexual identities back into the pages of history, and build toward a more liberated future.
©2024 Esmé Louise James (P)2024 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
Critic reviews
"Kinky History may not be the most fun you can have with your clothes on, because, well, you can have sex while still dressed. Regardless, Esmé Louise James’s book is a riotous romp that is entertaining, educational, empathetic, and inclusive. I loved it."—James Fell, author of On This Day in History Sh!t Went Down
“Who knew that history could be so…kinky? Esmé Louise James offers a lesson in history that you most definitely did not receive in school. She shows how, by looking into the past, we can learn a lot about sex in the present, including the root sources of sexual shame. This book shows how the path to modern sexual liberation starts with a comprehensive understanding of the history of sex, kinks and all.”—Justin J. Lehmiller, Ph.D., Host of the Sex and Psychology Podcast and author of Tell Me What You Want
"Bold and enlightening, Kinky History is a radical journey through the evolution of human intimacy. It’s a thrilling reminder of the need to break taboos and forge a sex-positive future. Not just a book, it’s a compelling call to sexual understanding and acceptance."—Chantelle Otten, author of The Sex Ed You Never Had
What listeners say about Kinky History
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Jessica
- 30-10-24
Fascinating
The books seems to be really well researched, with some interesting and surprising segments. Couldn't get on board with the weird dinner party storytelling however. Just a bit of an eyeroll moment at the beginning of every chapter
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Selsch
- 23-06-24
My thoughts?
Well executed. This book is a lot of logistical facts and you can tell there are a lot of hours put into the research. Did I enjoy it? Think I did? Maybe?
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Rebekah
- 01-07-24
disappointing
I learnt about this author from Instagram and was excited for the publication. I however did not realise until purchasing the book (which Audible won't let me return rip) that they have no training as a historian, and honestly, it shows.
I have studied Roman history at university for the last 9 years, and a lot of what she says on the topic is plainly not true.
For example, she asserts that Saint Augustine abandoned his child (which is not true, he got baptised with him in Milan, returned with him to Africa, and died shortly after at the age of 17 - source, his autobiography the Confessions).
She also claims Augustine categorically rejected anal sex, which is not strictly true, and the truth is more interesting, as in his treatise De Bono Coniugali (On the Good of Marriage), he advices husbands that if they "must" have anal sex, that it's better to do so with a slave than with their wife.
Likewise, the assertion that pedarasty was glorified in Rome is laughable, and the equivalent of using pro-pedophilia propaganda and taking it as representative of society. Moreover, using paedophilia as a metric for the acceptance of "homosexuality" in ancient culture perpetuates the equivocation of the categories, which somewhat undermines the sex-positive message of the book, particularly given that pedarasty was simply teachers grooming their students.
Almost all said about Roman sexuality has been a simplification, false equivocation or plainly not true, so it doesn't give me confidence as to the factual basis of the rest of the book. It feels like she just read Foucault History of Sexuality Volume 2 and then stopped.
I have the same political biases as the author. and spent years researching ancient sexuality, so this should have been a hit for me, but whenever something I do actually know about comes up and is so poorly represented, I want to scream.
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