Technology and Sex?

Techno-Sexual Landscapes: Changing Relations Between Technology and Sexuality. By Angel J. Gordo Lopez and Richard M. Cleminson. London: Free Association Books, 2004, 144 pages. Paper, $29.95.

Reviewed by Vern L. Bullough, Ph.D., D.Sci., R.N., SUNY Distinguished Professor Emeritus, 3304 West Sierra Dr., Westlake Village, CA 91362-3542: e-mail: [e-mail].

The products of technical innovation--printing, radio, movies, television, silk and nylon clothing, Tampax, the pill and other contraceptives, changing methods of transportation and home construction, rise of urban industry, and in fact all aspects of modern life--have had an influence on sexuality. Little of this, however, is covered in this book. Part of the difficulty is that the authors use the word technology to translate the term techniques de soi used by Michel Foucault, who saw a link between the renunciation of the flesh and the confession of the monk as a process of applied knowledge or technique, a term the current authors translate as technologies. To confuse the matter further, they sometimes use the word technology as it is normally used in English discourse and at other times they give it the more ethereal meaning that Foucault implied.

The book is divided into three sections, with the first devoted to medieval Europe. The result is a rather disjointed discussion of medieval technology and culture. In examining monasticism, for example, the authors mention the similarity in the structure of the convent to the developing brothels with their enclosed walls and small cells. Was there a relationship or was this just a way of housing large numbers of individuals? They also discuss the development of the medieval grain mills, but as a social place where people could meet and talk and even flirt. People could also do these things at the medieval fairs or even the Sunday markets which were probably even more important in this respect but were not mentioned in the book. There is also a discussion of the heretical Cathars, but it is not clear how this topic fits into techno-sexual landscapes.

A second section covers the expansion of the European frontiers to the new world and its effect on attitudes. Among other things, the authors argue such expansion encouraged a renewed belief in witches, defined as those who had entered into carnal contact with the devil. The authors propose that this previously rejected belief was possible because the discovery of the existence of a new world, peoples, and customs had forced a rejection of old traditions and a willingness to accept beliefs that might not have been acceptable before. This is a rather simplistic explanation for the rise of the belief in witchcraft, but to be seriously considered even as one of the factors it needs much more investigation than given by the authors.

The last section is devoted to trains and transportation and the growth of larger and larger cities as well as new methods of managing social, sexual, and racial deviance. Conservatives condemned women riding bicycles, since their ability to do so challenged traditional sex differences and, in the words of the critics, encouraged masculine women. Certainly it gave women somewhat greater freedora, but this has been pointed out by many others. Railroad stations, the current authors argue, became central meeting places and made social contact easier. This seems obvious, but they also add that the establishment of public toilets in train stations provided a new meeting place for homosexuals, a fact which has not always been recognized.

Throughout the book, the association of sexual overtones with new developments is often hinted at, but overall, at least to me, the authors' attempts to use different historical scenarios "in order to frame the correspondence between material/technical and sexual meanings" are not very successful. One of the authors is not a native English speaker, and the language in the book is often convoluted. Ultimately, the authors never fully develop the implications of their argument.

There is a useful bibliography for those interested in pursuing the topic. I regret that 1 cannot be more positive about this book, which is a pioneering attempt to open up new ways of looking at changing sexual patterns. Perhaps others will more successfully pursue these paths.

BOOK REVIEW EDITOR'S NOTE 

It is unusual to publish two independent reviews of the same book. However, below are two such reviews for The Continuum Complete International Encyclopedia of Sexuality. The rationale is that this important and enormous volume can be assessed from multiple vantage points. Bullough reviews the volume as a noted historian and the reviewer of the first edition. His review is a straightforward assessment of the features the Encyclopedia has to offer. Frayser reviews the volume as a noted expert in cross-cultural examination of sexuality. She places the Encyclopedia within the larger context of the tradition of cross-cultural sexuality research, and in so doing illuminates the issues inherent in such research.