The International Encyclopedia of Sexuality, 3 vols.

The International Encyclopedia of Sexuality, 3 vols. Edited by Robert T. Francoeur, New York: Continuum, 1997, 1750 pages. Cloth, $255.00.

Reviewed by Vern L. Bullough, Ph.D., R.N., S.U.N.Y. Distinguished Professor Emeritus, 17434 Mayall St., Northridge, CA 91325; e-mail:[e-mail].

Compiling entries on 30 countries with 135 contributors is no small task. Francoeur and his collaborators are to be congratulated for their willingness to undertake such a job. Most readers will find the information in this three-volume work helpful because much of the material is not readily available without painstaking research. The countries represented include Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Brazil, Canada, China, The Czech Republic and Slovakia, Finland, Germany, Ghana, Greece, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, the Netherlands, Poland, and the United States. A separate entry is devoted to Puerto Rico, which is apparently considered a separate country. Each entry has its own editor or editors, and many entries have multiple contributors.

Francoeur and his contributing editors attempted to present the same basic information for each country, beginning with a historical perspective and demographics. This is, in most cases, followed by sections devoted to the following topics: a sexological perspective, an examination of religious and ethnic factors affecting sexuality, sexuality knowledge and education, autoerotic behaviors and patterns, interpersonal heterosexual behaviors, homoerotic and ambisexual behavior, gender-conflicted persons, significant unconventional sexual behaviors, contraception, abortion and population planning, sexually transmitted diseases, HIV/AIDS, sexual dysfunction, counseling and therapies, research, and advanced education. Any major indigenous populations, such as in Australia, or significant religious minorities are also examined.

In spite of the entry editors' attempts to present the same kind of information for each country, there is little consistency in the articles or in their content. Simply put, the contributors did not include the same kind of basic information in all cases, making comparisons somewhat difficult.

The collection is also misnamed: It is not so much an encyclopedia as an atlas or a handbook. Although there is a 12-page "comparison-facilitating" index, it is not detailed enough to be helpful and most readers will likely try to seek out data for a particular country within the section devoted to it. In some cases they will be disappointed.

The contributors were obviously limited by the material available to them. Entries for countries were included simply because someone was available or willing to write a survey article, and some choices were better than others. Countries for which no one could be encouraged to volunteer were omitted, as most countries in the world were.

Francoeur indicates that he is gathering material on other countries, perhaps to be added to an additional volume, because researchers from many countries came on board as they heard about the project. Rather than an additional volume, a new edition might be necessary, with some of the weaker articles in this collection strengthened.

Unfortunately many of the countries included are covered only superficially, while others are covered more comprehensively. For example, only 24 pages are devoted to Germany, whereas more than 60 pages are devoted to the Netherlands and nearly 90 pages to Israel. Moreover, the entry on Israel pays little attention to the non-Jews living there. Given that there are active researchers of sexual topics in Germany, either the German contributors felt constrained by the original page limit or they were content with a superficial overview. In the introduction, Francoeur indicates that he had asked contributors to write short contributions, but accepted longer ones when contributors did not comply. This makes the encyclopedia both more and less valuable. It limits comparisons, but provides more information about a few countries. However, there seems to be no real justification for the disproportionate coverage. The discrepancy appears to be due to Francoeur's reluctance to demand compliance to his original guidelines.

The longest section, over 300 pages, is devoted to the United States, although much of what is included is easily available in standard American sexuality textbooks. Moreover, the U.S. entry is more a potpourri than an integrated analysis or guide. Still, there are lengthy and worthwhile sections on Latina sexuality by Miguel A. Perez and Helda L. Pinzon, on African American sexuality by Herb Samuels, and, as befits Francoeur and Timothy Perper's interests, the editors of this particular entry, a 24-page section on religion. A section on Mormons by Jeannie Forrest is also included as an example of a particular religious group within the American scene. Although this entry is informative, the space may have been better used on a detailed discussion of American evangelical fundamentalism and its influence, which is not well analyzed in the extant literature.

Other entries on selected topics vary in quality. On the whole, what is included provides interesting reading. Some contributors were content to summarize what they have written in more detail elsewhere, as Igor Kon does/or Russia and Fang Fu Ruan does for China. Still, the Chinese entry contains a sort of addendum by M. P. Lau reporting the results of recent Chinese sex surveys, which might not be easily available in English to others.

Each entry includes references, most of which are in English. However, the reference style differs across entries, with some contributors using end notes, others using APA style, and the remainder simply listing references. Some give copious references; others give hardly any. This variability is to be expected in a work of this scope, completed on a shoestring budget. It is obvious that many devoted contributors worked diligently to summarize what they knew about their assigned countries. It seems somewhat unfair to criticize what must have been a labor of love.

In sum, although the International Encyclopedia is a mixed bag, most of those willing to peruse it will discover a wealth of new information assembled in one place. Perhaps this is what makes the whole project worthwhile. The set concludes with an international directory of sexuality organizations and a list of the contributors to this project. Although their addresses are not included, their home institutions, in some cases, are. Francoeur and his contributors have managed to give us an overview of what is known about sex in many parts of the world, and that is no small accomplishment.