SEX SELLS!

They feared the word "pregnant" might conjure up, in the minds of viewers, images of a man and woman having sexual intercourse. Now, some fifty years later, from giant billboards featuring nearly nude models in Times Square to Bill Clinton's creative definition of sex to Madonna and Britney's prime-time kiss, sex pervades virtually every aspect of public life. What happened?

Sex Sells! illuminates this arc from repression to obsession, showing how sexual mores have changed during the last five decades. Not only does the author examine the broad range of media genres that have reflected this libidinous journey, but he also shows how the media have played a leading role in propelling the Sexual Revolution. Streitmatter argues that much of the media's sexual content is actually beneficial, because it gives parents and educators a way to broach difficult subjects like AIDS, sexual identity, and appropriate sexual behavior.

In our age of continuing sexual liberation, such a clear understanding of the sometimes cynical, sometimes idealistic history behind the "sexing-up" of America is more important than ever before.

Rodger Streitmatter. Sex Sells! The Media's Journey from Repression to Obsession. Cambridge, MA: Westview Press, 2004. xix, 283 pp.