Reference Reviews

Lawrence Looks at Books

Encyclopedia of Sex and Gender, edited by Fedwa Malti-Douglas. 4 vols. 1,682p. Farmington Hills, MI: Macmillan Reference USA, 2007. 978-0-02-865961-9; 2007-20796. $475.

Encyclopedia of Sex and Gender Biologically speaking, sex is an act undertaken to insure procreation. Socially speaking, the term has come to mean much more. Hence the general public disbelief when a certain president claimed he never had sex with a former intern. In fact, our ideas of sexual relations may include many acts unrelated to reproduction, and not necessarily occurring between individuals of different gender. This groundbreaking encyclopedia explores the social constructs concerning sex and gender in human history. While many of the 730 articles examine the biological aspects the human body, reproduction, the act of sex, and disease, the same essays also present cultural beliefs surrounding sexual practices and body parts. The examination of the cultural constraints concerning sex is not limited to Western civilization but includes most major religions, numerous ancient civilizations, and traditional customs in Africa, India, China, Japan, and the Islamic Middle East. From ancient sculpture to the internet, the portrayal of sex and gender roles in the creative arts is traced in specific paintings, literary characters, films, television, and even comic books. Also reviewed are the works of influential writers on sex or sexuality, from medieval moralists to Virginia Woolf and Henry Miller. Questions of masculinity, femininity and sexual preference are explored. So too is the gendering of almost all aspects of life. From afterglow to wet dreams, few taboos are left unexamined. A team of international scholars provides a truly global perspective on one of the fundamental issues of identity and society. This scholarly encyclopedia is highly recommended to academic and public libraries.
—John R.M. Lawrence