The Man Who Hated Women, Amy Sohn
The Man Who Hated Women, Amy Sohn
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The Man Who Hated Women
Sex, Censorship, and Civil Liberties in the Gilded Age

Author: Amy Sohn

Narrator: Amy Sohn

Unabridged: 11 hr 47 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 07/13/2021


Synopsis

Bestselling author Amy Sohn presents a narrative history of Anthony Comstock, antivice activist and US postal inspector, and the remarkable women who opposed his war on women’s rights at the turn of the twentieth century.Anthony Comstock, special agent to the US Post Office, was one of the most important men in the lives of nineteenth-century women. His eponymous law, passed in 1873, penalized the mailing of contraception and obscenity with long prison sentences and steep fines. The word Comstockery came to connote repression and prudery.Between 1873 and Comstock’s death in 1915, eight remarkable women were charged with violating state and federal Comstock laws. These “sex radicals” supported contraception, sexual education, gender equality, and women’s right to pleasure. They took on the fearsome censor in explicit, personal writing, seeking to redefine work, family, marriage, and love for a bold new era. In The Man Who Hated Women, Amy Sohn tells the overlooked story of their valiant attempts to fight Comstock in court and in the press. They were publishers, writers, and doctors, and they included the first woman presidential candidate, Victoria C. Woodhull; the virgin sexologist Ida C. Craddock; and the anarchist Emma Goldman. In their willingness to oppose a monomaniac who viewed reproductive rights as a threat to the American family, the sex radicals paved the way for second-wave feminism. Risking imprisonment and death, they redefined birth control access as a civil liberty.The Man Who Hated Women brings these women’s stories to vivid life, recounting their personal and romantic travails alongside their political battles. Without them, there would be no birth control pill, no Planned Parenthood, no Roe v. Wade. This is the forgotten history of the women who waged war to control their bodies.

About Amy Sohn

Amy Sohn, former New York magazine columnist, writes nonfiction, novels, picture books, and more.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Jenny

Anthony Comstock was a misogynistic zealot. This book provides a good window into his reign of terror, although there are some missteps. Sohn oversimplifies some of the collateral information she provides and doesn’t provide much in the way of historical context. I am a harsh critic - American women......more

Goodreads review by Donald

While the focus is on Comstock the true cultural lessons are much more the story. As any friend or acquaintance of me knows this book is in my wheelhouse, given my obsession to lecture on my ideas about sexuality and our culture. This book shines a light on several true American heroines and their s......more

Goodreads review by Leslie

Anthony Comstock was a pretty awful human being--self-righteous, petty, meanspirited, interfering, arrogant, bossy, manipulative--and he did an awful lot of damage to an awful lot of people, especially to women. And the damage continued long after his death, thanks to the awful laws passed in his na......more

Goodreads review by Thomas

Author was on NPR being interviewed by Terry Gross today. Some new material on Comstock however I find the title sensationalistic, Comstock was just an overzealous reformer and crusader from the 19th century who enforced the law against real frauds and became fanatical in the reproductive and sexual......more


Quotes

“An engrossing account of…rising demands for free speech, gender equality, and a better quality of life for women…with sharp insights into just how revolutionary these new ideas were.” Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“How the reactionary Christian ideology of one government official contributed to the suppression of women’s reproductive freedom for decades…Stellar research in women’s history, especially crucial due to recent threats to abortion rights across the country.” Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“This stupendous history, skillfully researched and delightfully narrated by Amy Sohn, is sure to light up all your chakras.” Elisa Albert, author of After Birth

“This entertaining, powerful, lovely book throbs with the flare of brilliance and anger… a vital service on behalf of the right and the true.” Darin Strauss, author of The Queen of Tuesday

“In this powerful, entertaining, and supremely engaging history of one man’s crusade against women’s reproductive rights…the narrative is vivid, propulsive, and revelatory―and sure to have you cheering from the benches.” Ivy Pochoda, author of These Women