historical sources

Tag: historical sources

Archives of Desire: Analog Sexting

By Josh Adair May 3, 2016 Archives of Desire 1 comment

My grandparents helped pave the way for virtual trysts.

Sexual Violence Against Children in the 1960s

By Nick Basannavar April 21, 2016 Childhood and Youth, United Kingdom 0 comments

Narratives of abuse have taken on different forms during different moments.

Martin Luther King Jr. and the History of Sexuality

By Gillian Frank January 18, 2016 Post-1945 United States 1 comment

Gillian Frank Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in the United States. To reflect upon Dr. King’s life, legacy and influence, NOTCHES offers some primary sources with which to begin thinking about King’s place in the history of sexuality. Even as historians are increasingly reckoning with King’s complicated private life, King’s views on […]

David Bowie (1947-2016) and the History of Sexuality

By Gillian Frank January 11, 2016 Music and Sexuality 2 comments

Gillian Frank We at Notches mourn the passing of the iconic singer and performer David Bowie. A dynamic artist, Bowie pushed the boundaries of genre, gender, and sexuality in his life and work. His sexual identity and its public performance were versatile, challenging and complex. To reflect upon his life and influence, we offer some sources to […]

Christmas Isn’t for Queers

By Lauren Gutterman December 10, 2015 LGBTQ, Post-1945 United States 4 comments

Lauren Gutterman For most of us, envisioning Christmas in postwar America brings to mind tinsel-covered trees, girls and boys in matching pajamas, dads in Santa Claus beards, images drawn from old family photographs or the likes of It’s a Wonderful Life. Absent from these familial and familiar cultural memories are […]

Dr. Spock and the History of Sexuality

By notcheseditor November 5, 2015 Childhood and Youth, Post-1945 United States 0 comments

Janet Golden Dr. Benjamin Spock (1903-1998) was a pediatrician and a political activist who published the bestselling book, Baby and Child Care, in 1946. In it, Spock encouraged mothers to trust their own judgment and to eschew overly strict parenting strategies. By the mid-1960s, Baby and Child Care was the top […]

“What can I do to be normal?” Queer Female Desire in Letters to Dr. Alfred Kinsey

By Amanda Littauer August 20, 2015 LGBTQ, Post-1945 United States 0 comments

Amanda Littauer In 1949, a year after the publication of Dr. Alfred Kinsey’s notorious Sexual Behavior in the Human Male, a young African American woman from the Bronx sent Kinsey a private letter lamenting the “queer control” she seemed to have over other women. These women, she explained, would literally […]