Reforming Sex: The German Movement for Birth Control and Abortion Reform, 1920-1950

By Atina Grossmann

Book Overview

Reforming Sex reconstructs the complicated history of a movement that has been romanticized as the harbinger of 1960s sexual radicalism and demonized as a precursor to Nazi racial policy, but mostly buried and obscured by Nazi bookburnings and repression. Relying on a broad range of sources--from police reports, films and personal interviews to sex manuals unearthed from library basements and secondhand bookstores--the book analyzes a remarkable mass mobilization during the turbulent and innovative Weimar years of doctors and laypeople for women's right to abortion and public access to birth control and sex education.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195121244
• ISBN13: 9780195121247
• Release Date: November 1997
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Reviewing Sex

This work serves as both an incredible study of German feminist history, but also as an interesting look into the social construction of birth control in a rather atypical Western nation. Grossmann is clear and concise, chronicling the period by major players and important legislation, focusing mainly on the movement to reform Paragraph 218 (the anti-abortion clause in the Civil Code) but also touching upon satellite issues, such as eugenics, cultural backlash, and of course the effects of the Third Reich. This book is as equally informative as it is interesting. Overall a great read.