Research Catalog

Love in the time of communism : intimacy and sexuality in the GDR

Title

Love in the time of communism : intimacy and sexuality in the GDR / Josie McLellan.

Author

McLellan, Josie.

Publication

Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2011.

Supplementary Content

Available Online

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Status	Format	Access	Call Number	Item Location
Request for On-site Use Request Scan Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Schwarzman Building to submit a request in person.	Text	Use in library	JFE 16-3052	Schwarzman Building - Main Reading Room 315

Details

Description

x, 239 pages : illustrations; 23 cm

Summary

"In the aftermath of the reunification of Germany one former dissident recalled nostalgically that under the East German regime 'we had more sex and we had more to laugh about'. Love in the Time of Communism is a fascinating history of the GDR's forgotten sexual revolution and its limits. Josie McLellan shows that under communism divorce rates soared, abortion become commonplace and the rate of births outside marriage was amongst the highest in Europe. Nudism went from ban to state-sponsored boom, and erotica became common currency in both the official economy and the black market. Public discussion of sexuality was, however, tightly controlled and there were few opportunities to challenge traditional gender roles or sexual norms. Josie McLellan's pioneering account questions some of our basic assumptions about the relationship between sexuality, politics and society and is a major contribution to our understanding of the everyday emotional lives of postwar Europeans"--

Subject

Sex > Germany (East) > History
Communism and love > Germany (East) > History
Germany (East) > Social conditions
Germany (East) > History

Bibliography (note)

Includes bibliographical references (pages 219-235) and index.

Contents

1. Introduction: the East German sexual revolution -- 2. 'A bit of freedom': sex and young people -- 3. Marriage and monogamy -- 4. 'The dictatorship of love': sex, love, and state hypocrisy -- 5. Gay men, lesbians, and the struggle for the public sphere -- 6. The naked republic: nudism -- 7. Picturing sex: East German erotica -- 8. Conclusion: space for love?

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