Sex and the Married Girl: Heterosexual Marriage and the Body in Postwar Canada

During the 1950s and early 1960s, sex was a significant concern to social authorities in Canada. Sex and the Married Girl explores how medical professionals and church leaders used married heterosexual female sexuality as a lever to rebuild the Canadian family and state. Heather Stanley's book uses oral life histories of women to demonstrate that this was a time of simultaneous sexual and gender quiescence and change.

Format: Hardback
Length: 240 pages
Publication date: 01 November 2022
Publisher: University of Toronto Press

In the immediate postwar era, social authorities were deeply concerned with issues surrounding sex, including who was engaging in it, who should not be involved, and who was expected to be having it but was not. While the 1950s and early 1960s are often remembered as a sexually simpler time, these years were actually incredibly sexually productive. Sex and the Married Girl delves into how two dominant groups in Canada, namely medical professionals and church leaders, utilized married heterosexual female sexuality as a means to rebuild both the Canadian family and the state itself. Through the use of embodied historical methodologies, the book explores not only discourses surrounding sex but also how these discourses could shape and influence the actual experiences of married women.

Drawing upon extensive oral life histories of women who lived, married, and engaged in sexual activity during this transitional social period, Heather Stanley showcases that this era was characterized by a simultaneous period of sexual and gender quiescence and change. The book sheds light on the complex dynamics and tensions that existed within married women's sexual lives during this time, highlighting the ways in which medical professionals and religious leaders exerted control over sexual behavior and reproduction. It also examines the ways in which these groups sought to shape and influence public attitudes towards sex, particularly in the context of the postwar era's social and cultural transformations.

Overall, Sex and the Married Girl provides a valuable insight into the complex and multifaceted relationship between sex, marriage, and society in the mid-20th century. By exploring the ways in which medical professionals and religious leaders used married heterosexual female sexuality as a tool for rebuilding the Canadian family and the state, the book offers a critical examination of the historical and cultural forces that shaped sexual behavior and attitudes during this period.

Weight: 500g
Dimension: 159 x 236 x 23 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781487501198