Amazon.co.uk:Customer reviews: The Case Against the Sexual Revolution

Forward to the 1950's

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 8 July 2022

Perry makes a strong case that modern western dating culture doesn't work for women in general and young women in particular. She condemns liberal feminism not only for for failing to protect women but actively encouraging their exposure to a harmful sex culture. There is great force in her argument on this. But her answer, the sexual repression of men, takes us back to the 1950's and before. The tone of the book overall expresses an almost wholly negative view of men. It focusses on male bad behaviour and its analysis and conclusions are driven by an associated fear. She appears to believe it is this that separates her from social conservatism and makes her a feminist. She expressly owns the term 'carceral feminism' and her bio notes she has been a campaigner on criminal justice issues relating to sex crimes.

But anyone with some exposure to a religiously conservative church will know that these institutions very much enforce the sexual repression of young men (and women) and that this causes a great deal of harm since getting married to have sex, which happens all to often, is the worst of motivations.

The sexual revolution that she criticises gained support from men and women because what both sexes need is the space to explore intimate relationships and to find out what works for them.

In the end the only format for successful heterosexual relationships is love, a word that I don't think is mentioned in the book even once. If we have moved into a loveless age, the answers as to why lie more in hyper-individualism and the destruction of community than the immutable and therefore ultimately hopeless socio-biology upon which her analysis heavily relies.

The deficits of our age play out in its extensive mental health crisis. This book is a very good polemic to start a debate but in truth Perry demonstrates a failure both of feminism and social conservatism to understand the roots of the modern crisis of relationship.

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H. Akande

A Critical Analysis of Radical Feminism And Female Sexuality

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 3 August 2022

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Hook-up culture is terrible for most women, argues British feminist, left-wing writer, and campaigner against male sexual violence Louise Perry.

'The Case Against The Sexual Revolution: A New Guide To Sex In The 21st Century' by Louise Perry is a thought-provoking book on female sexuality in western culture. The provocative book challenges radical feminism's claims that the sexual revolution empowered women. Perry argues that the sexual revolution has been harmful for women and families. She claims that a high status men have been the only 'winners' of today's hook-up culture. The book argues that many of the sexual norms of the past actually protected and weren't oppressive as liberals often claim. She questions whether a culture of casual sex benefits women as a group. Perry argues that it doesn't as many women have to adopt a masculine approach to sex to enjoy casual sex. Additionally, "casual heterosexual sex inherently carries much greater risks for women, and in return for much meaner rewards." The sexual double standard amongst the genders is also a serious hurdle for most women to get what they really want - a committed loving relationship. Men are not the same as women in relation to sex, and most women do not really understand male sexuality. The book also examines 'sexual disenchantment' - referring to the notion that sex is (or can be) a meaningless act. Perry pushes back against this idea that is often said by sex-positive liberal feminists. "Western sexual culture in the twenty-first century...promotes the interests of the Hugh Hefners of the world at the expense of the Marilyn Monroes."

The book consists of eight chapters with some seemingly controversial headings, 'Sex Must Be Taken Seriously,' 'Men and Women Are Different,' 'Loveless Sex Is Not Empowering,' ' Consent Is Not Enough,' 'Violence Is Not Love, and 'Marriage Is Good.'

The book starts with liberal feminist talking points and ends with a conservative conclusion on female sexuality. The book is similar to the sexual awakening of former Cosmopolitan writer, Sue Ellen Browder's book Subverted which challenged radical feminists' claim that hook-up culture and sex work are liberating for women. Like Browder, Perry argues for marriage and acknowledges the sexual differences between the genders.

Much of Perry's talking points have been put forth by religious groups for years. However she articulates her points in a secular and rational tone that would resonate with modern readers as scientific understanding is more highly valued than religion and cultural traditions in today's Western culture.
In the post-sex revolution world, women are encouraged to have more care-free sexual lives they way many men historically have lived. Perry argues that casual sex for women is not the same as it is for men, citing potential physical, psychological and financial consequences. Women aspiring for sameness with men is where western society has gone wrong. The book argues that there is clear differences between the gender and opposes the notion that sex is a meaningless act. She makes a passionate case for women not adopting a masculine attitude towards sex and adopting male sexuality. She argues that sexual restraint is essential for many women to receive what they truly want - a committed monogamous relationship. She argues that the West's sex culture does not best serve the interests of most women. It is a culture without restraint, ignores sexual dimorphisms and it is ultimately built on male sexuality. The book includes a sound analysis of the 'sociosexuality gap,' which refers to the gender differences in attitudes towards casual sex and promiscuity. Studies show that men are more likely to desire casual hook-ups than women, irrespective of their social class or attractiveness. Hook-up culture, or "having sex like a man" isn't liberating for most girls and women.

Limbic capitalism, hypersexuality, and the dearth of meaningful sex has contributed to the 'Cultural Deathgrip syndrome' where many young men suffer from impotence and the sex repression of a pornified society which pretends we are more sexually liberated and fulfilled.

Perry is a millennial writer and former student of the 'radically-left' SOAS University of London. Perry admits having a son changed her perspective on western attitudes towards sex and the notion that the sexual revolution empowered women. The book's essential argument is that the popular liberal narrative of the sexual revolution was for women's benefit is nonsense. Perry argues that the key beneficiaries of the sexual revolution have been a few high status men who are now able to have "no strings attached sex" with multiple women without any consequences. Women, especially poor women, are the main losers of the sexual revolution, she argues. That being said, she argues that many of the high status men will suffer in the long-term to live miserable lives without purpose such as the Playboy founder Hugh Hufner. The book is an attempt to rethink the way the West views women and sex in today's politically-correct liberal society where any opposing views are shut down.

The book appears to be aimed at feminist, progressive women who have bought into the sexual revolution myth. Interestingly, the book's final chapter makes a case for marriage for the welfare of women and children. Whilst not religious, Perry argues for a new sexual culture built around dignity, virtue and restraint. Perry is essentially speaking about sexual morality without explicitly stating it. Something religions and cultural traditions have unapologetically stated since time immemorial.

The book is a must read for feminists, conservatives and anyone interested in female sexuality.

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Ben Thompson

Fairly level headed book on a difficult subject

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 4 June 2022

I thought this was a pretty good book. The author talks about “chronological snobbery” to mean the attitude that the past is out of date and therefore discredited (E.P. Thompson called it “the enormous condescension of posterity”). She also maintains that female and male sexuality are intrinsically not the same, which has always been obvious to me, though there are lately schools of thought that deny it. I grew up in the north of England at a time when the tradition was for young men and women to find a partner they could get along with and then go through a few stages of courtship, save up for a deposit on a house, then get married in the hope that the marriage would last a lifetime. I left there when I was 16 and didn’t have that kind of marriage, but a couple of my friends who did stayed married all their lives and apparently were happy that way. Aside from such happiness that they found in the marriage itself, it freed their energies to be productive in other ways and to build comfortable homes.

As far as “chronological snobbery” goes, I often try and understand and imagine what it must have been like to live in the age of Jane Austen or in the 19th century of the Schumanns and Brahms. Brahms was in love all his life with a woman he couldn’t have and yet nobody wrote better love songs or had deeper friendships with both men and women than Brahms. Are we missing something? Stephan Zweig writes in “The World of Yesterday” about this, he says when he sees young couples who have become lovers he thinks about Vienna in his youth and the terrible ordeals the kids had to go through if infected with syphillis and he definitely prefers the modern way, but he was writing in the 1940s long before the rise of Tinder and the modern omnicopulant freelance gonadista.

The writer ends with a recommendation to get married. I think that’s sound advice, even though I never quite managed it. The world of casual sexual encounters is becoming quite terrifying, not just for women, but also for men who can easily lose their reputation and profession if they do something that stranger lying next to them in bed wasn’t quite expecting. Maybe the greatest invention of mankind was not the wheel, but the wedding ring?

23 people found this helpful

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A. B.

Will only get more relevant

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 8 August 2022

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I bought the book after seeing the author interviewed by Chris Williamson.

I liked the focus on the idea that people, both men and women, are being treated as commodities. What is happening isn't good for women, but neither is it good for men.

Often the book is sad, and shows how dystopian society has become, such as with the "demisexual" label that some people now use, as if the feeling emotions is somehow not to be expected, when it comes to intimacy with another person.

I can only see the book becoming more relevant as time goes on. I underlined the following:

"There is an inherent asymmetry to heterosexuality that can't be overcome, despite the existence of modern contraception and other forms of technology that offer a brittle illusion of sameness. We can either accept that fact and act accordingly, or we can keep sending young women out as cannon fodder in the battle against sexist double standards and then, when they return wounded, decry sexism all the louder".

I think more and more are coming to realise that they aren't getting a good deal.

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N D

Brave, comprehensive, easy to read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 5 August 2022

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- This review features adult themes, relating to sex and violence -

The book is best considered as part of a network of texts. One being David Buss's When Men Behave Badly, which Louise Perry references several times. Firstly, Perry is more brave than Buss, who frequently launches into drawn out pleas for mercy while distancing himself from challenging claims. Meanwhile, Perry takes on her would-be detractors, naming her targets and presenting controversial views. The only time she gets overly drawn into addressing future critics, is when repeating what "average" means in a scientific context. However, the strength of biases in perception, and the hostility likely to come back her way, contribute to Perry's actions.
Evolutionary Psychology (EP), the psychological lens that Perry utilises, is often targeted for criticism by the liberal feminists and the political Left more broadly. As a result, Buss goes into detail in his EP textbook, explaining what amounts to an adaptation, and refuting many claims against EP (that it is unfalsifiable, etc.). However, Perry states that sexual violence is adaptive in males, while the psychological research on whether it is adaptive has not been done. It's unlikely many people want to go near that topic. It's important for the for EP that claims about what is adaptive are not made without the necessary steps preceding it. For example, sexual violence may be the result of a side-effect of an adaptation like testosterone, something Buss suggests (The New Science of the Mind, 2019). The mistake Buss makes is to say it's not adaptive prior to the research being done, while Perry makes the mistake of saying it is.

The only other criticism I have of the book relates to the writing-off of certain sexual practices, like choking, which, in reference to medical guidance, she states is always harmful. In physical combat, there are techniques that target airways, and techniques that target blood flow, both as a means of rendering someone unconscious. Perry references airway-targeted techniques in the bedroom. However, I believe targeting bloodflow, if done by an expert in the correct conditions (under supervision, etc.) has not been proved harmful yet, so it should be concluded. There are a couple of moments where Perry is not as scientifically rigorous as she could be in relation to sex acts, consequently, it may be proposed that she is being over-protective.

Looking forward. Psychological research literature has shown that men high in dark tetrad traits - narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and sadism - are more likely to be promiscuous (and violent). It is a minority of men who are this way, it is also a minority of men who are desirable enough to be promiscuous (because of hypergamy). Women who promote female promiscuity in the modern age are enabling some of the absolute worst male behaviours. Males high in psychopathy benefit massively from the relative anonymity of popular dating apps, for example. Perry was fair on these points, but I think more could have been said about the influence of psychological makeup and hypergamy. To further support her observations, I believe it would be worth researching the psychological makeup of the females advocating for some of the behaviours Perry is so opposed to. I think it would be very revealing and would make a good follow-up project. It's something Buss hasn't done, unsurprisingly, and is probably best coming from a female. In addition to Perry's impressive contact list, Dr Lora Adair of Brunel University is a feminist Evolutionary Psychologist that could be engaged on this topic.

In conclusion, this book is very good, well-written and easy to read, while not being light on information. Perry completed an extensive literature review and has some really strong support from leading academics; Dr. Diana Fleischman, Dr. Kathleen Stock, among others. Perry makes a series of logical challenges to commonly repeated liberal feminist beliefs about female sexual conduct, and is consistently bold and clear in stating her position - she is prescriptive, as well as descriptive. I believe it will be very hard to dismiss Perry. I've seen one attack on Perry's stance on alcohol and sex, for example, which is ignorant to the fact (and reasons for) billions of people around the world, including in the West, having similar views that have extensive rationale behind them. The fact that her views aren't typical of White Westerners is not evidence of a flaw in her thinking. It follows that Perry is brilliant in her attacks of the flawed perception of "being progressive", and phenomena like chronological snobbery. Other key attacks include one on misogynistic males aroused by violence against females, who are protected, as part of the BDSM community. I believe Perry has a positive and exciting career ahead of her.

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pleasance

the best book I’ve read this year

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 7 August 2022

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This is not an easy read. At times I found it shocking, but I am very glad to have read it and will be recommending it to my friends, especially those with daughters.

This is a book which really tackles feminism beliefs, challenging them with hard facts. It does not come to trite or global solutions, but it does make a series of excellent practical recommendations.

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daniel jervis

Very detailed book great look at relationship today..

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 10 August 2022

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Great book have seen author on many pod casts great read...

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Patrick Finnegan

Brilliant

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 2 August 2022

Amazing read, most of it pretty obvious but when one lives in this crazy time common sense seems extreme

One person found this helpful

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Client d'Amazon

A must for every young woman

Reviewed in France on 6 July 2022

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Just read it. It is a great book, particularly for young women. I never leave comments but this time I have to, it could change your ( or a woman you love's) life

Penelope Schoeffel Meleisea

common sense feminism

Reviewed in the United States on 6 July 2022

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All my life’s experience as a 1960s feminist lead me to agree with this wise and well researched book. The sexual revolution has not been good for most women, but great for most men. Most men and most women have different sexualities, and denial of the difference harms women. Pornography harms male and female sexuality and endangers women.Monogamous marriage is the best option for bearing and raising children.

16 people found this helpful

5 star		76%
4 star		15%
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1 star		4%

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