Politics of Desire. Sex and Science in Communist Czechoslovakia
Author:
Kateřina Lišková
Year of publication:
2023
Publisher:
Host
ISBN:
978-80-275-1380-2
History sometimes progresses backward. Even in sex.
We commonly associate the sexual revolution with the 1960s, the feminist and civil rights movements - and the West. But when it came to sex, one of the most progressive countries after the Second World War was communist Czechoslovakia. However, legalizing abortion or decriminalizing homosexuality was not brought about by civil pressure but under the supervision of sexologists, psychologists and demographers who wanted to create an egalitarian society under expert guidance. This social project came to an end with the advent of Normalization. The progress made concerning gender order or expert understanding of sexuality even began to take the opposite direction: women in late Czechoslovak socialism were expected to play the role of caring mothers and nurturing wives, and sex was to function mainly as a spice to settled, married life.
The Politics of Desire tells a fascinating history of sexuality, family, or orgasm from the unexpected perspective of socialist control from above. A history that continues in Czech bodies, culture, and politics until today.
