Rebecca L. Davis’s (@historydavis.bsky.social) review of Love and the Working Class: The Inner Worlds of Nineteenth Century Americans (Oxford University Press) by Karen Lystra doi.org/10.1215/1547...

Fierce Desires: A New History of Sex and Sexuality in America by @historydavis.bsky.social newbooksnetwork.com/fierce-desires

My dad’s last book made it to Jeopardy! tonight. Apparently these contestants are a bunch of philistines 😂. I’m sure that @kenjennings.bsky.social knew the answer.

I'm attending Indivisible's event, “NO KINGS Peaceful Rally” - sign up now to join me! www.mobilize.us/indivisible/...

Hey! If you like what Cory Booker is doing right now, call your senators and ask them to do the same (now and in the future). Find their info at ☎️ reps.fyi!

Hey @fetterman.senate.gov, where are you? What are you doing about the assault on democracy? How come no one can get through to an actual human at your office and instead gets your voicemail?

“Western civilization isn’t just worth preserving. It’s worth fighting for. This is a war, & natalism is our sword & shield, & we will not abandon the front line.” @kieraevebutler.bsky.social on what pronatalists really want (...& it ain't just more babies): www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

They were chosen because they are shameless and incompetent, and their shameless incompetence is why they will remain.

To all the university administrators out there: what are we doing, NOW, right this minute, to protect our international faculty, staff, and students?

*OAH Panel Alert* Board member Lauren Gutterman is a panelist on a discussion of @historydavis.bsky.social's new book Fierce Desires: A New History of Sex and Sexuality in America. Join five panelists as they discuss the state of the field of the history of sexuality in the United States.

@historydavis.bsky.social's brilliant writing made me tear up this morning (a deathbed scene in her chapter on HIV/AIDS). If you haven't read Fierce Desires yet, step to it. I assigned it for my history of sexuality students this semester and they absolutely love it wwnorton.com/books/978163...

I call bullshit: Jewish safety is pretext. Make no mistake, the Trump administration is using antisemitism as an excuse to obliterate Title VI, undermine civil rights and incapacitate higher education. www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...

With the full report here: www.safehome.org/data-lgbtq-s...

Each of us can help preserve LGBTQ+ history—and, by doing so, defend LGBTQ+ people. open.substack.com/pub/rebeccal...

Every time I do my little resistance posting, someone always replies that the Right might not allow any resistance to fascism. TBH this is a good point, which is why I suggest we ask permission first and gracefully concede if they say no.

When it comes to pornography, what’s the harm in looking? How moral panics about erotica have coursed through America’s history @historydavis.bsky.social

FIERCE DESIRES on this list of books that “rewrite history”: open.substack.com/pub/nextbigi...

In a country where access to both contraception & abortion are declining, a declaration of immutable binary biological sex “protects” women while simultaneously taking away their rights. open.substack.com/pub/rebeccal...

In November, after the election results led to a wave of shock and despair in the trans community that overwhelmed hotlines and stunned therapists, Assigned put together the Stay With Us package. www.assignedmedia.org/breaking-new...

My beloved colleague Peter Kolchin has died. May his memory be a blessing. 💔📚

“So often, sexuality is a story.” Fascinating lecture by @historydavis.bsky.social. I’m ordering her book, “Fierce Desires: A New History of Sex and Sexuality in America”!

“make the yuletide gay”? you mean queering the yuletide: a post-structural analysis of heteronormative seasonal paradigms

We need better stories. …Stories about justice and repentance. Stories about what it means to stand over the gaping pits of hell and see suffering and reach until your arms ache, until, finally, your daughter returns to you, whole, and it is spring again.

We need better stories. Ones in which an abuser’s story is not the narrative arc. I am exhausted by television shows that rely on rape as a way to advance female characters’ story lines, as if nothing else of substance ever happens to women.

"As Young’s important new book, Coming Out Republican: A History of the Gay Right, shows, the relationship between one’s identity & one’s interests or politics isn’t always predictable or straightforward." Grateful for this terrific review in @damagemag.bsky.social damagemag.com/2024/12/11/t...

Smart new essay by @historydavis.bsky.social on the links between conservatives' lurid fantasies of what sex educators would do at school in the 1960s and those circulating today about teachers forcing kids into becoming transgender arcmag.org/schools-out/

Loved talking with the amazing Marty Moss-Coane @whyy.org about Fierce Desires! 📚🗃️🏳️‍🌈https://whyy.org/episodes/the-history-of-sex-and-sexuality-in-america/

Target's "Hot Santa" ads cleverly play with conventional images of an older, chubbier Santa—traditionally, more cheerful grandpa than suburban thirst trap. But Americans have been writing—& singing—about Santa-lust for decades. 📚🗃️ #skystorians

To everyone in the midst of a divorce now sitting around the table with parents who keep asking questions like “how long were you married?” & “Is he invited to our anniversary party?” … solidarity. And wine.

"As a God-fearing citizen, I want the Ten Commandments in every classroom, a sexual predator in every cabinet position, and for a good man—like me, for instance—to stand sentry outside every bathroom door in America."

Taylor Cadle was 12 years old when she reported being sexually abused by her adoptive father. A detective at @polkcosheriffnw.bsky.social decided she was a liar and should be criminalized. Taylor wrote this letter of apology as a part of her probation requirements.

Georgia officials have dismissed all members of the state's Maternal Mortality Review Committee, which is charged with investigating deaths of pregnant women, in response to ProPublica's reporting on the deaths of Amber Thurman and Candi Miller.

FIERCE DESIRES: A NEW HISTORY OF SEX & SEXUALITY IN AMERICA made the @washingtonpost.com "50 notable works of nonfiction from 2024" list! Such a meaningful honor! I hope these stories can help us understand what's at stake today. 🗃️📚 #skystorians www.washingtonpost.com/books/2024/1...

Republicans love the cruelty and I love the response of Wisconsin U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus, which is quoted in this piece. www.advocate.com/politics/mik...

The time I was at a meal with Gary Hart and asked a question about sex scandals

This is excellent advice. @lmacthompson1.bsky.social

Sex strikes have a not-great history, even if the motivation can be all too understandable. My latest for @slate.bsky.social ! slate.com/life/2024/11...

Decided to try the "Un-essay" for my intro hist sexuality course. Assignment: identify the most important thing people need to know from what you've learned in this class, & present it however you like. In the works: Alfred Kinsey's Instagram account & board game about (the history of) masturbation.

Woke up this morning remembering how, after Kerry's 2004 loss to W, the Democratic party and the press decided it was abortion's fault. When I tell you that this is not an exaggerated memory:

and the reason this is important is that politics have not stopped happening. trump is set to squander whatever goodwill he has with the voting public and this is an opportunity

Congrats @renfro.bsky.social on your new book! I can't wait to read it! (And if you haven't yet, be sure to check out his excellent first book too: STRANGER DANGER: FAMILY VALUES, CHILDHOOD, AND THE AMERICAN CARCERAL STATE.

In advance of next week's release of the first Wicked movie, I'm struck by how very (wonderfully) gay the story is. Reimagine either Elphaba or Galinda as male, and you have the plot of just about every other rom-com or Disney fairy tale. 🏳️‍🌈🗃️

Congratulations to my fabulous colleague @lehelton.bsky.social !!!

*and* I'm thinking about Tucker Carlson's rant a few weeks ago about the "spanking" that "Daddy" was going to give to his girls when he got home. Some kinky BDSM vibes mixed up with misogynistic fantasies of abusing female minors. It's almost like they get off on hurting women.

If anyone can explain to me how to deal with the “invalid handle” thing, I’d much appreciate it.

If you are looking for a historical perspective on this pivotal moment, this Bluesky pack is a good starting resource. You can scan the list and follow who interests you. go.bsky.app/TAnzX2T

Not The Onion. Well, yes, The Onion, as in The Onion for real actually bought Infowars, which is an outcome so beautiful and perfect that I can’t stop laughing.