Howmuchsexshouldapersonhave?Withwhom?Whatdowemakeofpeoplewhochoosenottohavesexatall?Aspresentasthesequestionsaretoday,theyweresubjectsofintensedebateintheearlyAmericanrepublic.Inthisrichlytexturedhistory,KaraFrenchinvestigatesideasabout,andpracticesof,sexualrestrainttobetterunderstandthesexualdimensionsofAmericanidentityintheantebellumUnitedStates.FrenchconsidersthreegroupsofAmericans--Shakers,Catholicpriestsandnuns,andfollowersofsexualreformerSylvesterGraham--whosesexualabstinenceprovokedalmostasmuchsocial,moral,andpoliticalconcernastheideaofsexualexcess.Examiningprivatediariesandletters,visualcultureandmaterialartifacts,andarangeofpublishedworks,Frenchrevealshowpeoplepracticingsexualrestraintbecameobjectsoffascination,ridicule,andevenviolenceinnineteenth-centuryAmericanculture.AgainstSexmakesclearthatinassessingthehistoryofsexuality,anexpansiveviewofsexualpracticethatincludesabstinenceandrestraintcanshedimportantnewlightonhistoriesofsociety,culture,andpolitics.
