This art icle was downloaded by: [ Griffit h Universit y] On: 15 Sept em ber 2013, At : 23: 17 Publisher: Rout ledge I nform a Lt d Regist ered in England and Wales Regist ered Num ber: 1072954 Regist ered office: Mort im er House, 37- 41 Mort im er St reet , London W1T 3JH, UK Journal of Australian Studies Publicat ion det ails, including inst ruct ions f or aut hors and subscript ion inf ormat ion: ht t p: / / www. t andf online. com/ loi/ rj au20 The Sex Lives of Australians: A History Yorick Smaal a a Grif f it h Universit y Published online: 13 May 2013. To cite this article: Yorick Smaal (2013) The Sex Lives of Aust ralians: A Hist ory, Journal of Aust ralian St udies, 37: 2, 273-274, DOI: 10. 1080/ 14443058. 2013. 784189 To link to this article: ht t p: / / dx. doi. org/ 10. 1080/ 14443058. 2013. 784189 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTI CLE Taylor & Francis m akes every effort t o ensure t he accuracy of all t he inform at ion ( t he “ Cont ent ” ) cont ained in t he publicat ions on our plat form . However, Taylor & Francis, our agent s, and our licensors m ake no represent at ions or warrant ies what soever as t o t he accuracy, com plet eness, or suit abilit y for any purpose of t he Cont ent . Any opinions and views expressed in t his publicat ion are t he opinions and views of t he aut hors, and are not t he views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of t he Cont ent should not be relied upon and should be independent ly verified wit h prim ary sources of inform at ion. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, act ions, claim s, proceedings, dem ands, cost s, expenses, dam ages, and ot her liabilit ies what soever or howsoever caused arising direct ly or indirect ly in connect ion wit h, in relat ion t o or arising out of t he use of t he Cont ent . This art icle m ay be used for research, t eaching, and privat e st udy purposes. Any subst ant ial or syst em at ic reproduct ion, redist ribut ion, reselling, loan, sub- licensing, syst em at ic supply, or dist ribut ion in any form t o anyone is expressly forbidden. Term s & Condit ions of access and use can be found at ht t p: / / www.t andfonline.com / page/ t erm sand- condit ions Journal of Australian Studies 273 Katharine Grant Watson. Before dying, Green expressed great regret that she hadn’t been able to put the pieces of Watson’s life together. Suzanne Falkiner’s monumental biography fills in this absence and is a remarkable testament to her patience, judgement, and investigative skill. Simon Ryan Australian Catholic University # 2013, Simon Ryan http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14443058.2013.784188 Downloaded by [Griffith University] at 23:17 15 September 2013 The Sex Lives of Australians: A History, by Frank Bongiorno, Black Inc., Melbourne, 2012, 352 pp., $32.95 (paperback), ISBN 9781863955676. Sex is elementary to the human experience. Gender, class, race, and sexuality all shape what we do, how we do it, and who we do it with. Frank Bongiorno’s new book, The Sex Lives of Australians, shows how these social and cultural processes have shaped our popular attitudes and private selves since the outset of settlement. ‘‘The question of how societies organise sexuality’’, he writes early on, ‘‘is not singularly personal or private but fundamentally social and political’’ (xv). This very important book makes a compelling and convincing case for the centrality of sex to the national story. Its broad sweep interrogates many of the binaries that govern our intimate lives, revealing where and when they intersect. The book’s long durée recalibrates existing and new material and provides a structural overview of official and popular responses to sex, illustrating how they have been reconfigured or reimagined at particular moments in time. The Sex Lives of Australians is chronological in its approach. It begins with the formation of our national sexual economy, tracing the development of imported British sex and gender norms in the convict world, before turning to Victorianism, the crucial decades of first-wave feminism, and Federation. The book traverses the two world wars and their respective aftermaths, the sexual revolution of the 1960s and 1970s, and concludes with the conservative backlash that followed. While each chapter is necessarily attentive to the temporal context, the narrative is neatly anchored around central themes. Contraception and birth control, venereal disease, sex education, marriage, prostitution, masturbation, and same-sex desire, for example, all reappear at key junctures, providing consistency and points of comparison throughout the text. Each reveals the refraction of international thinking and practice in the local context, as well as Australian exceptionalism. Much of this story is told through the chronicles of key experts and commentators, extraordinary individuals, and everyday folk. Together, they build a rich tapestry of professional and personal experience. The book synthesises an impressive array of secondary sources, not only from the field of sex and gender, but from many of the themes central to its telling*race, class, war, immigration, and national identity, for example. Primary sources are vast and comprehensive, ranging from legal cases and governmental reports, to medical serials, newspapers, diaries, and novels. Much of this material is well known, although Bongiorno has ferreted out some obscure gems from local, national, and international repositories, and rediscovered older analyses. Downloaded by [Griffith University] at 23:17 15 September 2013 274 Book Reviews The author has produced a classic general text here, and one that deserves wide readership. The prose is unfussy, accessible, and witty. It will not only appeal to educated lay readers, but to scholars as well, especially given that work continues to get unnecessarily bogged down in jargon. This makes The Sex Lives of Australians an excellent introduction to the field. The book will prove particularly useful for undergraduate teaching, although some chapters will have more utility than others. Specialists too, will appreciate the scale and scope of the work. The theoretical sophistication rests subtly beneath the text, and the footnotes alone make it a ‘‘must have’’ reference tool for serious sex and gender researchers both in Australia and overseas. The relatively small selection of images is apposite and well chosen. Striking the right balance in such an ambitious history is a difficult task. Some might consider that explorations of contemporary child sexuality are weighted towards masculinities at the expense of the feminist agenda, for example, or want more made of transgender and intersex experience in the contemporary setting. But on the whole, the book does a fine job of keeping the strands of analysis in play. Along with Lisa Featherstone’s recent contribution to the field, Let’s Talk about Sex (2011), The Sex Lives of Australians unequivocally demonstrates the fundamental role that sex and sexuality have played in the making of modern Australia. Bongiorno’s contribution is a first-rate ‘‘big picture’’ history and a compelling read. Yorick Smaal Griffith University # 2013, Yorick Smaal http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14443058.2013.784189