Synopses & Reviews
Struggling to survive in postandshy;and#8211;World War II Germany, Beate Uhse (1919and#8211;2001)and#8212;a former Luftwaffe pilot, war widow, and young motherand#8212;turned to selling goods on the black market. A self-penned guide to the rhythm method found eager buyers and started Uhse on her path to becoming the worldand#8217;s largest erotica entrepreneur. Battling restrictive legislation, powerful churches, and conservative social mores, she built a mail-order business in the 1950s that sold condoms, sex aids, self-help books, and more. The following decades brought the worldand#8217;s first erotica shop, the legalization of pornography, the expansion of her business into eastern Germany, and web-based commerce.
Uhse was only one of many erotica entrepreneurs who played a role in the social and sexual revolution accompanying Germanyand#8217;s transition from Nazism to liberal democracy. Tracing the activities of entrepreneurs, customers, government officials, and citizen-activists, Before Porn Was Legal brings to light the profound social, legal, and cultural changes that attended the growth of the erotica sector. Heinemanand#8217;s innovative readings of governmental and industry records, oral histories, and the erotica industryand#8217;s products uncover the roots of todayand#8217;s sexual marketplace and reveal the indelible ways in which sexual expression and consumption have become intertwined.
Review
and#8220;
Before Porn was Legal is part chronicle of liberalism, part rags-to-riches tale of businesswoman Beate Uhse and her sex empire, and part morality tale of the economic clout of male consumers. Elizabeth Heineman takes her readers through a story of why sex matters to the recent history of Germany and, by extension, all societies that find the marketplace called on to mediate tensions between sexual freedom and shifting social morality. Concise, sharply argued, smart. Heineman does for Uhse what Barbara Ehrenreich did for Hugh Hefner in
The Hearts of Men and Kathy Peiss did for Madame C. J. Walker in
Hope in a Jar: she brings readers into the frothy intersection of desire and commodities.and#8221;
Review
“This outstanding book explores the relationship between sexual emancipation, consumerism, and mail-order marketing in the context of West Germans recovering from the legacy of Nazi rule. Elizabeth Heinemans history of Beate Uhses erotica empire is filled with paradoxes, insights, and unintended consequences.”—Claudia Koonz, Duke University Claudia Koonz
Review
and#8220;This is a well-written work of exhaustive scholarship. Elizabeth Heineman approaches her topic from multiple perspectives and has a great story to tell, one that will be read by a broad public interested not only in modern Germany but also in the history of sexuality, consumer culture, and the ways societies negotiate moral standards.and#8221;
Synopsis
Struggling to survive in post--World War II Germany, Beate Uhse (1919-2001)--a former Luftwaffe pilot, war widow, and young mother--turned to selling goods on the black market. A self-penned guide to the rhythm method found eager buyers and started Uhse on her path to becoming the world's largest erotica entrepreneur. Battling restrictive legislation, powerful churches, and conservative social mores, she built a mail-order business in the 1950s that sold condoms, sex aids, self-help books, and more. The following decades brought the world's first erotica shop, the legalization of pornography, the expansion of her business into eastern Germany, and web-based commerce.
Uhse was only one of many erotica entrepreneurs who played a role in the social and sexual revolution accompanying Germany's transition from Nazism to liberal democracy. Tracing the activities of entrepreneurs, customers, government officials, and citizen-activists, Before Porn Was Legal brings to light the profound social, legal, and cultural changes that attended the growth of the erotica sector. Heineman's innovative readings of governmental and industry records, oral histories, and the erotica industry's products uncover the roots of today's sexual marketplace and reveal the indelible ways in which sexual expression and consumption have become intertwined.
About the Author
Elizabeth Heineman is associate professor in the Department of History and in the Department of Gender, Womenand#8217;s, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Iowa. She is the author of What Difference Does a Husband Make? Women and Marital Status in Nazi and Postwar Germany and editor of Sexual Violence in Conflict Zones: From the Ancient World to the Era of Human Rights.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgmentsand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
Prelude: The Beate Uhse Mythand#160;
1and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Introduction: Sex, Consumption, and German Historyand#160;and#160;and#160;
2and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; The Permissive Prudish Stateand#160;and#160;and#160;
3and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; The Economic Miracle in the Bedroomand#160;
4and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Interlude: The Beate Uhse Mythand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
5and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; The Sex Waveand#160;
6and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; The Porn Waveand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
7and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Postlude: The Beate Uhse Mythand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
Interviewsand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
Abbreviationsand#160;and#160;
Notesand#160;and#160;Index