Synopses & Reviews
Based on dozens of face-to-face interviews,
Sex and the Soul explores the sexual and spiritual lives of today's college students. Donna Freitas crisscrossed the country, visiting a range of America's colleges and universities--from public to private, Catholic to evangelical--to find out what students had to say about these highly personal subjects. Their stories will not only engage readers, but, in many cases, move them with the painful struggles these candid young women and men face. Indeed, the book uncovers aspects of college life that may unsettle some readers, especially parents. Many campuses, for instance, are dominated by the pervasiveness of hook-up culture. Moreover, many students see little connection between sex and religion, even as they seek one between sex and spirituality. Indeed, these observations hold true even at Catholic schools. Only at evangelical colleges is religion an important factor when deciding whether or not to engage in sex. But Freitas's research also reveals that, even at secular schools, students are not comfortable with a culture of casual sex, and that they do want spirituality, at least, if not also religion, to speak about what they should do and who they should try to be--not just what they should avoid doing.
Sex and the Soul will offer readers the chance to hear college students speaking honestly about extremely sensitive topics, in a book that will be of great interest to students, parents, clergy, teachers, and anyone who wants to know what's happening on today's college campuses.
Named one of the Best Religion Books of 2008 by Publishers Weekly
"Fascinating, disturbing...engaging...persuasive.... Freitas's work chronicles a poignant spiritual loss that students themselves articulate and mourn."
--Publishers Weekly
"Candid, disturbing, yet ultimately hopeful....Throughout this beautifully written book, Freitas presents students' feelings and experiences in an unflinching yet compassionate way. You care about these young people and their struggles. This book is a great service to students, parents, and those at colleges and universities who want to prepare young adults not just for the workplace but for healthy and fulfilling lives."
--Christian Science Monitor
Review
"Sex and the Soul is both disturbing and hopeful. Donna Freitas is a skilled and sympathetic interlocutor, and her prescriptions for addressing the 'hookup culture' merit serious consideration." --Randall Balmer, author of Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory: A Journey into the Evangelical Subculture in America
"Relying on exhaustive research and analysis, this unflinching work delivers both a widely comprehensive and deeply intimate portrait of hook-up culture in this formidably spiritual generation, examining its contradictions, broken hearts, and impossible promises like no one has before. Sex and the Soul should be required reading for anyone interested in today's campus culture -- and tomorrow's adulthood." --Lauren Sandler, author of Righteous: Dispatches from the Evangelical Youth Movement
"How to explain the rise in the 'spiritual but not religious' option among U.S. college students? Might sex have something to do with it? In this provocative book, one of the country's foremost scholars of religion and youth culture answers this question with an emphatic YES! At the heart of this pathbreaking (and heartbreaking) book are the stories of college students 'searching alone' for ways to bring their bodies into conversation with their beliefs. Smart, learned, beautifully written, and above all humane -- this book should jump-start a national conversation on how the sexual revolution has trapped students as much as it has freed them." --Stephen Prothero, author of Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know -- and Doesn't
"In Sex and the Soul, Donna Freitas models a lovingly Catholic attention to evangelicals, a surprisingly evangelical attention to Catholics, and a passionate, creative attention to the desires of all college students. Freitas is America's foremost young writer on how religious traditions impact everyday life." --Tom Beaudoin, author of Consuming Faith
"This book offers a rare and candid look into the souls of today's college students. Donna Freitas is a truly good listener: she creates a safe space for students to talk about the tender and profound things that they are too seldom allowed to speak of. She listens to them not merely as subjects of a study, but as fellow human beings who are at once spiritual and sexual. Anyone involved in education, pastoral work, or youth work -- but especially parents -- should read this well-written and important book." --Brian D. McLaren, author of Everything Must Change
"Freitas' book is refreshing. Her care and compassion for students comes through on every page. She offers gutwrenching stories of students who have been broken and abused by the hookup culture, as well as glimmers of hope from students who are bringing change to their campuses." --Derek Melleby, Engage: The Journal of Youth Culture from The Center for Parent/Youth Understanding
Review
"Sex and the Soul is both disturbing and hopeful. Donna Freitas is a skilled and sympathetic interlocutor, and her prescriptions for addressing the 'hookup culture' merit serious consideration." --Randall Balmer, author of Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory: A Journey into the Evangelical Subculture in
America
Review
"Freitas... has carried out the most extensive empirical research to date of college students' sexual practices, sexual ethics, sexual confusion, and sexual heartache... An unequivocal must-read for church leaders, college and seminary professors, and parents." --Perspectives: A Journal of Reformed Thought
"In Sex and the Soul, Donna Freitas models a lovingly Catholic attention to evangelicals, a surprisingly evangelical attention to Catholics, and a passionate, creative attention to the desires of all college students. Freitas is America's foremost young writer on how religious traditions impact everyday life." --Tom Beaudoin, author of Consuming Faith
"Sex and the Soul is both disturbing and hopeful. Donna Freitas is a skilled and sympathetic interlocutor, and her prescriptions for addressing the 'hookup culture' merit serious consideration." --Randall Balmer, author of Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory: A Journey into the Evangelical Subculture in America
"Relying on exhaustive research and analysis, this unflinching work delivers both a widely comprehensive and deeply intimate portrait of hook-up culture in this formidably spiritual generation, examining its contradictions, broken hearts, and impossible promises like no one has before. Sex and the Soul should be required reading for anyone interested in today's campus culture -- and tomorrow's adulthood." --Lauren Sandler, author of Righteous: Dispatches from the Evangelical Youth Movement
"How to explain the rise in the 'spiritual but not religious' option among U.S. college students? Might sex have something to do with it? In this provocative book, one of the country's foremost scholars of religion and youth culture answers this question with an emphatic YES! At the heart of this pathbreaking (and heartbreaking) book are the stories of college students 'searching alone' for ways to bring their bodies into conversation with their beliefs. Smart, learned, beautifully written, and above all humane -- this book should jump-start a national conversation on how the sexual revolution has trapped students as much as it has freed them." --Stephen Prothero, author of Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know -- and Doesn't
Named one of the Best Religion Books of 2008 by Publishers Weekly
Fascinating, disturbing...Freitas's tone is engaging and her writing persuasive...Freitas's work chronicles a poignant spiritual loss that students themselves articulate and mourn.--Publishers Weekly
"Candid, disturbing, yet ultimately hopeful...Throughout this beautifully written book, Freitas presents students' feelings and experiences in an unflinching yet compassionate way. You care about these young people and their struggles. This book is a great service to students, parents, and those at colleges and universities who want to prepare young adults not just for the workplace but for healthy and fulfilling lives." --Christian Science Monitor
Fascinating...provocative...Anyone with any interest in mentoring young people should read this book and its recommendations, because there's great hope and wisdom in them. --The Weekly Standard
A wonderful, mind-clearing book...Freitas's book is a boon to anyone who not only cares about our nation's young people, but who has previously learned about this phenomenon only through rumors or anecdotes. Read her book, based on dozens of interviews, for the real scoop. --James Martin, SJ, America
Freitas's book should scare Catholic parents into asking some honest questions early and often.... Freitas has opened those dorm rooms a crack and allowed us to hear how we're doing. We need to listen up. --Commonweal
"The level of technicality of the writing is formal but also easily understood. The author descibes her ideas and findings in general yet detailed ways and provide helpful definitions and explanations of terminology." --Hennie Weiss
"Sex and the Soul is s powerful read and excellent...The candid, eye-opening narrative removes the barriers of ignorance and equips individuals to dialogue more openly about spirituality and sexuality." --Christy Rowden
"In general, the book provides a quality read for those interested in how religion intersects with the sexual decision-making of young adults." --BYU Studies Quarterly
Synopsis
Many young people grow up with a very simple notion of religion and sex: they don't mix. Sex outside of marriage is wrong, and that's all there is to it. But young people are surrounded by pressure to have sex, and once they go away to college, that pressure can become unbearable. College is
also a place where many students question the faith they inherited from their families. Is there a relationship between sexual exploration and spiritual exploration? Can romantic relationships and sexual promiscuity shift, split, or even shatter religious identity? Is the much-hyped "hook up
culture" during college a reality-or do students just take it on "faith," without investigating whether activities behind closed doors support this perception?
Donna Freitas sought answers to these and many other questions from students themselves across the United States. She conducted a survey of over 2500 students at a variety of American colleges and universities-Catholic, Christian, public, and private secular-as well as over 130 in-depth interviews.
Her findings will surprise you. Yes, students are having sex and questioning their faith. But they're not happy about it. In fact, many are troubled by the hook-up culture on campus, but feel powerless to do anything about it. Behind closed doors, they're not talking about having sex, but about how
they wish they could stop. They also, however, feel let down by their churches. They want a faith that is relevant to their sex lives, but one that offers solutions that account for their real experiences and difficult questions, not simply more prohibitions.
Steering the conversation away from bromides and jeremiads, Freitas both tells the stories of college students and lets them speak for themselves, offering us a window into what's really happening on campus today. This book will be invaluable to high school and college students, parents, teachers,
administrators, religious leaders, scholars, and anyone interested in what college students have to say about the state of college sexual morality, romance, and religion.
About the Author
Donna Freitas is Assistant Professor of Religion at Boston University. She is the author of several books including, Killing the Imposter God: Philip Pullman's Spiritual Imagination in His Dark Materials. A regular contributor to Beliefnet and Publishers Weekly, she has also written for The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Christian Century, and School Library Journal, and she has appeared as a commentator on NPR's All Things Considered.