Author: Agnieszka Kościańska, Instytut Etnologii i Antropologii Kulturowej (Institute of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology), Uniwersytet Warszawski (University of Warsaw) - ORCID

Contents:

	Acknowledgments (p. vii)
	Introduction (p. 1)
	Part I: Sexology and Society
	1. The Development of Sexology and Sexual Rights Activism in Europe and North America (p. 19)
	2. The Polish School of Sexology (p. 40)
	Part II. Pleasure: Towards Good Sex
	3. Sexuality and Scientific Knowledge (p. 65)
	4. "Civilized" Sex and Gender Relations under Socialism (p. 79)
	5. Gender and Pleasure in Expert Discourse Today (p. 119)
	Part III. Violence: Expert Discourse of Rape
	6. Rape: Definitions, Legal Understanding and Statistics (p. 145)
	7. The Provocative Victim and the Male Limits of Self-Restraint: Stereotypes in Expert Literature (p. 159)
	8. In the Court Room (p. 185)
	9. Feminism: Changes in Expert Discourse and in the Court Room (p. 212)
	Conclusions (p. 227)
	Works Cited (p. 231)
	Index (p. 253)

Description: »Behind the Iron Curtain, the politics of sexuality and gender were, in many ways, more progressive than the West.
While Polish citizens undoubtedly suffered under the oppressive totalitarianism of socialism, abortion was legal, clear laws protected victims of rape, and it was relatively easy to legally change one's gender. In Gender, Pleasure, and Violence, Agnieszka Kościańska reveals that sexologists-experts such as physicians, therapists, and educators-not only treated patients but also held sex education classes at school, published regular columns in the press, and authored highly popular sex manuals that sold millions of copies. Yet strict gender roles within the home meant that true equality was never fully within reach. Drawing on interviews, participant observation, and archival work, Kościańska shares how professions like sexologists defined the notions of sexual pleasure and sexual violence under these sweeping cultural changes.
By tracing the study of sexual human behavior as it was developed and professionalized in Poland since the 1960s, Gender, Pleasure, and Violence explores how the collapse of socialism brought both restrictions in gender rights and new opportunities.« (Source: Indiana University Press)

Interview: Massino, Jill, et al. »Gender, Pleasure, and Violence: The Construction of Expert Knowledge of Sexuality in Poland.« New Books in . New Books Network 2021. - Bibliographic Entry: Info

Original: Kościańska, Agnieszka . Płeć, przyjemność i przemoc. Kształtowanie wiedzy eksperckiej o seksualności w Polsce. - Bibliographic Entry: Info

Reviews:
- Hiemer, Elisa-Maria. H-Soz-Kult (May 11, 2022). - Full Text: H-Soz-Kult (Free Access)

- Ignaciuk, Agata. European Journal for the History of Medicine and Health 80(1) (2023): 197-199. - Full Text: Brill (Restricted Access)

- Kuimay, Anita. Journal of Contemporary Central and Eastern Europe 29(2-3) (2021): 243-244. - Full Text: Taylor & Francis Online (Restricted Access)

- Müller, Anna. The Polish Review 67(49 (December 2022): 145-148. - Full Text: Scholarly Publishing Collective (Restricted Access)

- Zok, Michael. Zeitschrift für Ostmitteleuropa-Forschung - Journal of East Central European Studies 72(4) (2023): 644-646. - Full Text: Zeitschrift für Ostmitteleuropa-Forschung (Free Access)

Wikipedia: History of Europe: History of Poland / History of Poland (1918-1939), History of Poland (1945-1989) | Academic discipline: Sexology | Evidence (law): Expert witness | Sex and the law: Rape