ABSTRACT
In this chapter I discuss attempts to document and understand sexual behaviour across different times. The study of sex in history has taken a number of forms and the chapter reviews the investments of various approaches – from the assertion that sexuality is characterised by a common essence in all locations to the view that historical variation reveals sexuality to be a product of culture not nature. Here, I return to the suggestion that we are witnessing a period of significant change in cultures of sexuality and argue that attention to history can aid understanding of these contemporary events (for more on debates about sex and history, see Bartlett 1988; Nestle 1988; Halperin 1990; Scott 1993).
