ABSTRACT
The story of the history of sexuality is often told as a shift from a traditional, repressed sexuality to a contemporary liberated and hedonistic sexuality. But this conventional view ignores the importance of class in shaping sexual cultures. By and large, during the nineteenth century in many Western societies, there were two opposing ideologies of sexuality. There was a middleclass, “respectful” sexuality, and, from the perspective of the middle class, there was a lowerclass, deviant, permissive sexuality. In the course of the twentieth century, however, this division has been reversed. Today, working-class sexuality is often considered conservative and restrained while a culture of sexual fulfillment and intense sexual pleasures have been idealized by the middle class. For this class, sexuality has gradually become an important way for selves to express their individuality.
