A Hypersexual Society: Sexual Discourse, Erotica, and Pornography in America Today

The origins of this book started quite casually at a Baltimore Orioles baseball game. I was with my longtime friend and colleague George Ritzer. George had just agreed to edit a series about social issues in American society and he asked if I would be interested in writing a book about pornography in American society. The subject of pornography was one that I had previously written about, and since I had no other pressing obligations I replied, “Sure.” As I drove home from the game that night, I was thinking about sex and pornography in American society when the concept of “sexual saturation” jumped into my mind. It seemed to be a good working title for a book. I had recently written an essay about pornography in which I argued that sexual materials, including erotica and pornography, were pervasive in American society. The “sexual saturation” title did not make the final cut, but the term will still appear at various times in this book because others have described American society as sexually saturated.