Book Description

Stearns (history, Carnegie Mellon University) explores the history of American self control and discusses the wide social implications of self control as a characteristic prescribed by every culture in different ways. He investigates issues that define American attitudes towards morality, sexuality, and disciplines of the body, covering the Victorian legacy through current norms. In comparing trends throughout our cultural history, he points out that there has been no collapse of impulse control or moral demonstration between the eras, only a shift in form. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR