In reading about the history of how dictionary publishers deliberately obscured or silenced discussions of sex -- especially of non-normative sex -- I can't help but think of the current (and periodic) panics over controlling the access of children to information about sex and gender. The attitude prevalent in the early modern period that simply knowing about certain sex acts could "infect" someone with an urge to commit them is still an underlayer to current concerns. "If school libraries include books that recognize the existence of non-approved genders and sexualities, that's tantamount to seducing kids to be something other than straight and cis!"
Comments