- The
- concept
- of
- sex
- addiction
- took
- hold
- in
- the
- 1980s
- as
- a
- product
- of
- cultural
- anxiety.
- Yet,
- despite
- being
- essentially
- mythical,
- sex
- addiction
- has
- to
- be
- taken
- seriously
- as
- a
- phenomenon.
- Its
- success
- as
- a
- purported
- malady
- lay
- with
- its
- medicalization,
- both
- as
- a
- self-help
- movement
- in
- terms
- of
- self-diagnosis,
- and
- as
- a
- rapidly
- growing
- industry
- of
- therapists
- treating
- the
- new
- disease.
- The
- media
- played
- a
- role
- in
- its
- history,
- first
- with
- TV,
- the
- tabloids
- and
- the
- case
- histories
- of
- claimed
- celebrity
- victims
- all
- helping
- to
- popularize
- the
- concept,
- and
- then
- with
- the
- impact
- of
- the
- Internet.This
- book
- is
- a
- critical
- history
- of
- an
- archetypically
- modern
- sexual
- syndrome.
- Reay,
- Attwood
- and
- Gooder
- argue
- that
- this
- strange
- history
- of
- social
- opportunism,
- diagnostic
- amorphism,
- therapeutic
- self-interest
- and
- popular
- cultural
- endorsement
- is
- marked
- by
- an
- essential
- social
- conservatism:
- sex
- addiction
- has
- become
- a
- convenient
- term
- to
- describe
- disapproved
- sex.
- It
- is
- a
- label
- without
- explanatory
- force.This
- book
- will
- be
- essential
- reading
- for
- those
- interested
- in
- sexuality
- studies,
- contemporary
- history,
- psychology,
- psychiatry,
- sociology,
- media
- studies
- and
- studies
- of
- the
- Internet.
- It
- will
- also
- be
- of
- interest
- to
- doctors
- and
- therapists
- currently
- working
- in
- this
- and
- related fields.
pro-mbooks3 : libris
