Students and faculty from all over campus will have the chance to learn about the history of masturbation today at the inaugural “Currents in Gender Studies” symposium.
The symposium, which begins at 11:00 a.m. and lasts until 1:30 p.m. in the Knight Library Browsing Room, will focus on University of California­Berkeley history Professor Thomas Laqueur’s latest book, “Solitary Sex: A Cultural History of Masturbation.”
Women’s and Gender Studies Director Judith Raiskin said the point of the symposium is to bring students and faculty from different disciplines together in a discussion about current scholarly works.
“We really need to make these events happen so we are exposed to the important scholars in many different fields,” she said.
Laqueur, who also wrote “Making Sex: Body and Gender from the Greeks to Freud,” said his new book examines the point in the 18th century when masturbation became a cultural debate, which meant that women’s sexuality came into the limelight for the first time.
“Most sexuality before the 18th century didn’t actually pay attention to women,” he said in a telephone interview. “For the first time actually, the sexuality of women became critical.”
He said the book focuses on cultural thoughts about masturbation, which gradually shifted from being viewed as a societal wrong to being a way in which women could extol their sexual identities.
“It’s an important part of the feminist movement,” he said.
Philosophy graduate student Amy Story, who plans to attend the symposium, said masturbation’s role in the feminist movement was important for women in asserting control over their sexuality.
“Women’s bodies don’t belong to men; they actually belong to women themselves,” she said. “It represents the statement of autonomy.”
She said it is important for students to be exposed to historical analyses such as Laqueur’s book, because they help people understand current social trends in sexuality.
“Books like this reveal a sort of trajectory of history that allows us to better understand where we stand today,” she said.
Raiskin said the symposium is unique because instead of simply hearing a quick presentation from a guest speaker, attendees were encouraged to read the book in advance. She said this makes the event “a little more leisurely and a little more luxurious.”
Women’s and Gender Studies Assistant Professor Elizabeth Reis, who is also speaking at today’s symposium, said in an effort to encourage reading, free copies of the book were given to the first 20 people who signed up for the lecture. She said the conversation should be productive because most people have read the book.
“It brings together faculty and students across campus to have a creative and stimulating conversation about intellectual issues,” she said.
Raiskin said the University is fairly isolated geographically, which makes sharing scholarship across campuses, or what she calls “cross-fertilization,” difficult.
She said she hopes the symposium, which is sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences, the Oregon Humanities Center, the Center for the Study of Women in Society and the Women’s and Gender Studies Program, will become an annual event. Each year, the symposium will highlight a current work of an internationally renowned and influential scholar.