Sophia C. reviewed The East, the West, and Sex: A History of Erotic Encounters on + 289 more book reviews
The East, the West, and Sex: a history of erotic encounters had great potential (with such a sexy subject) but ended up being a disappointment. Its main thesis is hardly new: the West (mainly Europe and later America) has a sexual culture based on Christian notions of sin and monogamy whereas the East (taken by the author to include North Africa, the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent, Southeast and East Asia) cultivated 'harem culture.' When the two intermingle, this has allowed Western men to indulge in "a domain of special erotic fascination and fulfillment," or bluntly put, boys behaving badly. Indeed, the earlier chapters do provide interesting historical examples of explorers seeking to unveil the harem and Europeans setting up little harems of their own during colonial rule.
However, when the well written prose turns to the recent past and current events—mostly how American presence has taken over and reproduced harem culture on a mass, democratized, capitalistic scale in Asia—the author's biases crack through. It is important to note that Richard Bernstein is an American journalist who worked extensively in Asia and married a Chinese woman. Although he points out the inherently sexist nature of 'harem culture' with the right politically correct murmurs, he ends up 'pragmatically' justifying it as truer to the intensity of the male sexual urge for variety and youth and economic realities when differentials of wealth exist. The last part of the book is based mainly on interviews with obvious subject selection bias. Furnishing only 10 pages of endnotes is not in keeping with rigorous academic standards. Such a shame Bernstein could only write from his Western male point of view.
However, when the well written prose turns to the recent past and current events—mostly how American presence has taken over and reproduced harem culture on a mass, democratized, capitalistic scale in Asia—the author's biases crack through. It is important to note that Richard Bernstein is an American journalist who worked extensively in Asia and married a Chinese woman. Although he points out the inherently sexist nature of 'harem culture' with the right politically correct murmurs, he ends up 'pragmatically' justifying it as truer to the intensity of the male sexual urge for variety and youth and economic realities when differentials of wealth exist. The last part of the book is based mainly on interviews with obvious subject selection bias. Furnishing only 10 pages of endnotes is not in keeping with rigorous academic standards. Such a shame Bernstein could only write from his Western male point of view.
