Libertine London : sex in the eighteenth-century metropolis / Julie Peakman.

"Libertine London investigates the sex lives of women from 1680 to 1830, the period known as the long eighteenth century. It uncovers the various experiences of women, whether mistresses, adulteresses or those involved in the sex trade. From renowned courtesans to downtrodden streetwalkers, Julie Peakman examines the multifacted lives of these women within brothels, on stages and even behind bars. The activities of homosexuals, cross-dressers, bisexuals and pederasts are also investigated, as well as men’s attitudes to those men and women who transgressed the rules of polite society. Based on new research into court transcripts, asylum records, magazines, pamphlets, satires, songs, theatre plays and erotica, we learn of the gruesome treatment of women who were sexually active outside of marriage – and of the persecution of men who desired men and boys. Julie Peakman looks at sex from women’s points of view, undercutting the traditional image of the bawdy eighteenth century to expose a more sordid story, of women left distressed, ostracized and vilified for their sexual behaviour."--Provided by publisher.