Look, I wasn't expecting to spend my Saturday morning listening to a Victorian gentleman explain why masturbation causes insanity. And yet. Here we are.
Henry Stanton's Sex: Avoided Subjects Discussed in Plain English is not—I repeat, NOT—a sex education book you should hand to anyone looking for actual information. But as a psychological artifact? As a window into how an entire society collectively lost its mind about bodies and pleasure? This is absolutely fascinating.
A Case Study in Cultural Anxiety
The title promises "plain English," which is immediately a lie. Stanton writes in that florid, moralistic Victorian style where everything is a sin waiting to happen and young people are perpetually on the brink of moral catastrophe. The research actually shows that this kind of catastrophizing around sexuality was endemic to the era—and Stanton is a perfect specimen of it.
What makes this compelling from a psychological perspective is watching Stanton try to be helpful while being absolutely certain that knowledge leads to experimentation and experimentation leads to... well, everything bad. Prostitution. Crime. General moral decay. The cognitive dissonance is palpable. He wants to educate, but he's terrified of what education might do. It's a fascinating case study in how fear shapes information delivery.
The "facts" about menstruation and masturbation are genuinely wild. I found myself pausing my jog multiple times just to process what I was hearing. My therapist would have thoughts about this character—specifically, about how his anxiety manifests as pseudo-medical moralizing. (Don't tell my students I laughed out loud at the section on "self-abuse.")
Phil Chenevert's Steady Hand
Phil Chenevert narrates this with admirable restraint. Honestly, I'm not sure what else you could do with material like this. It's the same approach he brings to Murders in the Rue Morgue (Version 2)—letting the source material speak without editorial commentary. He reads it straight, no winking at the audience, no dramatic flourishes. Just clear, steady delivery.
Some listeners find this monotone. I get that. But here's the thing—I actually think the neutral approach works better than any alternative. If Chenevert had played it for laughs, it would feel mean-spirited. If he'd been dramatic, it would feel absurd. The straightforward narration lets you have your own reaction, which for me alternated between "oh no" and "oh NO."
It's the same approach he brings to Murders in the Rue Morgue (Version 2)—letting the source material speak without editorial commentary.At under two hours, the pacing is manageable. This isn't something you marathon—it's more like a curiosity you dip into, process, and then need to discuss with someone immediately.
Why This Actually Matters (Psychologically Speaking)
Here's where I put on my behavioral psychologist hat. Books like this aren't just historical curiosities. They're data points. They show us how sexual shame gets codified into "education," how anxiety gets dressed up as concern, how control gets packaged as care.
I've seen this same dynamic play out in Healing the Shame That Binds You, which examines how shame gets weaponized under the guise of protection.Stanton genuinely believed he was doing young people a service. The protagonist exhibits classic paternalistic anxiety—he's convinced that without his intervention, chaos will ensue. And the author understands human nature in one specific way: he knows that information vacuums get filled with experimentation. He's not wrong about that. He's just catastrophically wrong about what to do about it.
Listening to this, I kept thinking about how many of these attitudes persisted well into the 20th century. How many still persist now, just dressed up in different language. Stanton's book is a mirror, and what it reflects isn't always comfortable.
Who Should Actually Listen to This
Best for: Anyone interested in the history of sexuality, psychology nerds like me who treat everything as a case study, people who enjoy primary sources over secondary analysis. Also historians, gender studies folks, and anyone writing about the evolution of sex education.
Skip if: You're looking for actual sex education (please, for the love of everything, look elsewhere), you're easily frustrated by moralistic preaching, or you need dynamic narration to stay engaged.
I mean, honestly—this is a niche listen. But it's a genuinely useful niche. Understanding where our cultural baggage comes from is half the work of unpacking it.
Final Thoughts Over Coffee
I'm giving this a 3.0, which feels right for something that's valuable as a historical document but absolutely bonkers as actual advice. The narration serves the material, the production is clean, and at under two hours, it doesn't overstay its welcome.
Would I recommend it broadly? No. Would I assign it to graduate students studying the psychology of sexual shame? Absolutely. Sometimes the most useful books are the ones that show us exactly how not to think about something. Stanton delivered that in spades—without ever intending to.
