Delirium—The Politics of Sex in America

?Perhaps if the Pill had never been invented, American politics would be very different today,” Nancy L. Cohen writes in her prescient new book, Delirium: The Politics of Sex in America

The 2012 election was supposed to be about the economy, but over the last few months it turned into a debate about sex and women’s rights. In Delirium, Cohen takes us on a gripping journey through the confounding and mysterious episodes of our recent politics to explain how we and why we got to this place. Along the way she explores such topics as why Bill Clinton was impeached over a private sexual affair; how George W. Bush won the presidency by stealth; why Hillary lost to Obama; why John McCain chose Sarah Palin to be his running mate; and what the 2012 presidential contest tells us about America today. She exposes the surprising role of right-wing women in undermining women’s rights, as well as explains how liberal men were complicit in letting it happen. Cohen uncovers the hidden history of an orchestrated, well-financed, ideologically powered shadow movement to turn back the clock on matters of gender equality and sexual freedom and how it has played a leading role in fueling America’s political wars. Delirium tells the story of this shadow movement and how we can restore common sense and sanity in our nation’s politics.

Nancy L. Cohen is a historian, author, and contributor to The Huffington Post and Rolling Stone. She is the author of two books, including The Reconstruction of American Liberalism, 1865-1914. She has held positions as a visiting assistant professor of history at Claremont McKenna College and at Binghamton University, State University of New York, and as a visiting scholar at the University of California, Los Angeles. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, two daughters, and four stepchildren.