Product Description

This surprise bestseller from Canada traces the groups and individuals who arepart of a timeless phenomenon that transcends culture and religion.

Joan of Arc was one. So was Sir Isaac Newton. A monk vows to be one. A prisoner has no choice. History tells of many avowed celibates, and today's society reflects a renewed interest in celibacy. But what caused -- and still causes -- people to give up sex, the very activity that drives, fascinates, troubles, and delights the rest of us?

Elizabeth Abbott's spirited and provocative exploration of celibacy debunks the traditionally held notion that celibacy is a predominantly religious concept of little concern to the secular world. With myriad examples, Abbott's lively history reveals insights not only about our religious practices but also about our sexual desires and changing attitudes toward gender and physical health.

From the vestal virgins of ancient Rome, who were entombed alive if they broke their vows, to contemporary athletes, who "conserve semen" to enhance their game, from celibacy as a guarantee for marriage to involuntary celibacy among prisoners, eunuchs, and young women cloistered against their will, Abbott puts a human face on celibacy, capturing the anguish of the castrated boy destined for an operatic career, the ecstasy of the woman whose celibacy is rewarded by visions of Christ, and the anger of the bachelor doomed by the surplus of males in contemporary China.

What didn't happen in the bedrooms of history, and why? Through stories of individual lives -- fascinating, vital, and real -- A History of Celibacy tells all.Amazon.com Review
Readers who consider celibacy the exclusive domain of priests and nuns are in for a big surprise. Elizabeth Abbott's entertaining history traces over 3,000 years of sexual abstinence and illustrates how it has been practiced all over the world for a variety of reasons, both religious and secular. A History of Celibacy begins with the ancient Greek deities, Athena, Artemis, and Hestia, for whom celibacy was a means of liberation from traditional female servitude, and concludes with the present-day AIDS epidemic, a primary justification for the renewed call to celibacy. In between, Abbott, who dedicated eight years to this project, discovers fascinating examples of sexual abstinence, whether coerced or self-proclaimed, temporary or permanent. For example, celibacy enabled egalitarianism and female leadership for 18th-century Shakers, the Greek athlete enhanced athletic performance by conserving semen, and Shamans and Vodun priests to this day attain a state conducive to communicating with the spirits through short-term abstinence.

Abbott describes and analyzes over 120 instances of sexual abstinence, expertly illuminating the interrelation of detailed particulars with historical context and social norms. A bestseller in Canada, where Abbott serves as Dean of Women at Trinity College, A History of Celibacy neither advocates nor opposes the practice. Instead, Abbott, herself a converted celibate, emphasizes individual choice according to individual needs, drives, and desires. --Bertina Loeffler Sedlack ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

A FemiNazi's History of Celibacy.
_A History of Celibacy_ by Elizabeth Abbott (no irony here, as an Abbott is in charge of a monastery) is a huge overview of what hasn't been going on in human history.In keeping with the collective schizophrenia of our times, the cover has a picture of a curvaceous woman�s naked back rather than a more appropriate image such as the Virgin Mary or St. Augustine.

Celibacy, defined by Abbott for the sake of her study, is abstinence from sexual activity.The technical meaning of celibacy is simply not being married, although the word usually designates "not engaging in sex."The foremost proponent of celibacy is of course religion, in particular Catholic and Orthodox Christianity, although celibate traditions existed in pagan Mesopotamia, Greece and Rome as well.The Gospels never mention Jesus as being intimate with a woman and the early Church practiced a discipline of celibacy, following the example of St. Paul.Other saints followed in the tradition including St. Anthony the Great (Father of Monks), St. Benedict, St. Jerome and of course, the sexual revolutionist's archenemy, St. Augustine.The monks of the Christian East were more radically ascetic, "anti-Church" and individualistic than their communal Western counterparts.Eastern religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism had many sects and movements that practiced celibacy for one reason or another as a mystical, ascetic practice.The most otherworldly group, the Jains, believe that celibacy is absolutely to achieve "nirvana" or "moksha."Conversely, Judaism and Islam do not have celibate traditions.Later Christianity is examined, where the Roman Catholic Church made celibacy a requirement for its entire clergy.Cults arose in the United States, such as the Shakers and Father Divine's group, which preached unorthodox versions of Christianity and required celibacy of their communal members.

Isaac Newton, Leonardo da Vinci and many other secular figures practiced celibacy in their lives for a variety of reasons.The book describes some unsavory forms of celibacy have been imposed, like that of castrati, prisoners and girls forced to join convents in the Middle Ages.Others are pathological like sufferers of eating disorders.Oddly enough, medical myths of semen conservation that have nothing to do with religious beliefs or social factors have promoted celibacy as well.This was behind some of the Greek stoic philosophers and the anti-masturbation scare and general prudery of the Victorian era.Abbott herself promotes celibacy today as New Age self-esteem measures and to prevent the spread of STDs like AIDS.

_A History of Celibacy_ represents a familiar feminist anti-Christian bias.If men practice celibacy it is either because of repressed homosexuality, fear of women or psychological hang-ups.Female celibates (unless they are forced into it unwillingly by "the Patriarchy") do so because it is liberating them from male dominance.Radical feminists promote the "gay-rights" agenda but suspiciously do not like traditional monasticism, although both amount to "biological suicide" in worldly terms and leave the sexual use of women behind.The difference is that homosexuality is worldly, but monasticism is not.It seems that feminists would rather have men imitating the stereotypically worst aspects of women.They feel threatened by the otherworldly male ascetics who transcend the world and cannot be manipulated by the desires of the flesh, which is the only fuel behind the feminist program.Abbott's non-mystical celibacy is one of social forbearance, not rocking the boat by spreading STDs, ruining self-esteem, and causing unwanted pregnancies.It is also for New Age gurus and feminists who basically want to tear down Western civilization at the end of the day as well.However, she does have a point when criticizing the current status of the priesthood in the Roman Catholic Church.The early Church did have married priests (and even some Bishops), as does the Orthodox Church today.The Catholic Church's clerical celibacy requirement is in fact a break from earlier Christian tradition.

through time and cultures
A history of celibacy is a deeply compelling book that offeres a plathora of cultural views on celibacy.From china to native americans, ancient greeks to today, Elizabeth Abbott introduces the reader to a world populated by eunuchs, transvestite nuns, tormented ascetics, empowered virgins and AIDS-weary homosexuals. Abbott's wit and wry sense of humor makes this scholarly research a joy to read. I feel more knowledgble of both my own and other cultures view on sex, the close relationship between religion and sex, and how centuries of sexual principles affects many of todays issues concerning homosexulality, teenage pregnancy, pedophile priests, etc...
A must read for the curious.

At last - a proper look at celibacy
Well researched and well written, this is a book I would have liked to have written myself -- so I read it with great pleasure. A sensitive butsearching investigation into what can be a joyful sexual choice or a bitterdeprivation. Read this. It's good. It's not just another "selfhelp" blather. It's a real book.

Blame Canada
It's hard to imagine two words that could do more to kill a book's sales than "history" and "celibacy" ("algebra" and "asphyxia," perhaps). Nevertheless, A History of Celibacy hasproven a huge best-seller in Canada (if that counts), giving South Parkfans one more reason to hoot in derision at their northernneighbors.

Toronto historian Elizabeth Abbott traces religious celibacyin exhaustive detail from Athena and the vestal virgins of pagan Rome tothe Catholic obsession with virginity and the role of self-denial in theBuddhist and Hindu faiths. If the reader can get past Abbott'ssociology-textbook prose in these first 200 pages, the book picks upconsiderably in the second half as she turns her attention to celibacy inthe secular world. Abbott pokes fun at the Male Purity Movement of the 19thcentury and the scientifically unproven link between abstinence andimproved athletic performance, but she appears completely sympathetic withfemale celibacy to transcend traditional gender roles (the section onElizabeth I is particularly poignant).

Under Abbott's double standard,women in secular society give up sex for career or country (Joan of Arc,Florence Nightingale, Rachel Carson), whereas men abstain because they arerepressed homosexuals, incurable pedophiles or superstitious jocks(Leonardo da Vinci, Lewis Carroll, Muhammad Ali). Equally discomfiting isAbbott's account of her own conversion to celibacy: "Much as I oncereveled in sexual indulgence...I am immensely relieved that someone else'sdomestic demands no longer dominate my daily agenda." Yeah, lovestinks.

Nice overview, but spotty scholarship
It's a bit hard to take her discussion of the Shakers seriously considering she does not consult the scholarly work of Louis J. Kern.His penetrating insights would have illuminated this portion of her bookfurther.Otherwise, this book does give the reader a sense of why onewould become celibate in a certain place and at a certain time. ... Read more

Product Description
This volume is produced from digital images created through the University of Michigan University Library's preservation reformatting program. The Library seeks to preserve the intellectual content of items in a manner that facilitates and promotes a variety of uses. The digital reformatting process results in an electronic version of the text that can both be accessed online and used to create new print copies. This book and thousands of others can be found in the digital collections of the University of Michigan Library. The University Library also understands and values the utility of print, and makes reprints available through its Scholarly Publishing Office. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

An Atypical Gidget Novel
"Cher Papa" is the second Gidget novel published, but the third in chronological order, taking place after "Gidget goes Hawaiian". It is uniqueamong Gidget novels in that it is not narrated by Gidget, but instead by her father.It takes place during the Christmas hiatus of Gidget's first semester at OSU/Corvallis; she is making a little money by waiting tables at a nearby ski resort--she does, of course have an ulterior motive to be at the resort: love.Dr. Hofer, on hiatus from the University where he teaches, drives out to the resort to catch up with his daughter and to get in a little skiing.Because it is narrated by Dr. Hofer, the tone and narrative style are different from the other novels, but it is still very much about language and very well written.Also Dr. Hofer seems to have picked up a few of his daughter's "gidgetisms", which he uses with varying degrees of irony.Published in 1959, this is the novel that first "cools us in" to some of Gidget's personal info: her last name, her parents' names, her religion--but don't buy it for that; buy it for the artful storytelling--and as usual in these novels, more artistry than story, but that's all to the good. ... Read more