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It may be surprising to learn that a push to outlaw polygamy in America in the late 1800鈥檚 was less about morality and more about state-building, or domestic imperialism. 

鈥淭he government made the decision to link American citizenship to monogamous marriage and force assimilation鈥� explained Rebecca Davis, professor of history and women and gender studies.

Davis examines our country鈥檚 sexual past in her recent book, (Norton, Sept. 3, 2024.) She received a 2022 Public Scholars Award that enabled her to complete the book in 2024, the first major work of its kind in more than three decades.

It comes at a time when issues of gender roles, sexual rights and sexual health have again been front and center in major political and policy debates, with transgender and reproductive rights in question, and notions of 鈥渢raditional鈥� gender roles gaining traction while non-monogamous relationships are also seemingly more prevalent. 

These issues aren鈥檛 new, yet the conversations around them are, according to Davis. 

鈥淪ince 1988 there has been a ton of new research in the field, new ways of thinking, different questions to ask and different people to center in these stories,鈥� she said.

鈥淏y putting people of color, LGBTQ+ people, and women at the center of these stories, we open up a different perspective than the white male experience.鈥� 

Using a storytelling, rather than a comprehensive, encyclopedic approach, Fierce Desires earned national attention, recognized as one of the New Yorker鈥檚 Best Books of 2024, a Washington Post Notable Book of 2024 and a Kirkus Review Best Book of 2024.  

鈥淧eople have always wanted to have the sex that they want to have,鈥� she said, but the concept of sexual identity as an inherent part of who we are is relatively new. 鈥淲e used to be more willing to align what we wanted with what our community wanted from us. There is a modern shift to people following their internal measure of what is right, even if it is in conflict with what the community wants.鈥�