The Case Against the Sexual Revolution: A New Guide to Sex in the 21st Century by Louise Perry

REVIEWER: Charmaine Yip

BOOK: The Case Against the Sexual Revolution: A New Guide to Sex in the 21st Century

The risk of immersing ourselves in our faith is that we lose touch with contemporary culture. This secular book opened my eyes to the grim reality of our ultra-sexualised world, yet reassured me that God’s plan for human relationships prevails. The author, a journalist and campaigner against sexual violence, draws heavily on her work in rape crisis to launch a full-scale attack on current sex norms. Her main message is that the sexual revolution promised women liberation but delivered devastation. In the words of Perry’s grandmother: ‘Women have been conned.’ 

The book begins by decrying sexual ‘disenchantment’ – the modern mantra that sex is nothing more than a bit of fun between two consenting adults. Wrong, says Perry. Sex is meaningful. If it’s ‘just sex’, why are we outraged by the boss who requests sex in exchange for promotion? Why do some women feel diminished by casual sex, even when it’s consensual? While Perry concludes that sexual disenchantment isn’t true, she (frustratingly!) fails to explore why, stopping short of seeing sex as sacred.

Probably the greatest strength of this book is its unflinching exposé of how hook-up culture damages women. The accounts from victims of pornography, sexual violence and prostitution are shocking. Perhaps more moving are the voices of women pretending to enjoy no-strings sex, some even enduring excruciating ‘kinks’, because that’s what society expects. The fact is, the writer argues, women cannot have the same sexual freedom as men because they’re different. Behaviourally, ‘men, on average, prefer to have more sex and with a larger number of partners’. Add to the mix men’s greater physical strength, women’s greater ‘agreeableness’, an imperfect criminal justice system and you end up with the perfect conditions for predators and rapists. Parents beware! Nowhere is this message more cogent than on university campuses where inexperienced young women are ‘forced to learn …the hard way… that freedom costs.’ 

Perry’s solution – steps such as ‘Get drunk in private and with female friends’ skirts close to ‘victim-blaming’ and does not actually address the problem – but it’s still refreshing to read this inadvertent advertisement for biblical values and marriage. Passionate and witty, it’s an important book in the cultural moment, whether we engage with it from an apologetic angle, for sermon illustrations, or simply to kickstart conversations with young people. 

Reviewer: Charmaine Yip

Charmaine Yip writes for Preach magazine, occasionally preaches short sermons for Premier Radio, and is the 2022 winner of Sermon of the Year.