Sexual Practices: The Story of Human Sexuality. Edgar Gregersen. New York: Franklin Watts, 1983. 320 pp. $18.85 (cloth). James W. Edwards Columbia University In 1885 Paolo Mantegazza, the first European to hold a university chair in the nascent discipline of anthropology, published Gli anori degli uomind (The Sexual Relations of Mankind, Eugenics Publishing Co., 1935), and raised the type of acrimonious scholarly and public storm later unleashed on the Sexual studies of Ellis, Kinsey, and Masters and Johnson. Though now virtually forgotten, Mantegazza's studies went through numerous editions and translation into all the major European languages. In the next few decades scholars of more perduring reputation, including Edward Westermarck, Wavelock Ellis, Ernest Crawley, Heinrich Ploss, Iwan Bloch, Albert Moll, and Magnus Hirschfield, drew upon @ burgeoning ethnographic data base to produce monumental surveys of sexual beliefs and practices, That Gregersen fails to adequately examine this neglected area of intellectual history is tronic: Sexual Practices 4s but an abridged, updated survey which perpetuates many of the conceptual and method- ological flaws of the early sexual compendia The book has no standard preface or introduction to inform the author's intent, but Sexual Practices appears to be aimed at a general audience. Never- theless, we should rightly expect a more sophisticated analysis than that offered: the author, an established, professional anthropologist, spent five years Yesearching the material for his study. In a mere 306 pages, no more than two- thirds of which are filled with text (ample margins and numerous illustrations eccupy the rest), Gregersen proposes to "document the culture of sexuality" andexamine sexual customs "to find out when and where they originated, how they Spread, and why they are maintained" (pg. 14); unlike earlier writers, Gregersen chose to forgo grand theorizing. That the anthropological perspective (by this the author seems to mean simply “cross-cultural") is best suited for the task at hand is "the fundamental assumption of and justification for this book" (pg. 7). RAF material 1s heavily relied upon, other sources being a wide range of ethnographies and eclectic studies. .The work is arranged in two parte: a thematic section detailing topics such as the evolution of human sexuality, Sex techniques, and prostitution; and a geographical section with area chapters, covering some of the same ground as the thematic chapters. The book's abstract and overambitious scope partially explains the superficial discussion accorded most topics - something not unexpected in an encyclopedic inventory. From works of this type the serious researcher at least may expect reference to more detailed source material, but the Published bibliography 4s totally inadequate. We are informed that an original bibliography of over 500 sources (not including HRAF material) had to be condensed into about 50 of the “especially important" sources (pg. 308); the selection criteria are quite unfathomable: references range from useful but Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex (But Were Afraid To Ask) (David McKay, 1969), to an arcane, 3 page report of a pregnant hermaphrodite. Upon request, Gregersen Well-known studies, to popular works such as Reuben graciously will supply the full typescript bibliography. I recommend that those with a serious interest obtain dt, even though its usefulness is limited. For example, Africanists may find odd the omission of Boris de Rachewiltz's extensively documented Black Eros (George Allen & Unwin, 1964), nor will onebe ted to useful reference tools such as Roger Beck's A Bibliography of Afticana in the Institute for Sex Research (Indiana University, 1979). ‘the early sexual studies contained in such journals as Anthropophyteia and the French, German, ané It@lian Journals of criminal anthropology, have escaped his attention. Another important source of sexual data missed is medical and Peyehiatric Literatures with the medicalization of sexuality in the West, colonial physicians, often serving as de facto native culture experts, contributed Significant studies t0 local medical journals. To this day, national medical and Payehtatric journals contain much of the indigenous sex research conducted in the non-Western world. The sources Gregersen has chosen to consult, coupled with the decision to present data ons large nunber of culture groups, naturally constrain the depth and type of analysis he ean offer. Gregersen thus can only take us fhrough an ethnographic globe trotting, pointing out the fascinating and curious Sexual customs along the vay. As with fast-paced travel tours, there 1s little Fine to view the mundane or understand cultural context. There is no consistent effort to convey temporal context, the discussion often being in the unreferenced ethnographic present. Nor has the author taken pains to assure us of the reliability of the information presented. Page 39 alludes to the questionable quality of the HRAF data, but the author makes no mention of any rigorous scrutiny in his selection of data. The work 4s written In a popular style which often leads Gregersen astray. ‘The translation of the South Asian preoccupation with semen into "semen Power" which creates "supernen" (pg. 216) 4s but one exemple of how cultural beliefs are debased. The enphasis on the unique and exotic leads Gregersen to construct categories which are devoid of conceptual unity and theoretical importance:“genital preservation", which includes genitals taken as var trophies, the mummified genitals of anclent Egyptions, and the "pickled genitals" of Chinese eunuchs (pp. 294-5), is a glaring example, These and other flaws make Sexual Practices unsuitable as an introductory text for the imereasingly popular courses in the anthropology of sex. Consider~ ‘ng the general dearth of awareness of past and present sex research, the book, with its inadequacies notwithstanding, may contribute to the development of Semual anthropology through consciousness-raising and bringing to light sone of the long obscured and scattered data. I join Gregersen in expressing the hope that some who come across the book will be inspired to offer more comprehensive and sophisticated topical studies. As the author points out, issues first raised in the scientific community over a hundred years ago are still awaiting definitive study.