Sexing the Citizen

How did marriage come to be seen as the foundation and guarantee of social stability in Third Republic France? In Sexing the Citizen , Judith Surkis shows how masculine sexuality became central to the making of a republican social order. Marriage, Surkis argues, affirmed the citizen's masculinity, while also containing and controlling his desires. This ideal offered a specific response to the problems—individualism, democratization, and rapid technological and social change—associated with Franc