Erotic City: Summary

Sides' book Erotic City presents extremely unique and original research that gives an incredibly detailed view of the change in public sexuality that occurred beginning in the mid 1960's. While I was previously aware in some form that a sexual revolution occurred in San Francisco, I had absolutely no idea how or the scope of it that this book brought to light. I did not realize that to some San Francisco was considered a city that had an “excess of morality” (19) that “far exceeded that to be found in other cities.” (19) The concept of the regulation of morality is always something strange and interesting to me. On some level, I understand why politicians and the San Francisco government would attempt to place restrictions on sexual freedom