Abuses of the Erotic

Josh Cerretti is an assistant professor of history and of women, gender, and sexuality studies at Western Washington University.

• Introduction – Abuses of the EroticChapter 1 – No Politician Can Afford to Let Women Come Home in Body Bags: The Militarization of Sexual ViolenceChapter 2 – Confronting an Enemy Abroad, Transforming a Nation at Home: Heterosexuality and Domestic MilitarismChapter 3 – The Propensity or Intent to Engage in Homosexual Acts: Militant Queerness and Militarized HomosexualityChapter 4 – A Close and Mutually Beneficial Relationship: The United States, Marshall Islands, and Militarization of ReproductionConclusionThe Long WarAcknowledgementsEndnotesBibliography

“Backed by rigorous historical documentation, Abuses of the Erotic demonstrates that sexualized violence is neither incidental nor external to militarization but endemic to it. This book is an eye-opener for anyone interested in the intersectional workings of state violence.”-Carine Mardorossian, author of Framing the Rape Victim: Gender and Agency Reconsidered “Abuses of the Erotic allows us to trace over a decade of militarized sexuality and to appreciate how these instances have foundationally changed how we think of sexual and gender politics in the United States today. Two strengths of the book are the fact that Cerretti discusses militarism in relation to both homosexuality and heterosexuality and that he takes an expansive, transnational view of militarism. The accessibility of the language and the fact that it focuses on events in recent history that were heavily covered in the popular press mean that this work will have broad appeal.”-Ariana E. Vigil, author of War Echoes: Gender and Militarization in U.S. Latina/o Cultural Production