Disciplining Sexual Deviance at the Library of Congress Melissa A
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FOR SEXUAL PERVERSION See PARAPHILIAS: Disciplining Sexual Deviance at the Library of Congress Melissa A. Adler A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Library and Information Studies) at the UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON 2012 Date of final oral examination: 5/8/2012 The dissertation is approved by the following members of the Final Oral Committee: Christine Pawley, Professor, Library and Information Studies Greg Downey, Professor, Library and Information Studies Louise Robbins, Professor, Library and Information Studies A. Finn Enke, Associate Professor, History, Gender and Women’s Studies Helen Kinsella, Assistant Professor, Political Science i Table of Contents Acknowledgements...............................................................................................................iii List of Figures........................................................................................................................vii Crash Course on Cataloging Subjects......................................................................................1 Chapter 1: Setting the Terms: Methodology and Sources.......................................................5 Purpose of the Dissertation..........................................................................................6 Subject access: LC Subject Headings and LC Classification....................................13 Social theories............................................................................................................16 Library and Information Studies and Critical Classification Studies........................27 Research Methodology and Sources..........................................................................33 Structure of the Dissertation......................................................................................38 Chapter 2: SEXUAL PERVERSION, 1898-1945.................................................................45 Establishing Authority at the Library of Congress.....................................................49 Early Sexuality and Sexology.....................................................................................65 Cataloging Perversions, 1898-1945...........................................................................73 Summary.....................................................................................................................99 Top 15 books, in order of number of holdings in WorldCat....................................100 Chapter 3: HOMOSEXUALITY, 1946-1971......................................................................102 Technological Advances in Cataloging.....................................................................103 Homosexuality in the U.S. during the Postwar Era..................................................109 Censorship and the Delta Collection.........................................................................118 Cataloging Perversions, 1946-1971..........................................................................141 Summary...................................................................................................................149 Top 15 books, in order of number of holdings in WorldCat....................................150 Chapter 4: SEXUAL DEVIATION, 1972-2006..................................................................151 Gay Liberation and Library Activism......................................................................152 Literary warrant for sexual subjects.........................................................................170 Automation and Democratization at the Library of Congress.................................175 Cataloging Sexual Deviations..................................................................................182 Summary..................................................................................................................186 Top 15 books, in order of number of holdings in WorldCat...................................188 Chapter 5: PARAPHILIAS, 2007- ..................................................................................190 Doing the History of Sexuality--Perverse Presentism.............................................192 ii The Medicalization of Sexual Deviance Revisited..................................................210 Paraphilias as Censorship.........................................................................................216 Cataloging Paraphilias..............................................................................................218 Tagging and Folksonomies in Online Social Network Sites...................................220 Current Political Context at LC...............................................................................230 Summary..................................................................................................................234 Top 15 books, in order of number of holdings in WorldCat...................................236 Chapter 6: Conclusion.........................................................................................................238 Bibliography........................................................................................................................244 iii Acknowledgements There are many, many people who helped me make this dream a reality. Earning a PhD has been a goal of mine for a long time, but I never thought I’d do it as a mother of small kids. When I decided to go for it, I think I was too naive to know how just how tough it would be. It turns out that it was the best choice I could have made. I’m proud to say that I’ve pursued my dreams along with my awesome, crazy kids, and on the way I met my life partner and her kid. We’ve managed to come together as a big family during this mind-blowing time of exploration and learning and growing. Through the graduate school experience I’ve had to toughen up and learn how to take constructive criticism, I’ve become a stronger researcher, and I’ve learned what matters most in life. This journey has been thrilling, agonizing, terrifying, dramatic, and ultimately, rewarding. Of those who have been the most generous and inspiring is my adviser, Christine Pawley. She truly is the kind of adviser that everyone should have the pleasure of working with. This dissertation would not have been possible without her persistent reading and honest critiques. She has nurtured me in my times of self-doubt, and has been my biggest critic when the job just needed to get done, and has always had sound advice over the five years that I’ve worked with her. She has been a model teacher and researcher, and I’m honored that she took me on as an advisee. I’m also incredibly grateful to the members of my dissertation committee. I met Finn Enke when I took her seminar on the history of sexuality during my first year in the PhD program. On the first day she said something like, “You could say that sex is the organizing principle for everything,” and I knew from that moment that I’d learn a ton from her. I wrote that iv statement down and it has been a guiding principle for my writing. Helen Kinsella has been a mentor and inspiration ever since I participated in her seminar on feminist and queer theory. She is possibly the most articulate person I have ever met and has a unique talent for explaining and pulling apart really difficult theories. She’s also an awesome mom with amazing strength, and I really admire her. I’ve had the good fortune of working with Greg Downey as a TA for his class. He is one of the most innovative and interesting teachers I know. I learned how to teach from one of the best. And Louise Robbins is an icon among library historians, and it’s especially fortuitous for me that she is extremely knowledgeable about the Library of Congress during the postwar era. I treasure her insights and feedback. Other members of the School of Library and Information Studies community have been vitally important. Michele Besant has been a mentor, friend, supervisor, and teacher. Her frank and honest insights that come from experience are always helpful. My friends Michelle Caswell and Sarah Roberts have shown me that there is life outside of graduate school, and have been so supportive and fun. Brenton Stewart is always great for exchanging thoughts and fears about this whole dissertation thing. Nate Johnson was the first student I met when I began the program. He showed me the ropes and engaged me in healthy debates when we worked together in the library. I am deeply thankful for the conversations I’ve had with Hope Olson, from whom I took my first information organization course as a distance education student. At that time I had no idea that she would be my biggest influence regarding research on classifications and the politics of naming. I’ve met some amazing people through the Social Science Research Council’s Dissertation Proposal Development Fellowship. In particular, Sam Lucas and Lisa Materson, the field directors for Discrimination Studies, led wonderful workshops and provided excellent feedback on developing this dissertation. The two fellow students who have maintained v connections with me, Trevor Hoppe, and Stephanie Hinnershitz, are definitely going places, and I’m proud to call them friends. Of course, I have to thank my favorite gay librarians and scholars, L. Wynholds, K.R. Roberto, and Emily Drabinski. I’m grateful to the Library of Congress staff for sharing their perspectives, giving