Sex and the Office

A History of Gender, Power, and Desire

Julie Berebitsky, Katherine Parkin, Katherine Turk

$80.99

Paperback

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English

The University of North Carolina Press
30 September 2025

History of the Americas; Gender studies: women; Trade unions; Industrial arbitration & negotiation

This transformative book examines men's and women's changing attitudes toward sex and gender in the US workplace. Between 1870 and 1970, white-collar office work became the leading form of employment for American women. As more and more women took office jobs, men and women workers attempted to make sense of this new environment where the workplace became a site of gendered power negotiations: Emotional and sexual desires entangled with ""rational"" operating procedures.

Drawing on a wide range of primary sources including government investigation reports, scandal papers, memoirs, and advice literature, Julie Berebitsky describes how women perceived and responded to male desire and discrimination in the office. She also offers keen insight into how popular media —cartoons, advertisements, and a wide array of fictional accounts— represented wanted and unwelcome romantic and sexual advances in the workplace.

Now in paperback for the first time, this compelling edition includes a foreword that brings Berebitsky's work into the present, where the Trump presidencies, MeToo movement, and global pandemic provide striking illustrations of the book's enduring relevance. An afterword reflects on Berebitsky's lasting impact as a feminist, teacher, and scholar in the fields of labor history and women's studies.

By: Julie Berebitsky
Afterword by: Katherine Parkin
Foreword by: Katherine Turk
Imprint: The University of North Carolina Press
Country of Publication: United States [Currently unable to ship to USA: see Shipping Info]
Edition: Second Edition
Dimensions: Height: 232mm, Width: 25mm, Spine: 155mm
ISBN: 9781469691411
ISBN 10: 1469691418
Pages: 392
Publication Date: 30 September 2025
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Julie Berebitsky was professor of history and founding director of the women's and gender studies program at Sewanee: The University of the South. Katherine Turk is professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Katherine Parkin is professor of history and the Jules Plangere, Jr. Endowed Chair in American Social History at Monmouth University. Julie Berebitsky was professor of history and founding director of the women's and gender studies program at Sewanee: The University of the South.