Outrages: Sex, Censorship, and the Criminalization of Love

work by Wolf

Written by

The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last updated

July 23, 2026

Quick Summary

Outrages: Sex, Censorship, and the Criminalization of Love by Naomi Wolf argues that repressive sexual laws in 19th-century Britain were established earlier than the 1885 Labouchere amendment, which criminalized homosexuality. Wolf's research suggests that legislation like the Obscene Publications Act of 1857 played a significant role in shaping this restrictive sexual culture. The book faced controversy when journalist Mathew Sweet highlighted inaccuracies in Wolf's interpretation of historical sources, leading to the cancellation of its U.S. publication. This controversy echoed earlier criticisms of Wolf's work regarding scholarly rigor. The Wolfenden Report in 1957 later recommended that private homosexual acts between consenting adults should not be criminalized, a principle eventually enacted in the Sexual Offences Act of 1967.1234

Summary created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

4 Britannica Sources

Ask Britannica AI about this topic

Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.

Naomi Wolf
Outrages and subsequent controversy
In 2019 Wolf’s book, Outrages: Sex, Censorship, and the Criminalization of Love, was published in the U.K. The book is based on research that Wolf conducted at New College, Oxford, where she reenrolled and completed a thesis, receiving a doctorate in 2015. Aimed at both a popular and an…
Read More
In 2019 Wolf’s book, Outrages: Sex, Censorship, and the Criminalization of Love, was published in the U.K. The book is based on research that Wolf conducted at New College, Oxford, where she reenrolled and completed a thesis, receiving a doctorate in 2015. Aimed at both a popular and an…
Read More