Podcast Summary
Podcast: New Books Network
Host: Yana Byers
Guest: Dr. Samuel Fullerton, Assistant Professor of History, University of North Texas
Episode: Sexual Politics in Revolutionary England
Date: January 15, 2026
Episode Overview
This episode centers on Samuel Fullerton’s book, Sexual Politics in Revolutionary England (Manchester University Press, 2026). The discussion explores how radical transformations in sexual discourse accompanied—and shaped—the political and religious upheavals of 17th-century England. Fullerton and Byers trace the evolution of "sex talk" from the underground to an essential component of public, partisan, and political culture. The conversation also highlights Fullerton’s expansion of the concept of “sexual politics,” his notion of “porno politics,” and the enduring impact of these dynamics well into the Restoration era.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. Origins of the Project and Initial Discoveries
[03:08] Fullerton’s academic journey and first encounters with early modern sexual politics:
- Began in genocide studies; switched after a fortuitous study abroad and advice from a graduate advisor.
- Discovered raunchy pamphlets and monuments to misogynistic and graphic sexual language embedded in political discourse during the 1640s.
- “I picked them up and I started thinking about this stuff and I, I guess I, I never really stopped or, you know, continued until this book came out last year at least.” – Samuel Fullerton [04:43]
2. The Landscape Before 1640
[06:01] “Sex talk” existed underground; not in mainstream publications:
- While material with deeply offensive or graphic sexual content existed, it was largely marginalized, policed, and kept from “public discourse” in respectable print.
- “It is remarkable how hard the culture works to keep this stuff as... underground as possible. And then, you know, the argument of this book is everything changes and it never really reverts.” – Samuel Fullerton [06:44]
3. The 1640s Explosion: Sex and Public Discourse
[10:02] Dramatic transformation between 1640–1660:
- Sexual topics leap from the underground to public, mainstream print.
- Example cited: “gleefully describing carnal passages between a Quaker and a colt.”
- This is not a minor shift, but “a massive change in these 10 or 20 years... an important shift.” – S. Fullerton [10:44]
4. Theoretical Groundings: Reframing ‘Sexual Politics’
[12:25] Expansion on Kate Millett’s ‘Sexual Politics’:
- While Millett’s feminist framework remains embedded, Fullerton uses “sexual politics” more broadly to describe any collision between sex/gender discourses and the political.
- “I apply that label to any collision between contemporary discourses of sex, gender and the body, or the sexualized body and the political.” – Samuel Fullerton [12:40]
- Seeks greater elasticity to account for how sex and politics interwove in early modern England.
5. Introducing “Porno Politics”
[14:44] From libel to sexualized constitutional thought:
- Term refers to the application of sexualized language and metaphor beyond simple insult, framing core constitutional questions (e.g., king as husband, people as wife; civil war as adultery).
- “...start thinking about politics through a lens that applies basically the mechanics of sex to political movement and motion.” – S. Fullerton [15:05]
- Early modern politics was already suffused with gendered, marital, and sexualized language, facilitating this development.
6. Sex in Political Stereotypes and Mobilization
[16:54] Sexual satire and partisan identity (1637–42):
- Pamphleteers used sexual metaphor to create enduring stereotypes: Cavaliers (Royalists) as hypersexual and wanton; Roundheads (Parliamentarians) as hypocritical Puritans.
- “...they create over the course of this five or six year period, two pretty distinctive partisan stereotypes that are in multiple ways linked to these sexual politics...” – S. Fullerton [17:17]
- Sex works as a “democratic” language; accessible and effective in mass mobilization and partisan attacks.
7. Central Role of Religion
[22:57] Ongoing impact of Reformation and religious polarization:
- Politics cannot be separated from religious polemic.
- “...the Reformation is all about sex. Right. Or rather that that sex is... baked into so many angles of that moment and that movement from Luther onward.” – S. Fullerton [24:53]
- Anti-Puritanism proves potent and enduring, partly because more extreme Puritan elements were easy cultural targets.
8. The Charles I Trial as Sexual-Political Theater
[29:36] Sexual metaphors shape interpretations of the trial:
- Royalists cast Parliament as a seducing adulteress destroying the king–kingdom marital bond.
- Parliamentarians use sexual tyranny/assault metaphors to justify executing Charles as a tyrant-husband.
- “...sexual politics sort of suffuses the energy in the room, even when it doesn't necessarily enter the conversations being had between Charles and his accusers...” – S. Fullerton [34:06]
9. From Salaciousness to Normalcy?
[34:22] Does sexual discourse lose its shock value?
- Evidence of engagement in legal records and annotated pamphlets.
- Sexualized political language becomes entrenched in culture, though not fully normalized.
- “Once they start using it... they never stop. And I think, as you say, that's evidence to its its appeal in one way or another, forever and ever.” – S. Fullerton [37:29]
10. 1650s: Cromwellian Discipline vs. Royalist Jollity
[37:42] Cultural opposition and counterculture:
- Cromwellian government imposes a “moral commonwealth,” e.g., the severe 1650 Adultery Act.
- Royalists increasingly embrace their identity as worldly, celebratory, and tolerant of sexual pleasure.
- “Royalists are saying, you know what? Yes, we like to drink and we like to love and we like to embrace these parts of us that make us humans.” – S. Fullerton [42:02]
- This sets the stage for the Restoration’s cultural pivot.
11. Restoration: The Triumph of Royalist Sexual Politics
[43:16] Charles II and the Merry Monarch Paradigm:
- With Charles II’s return in 1660, Restoration culture outwardly celebrates sexuality, reflecting 20 years of prior debates.
- Charles’s notorious promiscuity perceived less as personal quirk, more as strategic embrace of new norms.
- “...what we’re actually seeing is not Charles’s personal predilections triumphing in 1660, but instead the natural result of 20 years of debate over what English sexuality ought to look like.” – S. Fullerton [46:36]
- The sexual-political language and conflict persist through the end of the century.
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
- “The argument of this book is everything changes and it never really reverts.” – Samuel Fullerton [06:44]
- “There is a level—I was still a little bit shocked by the material.” – Yana Byers [07:20]
- “Sex as a political language works on a more democratic level than highbrow disputes... Everyone in this society has some understanding, possibly a deeply flawed understanding, of how sex and bodies work...” – S. Fullerton [21:18]
- “Anti-puritanism just has really long legs as well.” – Yana Byers [28:25]
- “The Reformation is all about sex. Right.” – S. Fullerton [24:53]
- “Once they start using [sexualized political language], they never stop.” – S. Fullerton [37:29]
Important Timestamps
- 03:08 — Origins of Fullerton’s research
- 06:01 — Nature of pre-1640 sexual discourse
- 10:02 — The transformation of public sexual discourse, 1640–1660
- 12:25 — Expansion of “sexual politics” theory
- 14:44 — Defining “porno politics”
- 16:54 — Sex in constructing partisan identity
- 22:57 — Centrality of religion in sexual politics
- 29:36 — Sexual metaphors in the trial of Charles I
- 37:42 — Cromwellian discipline vs. Royalist jollity in the 1650s
- 43:16 — Restoration and the triumph of Royalist sexual politics
Conclusion & Future Projects
- Fullerton is now working on a broader history of libel and transgressive discourse in early modern England, focusing on censorship, freedom of speech, and the politics of personality.
- A long-term project will explore transnational libel, comparing English and French contexts, especially around their respective civil wars and pornographic cultures.
- “France has its own proud pornographic tradition as well.” – Yana Byers [50:32]
- “Absolutely.” – S. Fullerton [50:36]
This episode delves deeply into the interplay between sexuality, satire, and politics in a period of revolutionary upheaval—showing how “sex talk” was central to both elite and popular understandings of political legitimacy, social order, and identity in 17th-century England. The conversation highlights not only the book’s arguments, but makes clear their continuing relevance to questions of public discourse and cultural norms today.