“An amazing, provocative, and eloquent book. No one interested in the historical shape and affective force of sex panics can ignore The Fear of Child Sexuality. With critical rigor and political nuance, Angelides eschews the morality tales offered about child sexuality to detail instead the way cultural discourses on the right and the left work against both the sexual rights and sexual agencies of children.”

Robyn Wiegman, Duke University

“An impressive, fearless account of how, in states of panic, we take sexual agency from adolescents. The Fear of Child Sexuality pushes feminist theories of power and consent out of their comfort zones, arguing that our attempts to protect have also been sources of harm. This is transformational scholarship on the pleasures and dangers of teenage desire.”

Elizabeth Wilson, Emory University

“With forensic generosity and customary brilliance, Angelides performs a remarkable feat. The diversity of children’s sexual agency flowers in this book—strangely under the force of fear. Impeccably researched, evincing insight at every turn, The Fear of Child Sexuality is a wild and stunning ride.”

Kathryn Bond Stockton, University of Utah

"The Fear of Child Sexuality, by Steven Angelides, demonstrates that children are sexual beings and writes about an environment where children should be protected but also allowed to express their sexuality."

Metapsychology Online Reviews

"Provides a unifying framework to help the reader better understand how child sex panics often are used as a strategy to avoid and displace the idea of child sexuality... This book overall makes strong arguments buttressed by diverse support and evidence. The chapters are well balanced between historical analysis and presentations of new arguments to support the claim of child sexuality being under erasure."

Journal of Youth and Adolescence