The way we express our gender, whom we're attracted to, and how we act on that attraction.

Sexuality is a big part of our individual identity as Americans in the 21st century. It's almost hard to get our heads around the time when it all worked very differently.

When wealthy white men may have been free to choose their own adventures in the bedroom,

pretty much everybody else was shaped by the assumption that their sex determined the role

they got to play in society.

So how did things change?

From KERA in Dallas, this is think. I'm Chris Boyd. It's not that we are somehow more sexual than previous generations, although more of us

are free to talk about it now. As my guest will explain, one big difference is that where sexual

desires and behaviors were once seen as a reflection of

moral values, we now think about sexuality as an important component of who a person is.

Rebecca L. Davis is professor of history and of women and gender studies at the University of

Delaware and author of the book Fierce Desires, a new history of sex and sexuality in America. Rebecca, welcome to

think. Thank you for having me. So you're right that sexuality is something we now see as an

essential part of who someone is. This seems so evident that it is honestly difficult to think of

another way to frame it. How were things different when sexuality, as we

define it today, was not seen as a component of identity? Well, it's so interesting to think back,

let's say, 400 years ago, we had indigenous North Americans, Europeans arriving in very small

numbers initially, and eventually enslaved Africans arriving.

And among the Europeans, there were people who were there to missionize to convert indigenous people

and others who wanted to get riches from the North American landscape.

So people brought with them or already had with them

different ideas of how sexuality should manifest in their lives. And what's so interesting

...