Editing Naomi Wolf (section)

===''Outrages'' (2019)===
Wolf's book ''Outrages: Sex, Censorship, and the Criminalization of Love'' was based on the 2015 doctoral [[thesis]] she completed under the [[Doctoral advisor|supervision]] of literary scholar Stefano-Maria Evangelista, a Fellow of [[Trinity College, Oxford]].<ref name="IrishTimes"/><ref name=thesis/> It studies the repression of homosexuality in relation to attitudes toward divorce and prostitution, and also in relation to the censorship of books.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/may/15/outrages-sex-censorship-criminalised-love-by-naomi-wolf-review|title=Outrages by Naomi Wolf review – sex and censorship|last=Tóibín|first=Colm|author-link=Colm Tóibín|date=May 15, 2019|work=The Guardian|access-date=May 29, 2019|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

''Outrages'' was published in the UK in May 2019 by [[Virago Press]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Barber |first=Lynn |title=Naomi Wolf is holed below the waterline |url=https://www.spectator.co.uk/2019/06/naomi-wolf-is-holed-below-the-waterline/ |access-date=June 21, 2019 |work=[[The Spectator]] |date=June 15, 2019 |language=en |archive-date=June 22, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190622004724/https://www.spectator.co.uk/2019/06/naomi-wolf-is-holed-below-the-waterline/ |url-status=live }}</ref> On June 12, 2019, ''Outrages'' was named on the ''[[O, The Oprah Magazine]]''{{'}}s "The 32 Best Books by Women of Summer 2019" list.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.oprahmag.com/life/a27758145/best-books-female-authors-2019/|title=The Best Books by Women of Summer 2019|date=June 12, 2019|website=Oprah Magazine|language=en-US|access-date=June 20, 2019|archive-date=December 17, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201217021600/https://www.oprahmag.com/life/a27758145/best-books-female-authors-2019/|url-status=live}}</ref> The next day, the U.S. publisher recalled all copies from U.S. bookstores.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Alter |first1=Alexandra |title=Naomi Wolf's Publisher Delays Release of Her Book |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/13/books/naomi-wolf-outrages-errors.html |access-date=June 16, 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=June 13, 2019 |quote=It's unclear whether ''Outrages'' will also be recalled in Britain, where it was released in May by the publisher Virago. |archive-date=June 16, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190616015817/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/13/books/naomi-wolf-outrages-errors.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In a 2019 BBC radio interview, broadcaster and author [[Matthew Sweet (writer)|Matthew Sweet]] identified an error in a central tenet of the book: a misunderstanding of the legal term "[[death recorded]]", which Wolf had taken to mean that the convict had been executed but in fact means that the convict was pardoned or the sentence was commuted.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00057k4|title=BBC Radio 3 – Free Thinking, Censorship and sex|website=BBC|access-date=May 25, 2019|archive-date=May 22, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190522112657/https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00057k4|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
| url            = http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/05/naomi-wolfs-book-corrected-by-host-in-bbc-interview.html
| title          = Here's an Actual Nightmare: Naomi Wolf Learning On-Air That Her Book Is Wrong
| quote          = When she went on BBC radio on Thursday, Wolf, the author of ''Vagina'' and the forthcoming ''Outrages: Sex, Censorship, and the Criminalization of Love'', probably expected to discuss the historical revelations she'd uncovered her book. But during the interview, broadcaster Matthew Sweet read to Wolf the definition of 'death recorded,' a 19th-century English legal term. 'Death recorded' means that a convict was pardoned for his crimes rather than given the death sentence. Wolf thought the term meant execution.
| last           = Dzhanova
| first          = Yelena
| publisher      = [[New York (magazine)|New York]]
| work           = [[Intelligencer (website)|Intelligencer]]
| url-status        = live
| archive-url     = https://web.archive.org/web/20190602042240/http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/05/naomi-wolfs-book-corrected-by-host-in-bbc-interview.html
| archive-date    = June 2, 2019 | access-date     = June 2, 2019 | date           = May 24, 2019 }}</ref><ref>{{cite interview
 |last         = Wolf
 |first        = Naomi
 |last2        = de Miranda
 |first2       = Luis
 |last3        = Parker
 |first3       = Sarah
 |interviewer  = Matthew Sweet
 |title        = Censorship and sex
 |type         = audio recording
 |url          = https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m00057k4
 |work         = Free Thinking
 |publisher    = www.bbc.co.uk
 |location     = London
 |date         = May 22, 2019
 |access-date  = September 14, 2019
 |archive-date = July 16, 2019
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20190716121122/https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m00057k4
 |url-status   = live
}}</ref> He cited [[Arts and Humanities Research Council#Old Bailey Proceedings Archive|a website]] for the [[Old Bailey]] Criminal Court, which Wolf had referred to in the interview as one of her sources.<ref name="bbc.co.uk">{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p079xh7f|title=BBC Radio 3 – Arts & Ideas, Censorship and sex|website=BBC|date=May 22, 2019|access-date=May 29, 2019|archive-date=May 27, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190527100124/https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p079xh7f|url-status=live}}</ref> Reviewers have described other errors of scholarship in the work.<ref name="Public Seminar 2019">{{cite web | title=What's Missing In Naomi Wolf's 'Outrages: Sex, Censorship, and the Criminalization of Love' | website=Public Seminar | date=June 25, 2019 | url=http://www.publicseminar.org/2019/06/whats-missing-in-naomi-wolfs-outrages-sex-censorship-and-the-criminalization-of-love/ | access-date=September 15, 2019 | archive-date=September 23, 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190923084138/http://www.publicseminar.org/2019/06/whats-missing-in-naomi-wolfs-outrages-sex-censorship-and-the-criminalization-of-love/ | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Bartlett 2019">{{cite web | last=Bartlett | first=Neil | title=Creative scholarship – TheTLS | website=TheTLS | date=August 20, 2019| url=https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/private/creative-scholarship/ | access-date=September 15, 2019}}</ref>

At the [[Hay Festival]] in Wales in May 2019, a few days after her exchange with Sweet, Wolf defended her book and said she had already corrected the error.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Cain|first=Sian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/may/25/naomi-wolf-outrages-author-stands-by-view-victorian-homosexuality-poet|title=Outrages author Naomi Wolf stands by view of Victorian poet|date=May 25, 2019|work=The Observer|access-date=June 10, 2019|language=en-GB|issn=0029-7712}}</ref> At an event in Manhattan in June, she said she was not embarrassed and felt grateful to Sweet for the correction.<ref>{{cite news|last=Sayej|first=Nadja|title='I don't feel humiliated': Naomi Wolf on historical inaccuracy controversy|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/jun/21/naomi-wolf-book-outrages-new-york |work=The Guardian |date=June 21, 2019|access-date=March 13, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/24/books/naomi-wolf-outrages.html |title=After an On-Air Correction, Naomi Wolf Addresses Errors in Her New Book |last=León |first=Concepción de |date=May 24, 2019 |work=The New York Times |access-date=May 24, 2019 |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 24, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190524212412/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/24/books/naomi-wolf-outrages.html |url-status=live }}</ref> On October 18, 2019, it became known that [[Houghton Mifflin Harcourt]]'s release of the book in the U.S. was being canceled, with copies already printed and distributed being pulled and pulped.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Flood|first=Alison|date=February 8, 2021|title=Naomi Wolf accused of confusing child abuse with gay persecution in Outrages|url=http://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/feb/08/naomi-wolf-accused-of-confusing-child-abuse-with-gay-persecution-in-outrages|access-date=March 22, 2021|work=The Guardian|language=en}}</ref> Wolf expressed hope that the book would still be published in the U.S.<ref>{{cite news|last=Italie|first=Hillel|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/naomi-wolf-and-publisher-part-ways-amid-delay-of-new-book/2019/10/18/ae360cea-f205-11e9-bb7e-d2026ee0c199_story.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191019125832/https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/naomi-wolf-and-publisher-part-ways-amid-delay-of-new-book/2019/10/18/ae360cea-f205-11e9-bb7e-d2026ee0c199_story.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 19, 2019|title=Naomi Wolf and publisher part ways amid delay of new book|newspaper=The Washington Post|agency=Associated Press|date=October 18, 2019|access-date=October 23, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=de León|first=Concepción|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/21/books/naomi-wolf-outrages.html|title=Naomi Wolf's Publisher Cancels U.S. Release of ''Outrages''|work=The New York Times|date=October 21, 2019|access-date=October 23, 2019|archive-date=October 23, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191023011756/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/21/books/naomi-wolf-outrages.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In November 2020, Virago published a UK paperback edition of the book that removed the incorrect references to the execution of men for sodomy included in the hardback edition. Interviewed about the new edition, Sweet said that the book continues to misread historical sources: "Dr Wolf has misrepresented the experiences of victims of child abuse and violent sexual assault. This is the most profound offence against her discipline, as well as the memories of real people on the historical record". Cultural historian [[Fern Riddell]] called the book a "calumny against gay people" in the 19th century and said that Wolf "presents child rapists and those taking part in acts of bestiality as being gay men in consensual relationships and that is completely wrong". ''The Daily Telegraph'' reported that there had been calls for Wolf's 2015 DPhil to be reexamined, and for Virago to withdraw the book.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/02/05/naomi-wolf-faces-new-row-book-confuses-persecution-gay-men-paedophiles/|title=Naomi Wolf faces new row as book confuses persecution of gay men with paedophiles, claim historians|first=Patrick|last=Sawer|work=The Telegraph|location=London|date=February 5, 2021|access-date=February 6, 2021|archive-date=February 5, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210205221903/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/02/05/naomi-wolf-faces-new-row-book-confuses-persecution-gay-men-paedophiles/|url-status=live}}</ref> In a statement to ''The Guardian'', Wolf said the book had been reviewed "by leading scholars in the field" and "it is clear that I have accurately represented the position". Oxford University stated that a "statement of clarification" to Wolf's thesis had been received and approved, and would be "available for consultation in the Bodleian Library in due course".<ref>{{cite news|last=Flood|first=Alison|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/feb/08/naomi-wolf-accused-of-confusing-child-abuse-with-gay-persecution-in-outrages|title=Naomi Wolf accused of confusing child abuse with gay persecution in Outrages|work=The Guardian|location=London|date=February 8, 2021|access-date=February 8, 2021}}</ref>

In March 2021, ''[[Times Higher Education]]'' reported that Wolf's original thesis remained unavailable six years after it was examined. Oxford doctoral graduates can request an embargo of up to three years, with the potential for renewal.<ref>{{cite news|last=Grove|first=Jack|url=https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/oxford-faces-questions-naomi-wolf-phd-stays-under-wraps|title=Oxford faces questions as Naomi Wolf PhD stays under wraps|work=Times Higher Education|location=London|date=March 4, 2021|access-date=March 5, 2021|archive-date=March 5, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210305143323/https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/oxford-faces-questions-naomi-wolf-phd-stays-under-wraps|url-status=live}}</ref> The thesis finally became available in April 2021, with nine pages of corrections attached dealing with the misreading of historic criminal records.<ref>{{cite news|last=Grove|first=Jack|url=https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/oxford-doctoral-system-criticised-wolf-thesis-finally-released|title=Oxford doctoral system criticised as Wolf thesis finally released|work=Times Higher Education|date=April 28, 2021|access-date=April 28, 2021|archive-date=April 28, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210428003702/https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/oxford-doctoral-system-criticised-wolf-thesis-finally-released|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=thesis>{{cite thesis|url=https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:5eb70130-f130-4c8f-8757-1f304d2ffb96|title=Ecstasy or justice? The sexual author and the law, 1855–1885|first=Naomi|last=Wolf|publisher=University of Oxford|type=DPhil|date=2015|access-date=June 27, 2021|archive-date=June 27, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210627091010/https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:5eb70130-f130-4c8f-8757-1f304d2ffb96|url-status=live}}</ref> Wolf had submitted the thesis to the archive in December 2020, more than five years after her DPhil was awarded, and had requested a one-year extension to the embargo period so that she could seek legal advice.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Grove |first1=Jake |title=Naomi Wolf sought to delay release of thesis |url=https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2021/07/02/naomi-wolf-sought-delay-release-thesis |access-date=August 5, 2021 |work=[[Inside Higher Ed]] |date=July 2, 2021 |language=en |archive-date=August 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210805012000/https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2021/07/02/naomi-wolf-sought-delay-release-thesis |url-status=live }}</ref> The extension request was declined.<ref name="THE-2021-06-24">{{cite news|url=https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/naomi-wolf-wanted-extra-year-long-embargo-controversial-thesis|title=Naomi Wolf wanted extra year-long embargo on controversial thesis|first=Jack|last=Grove|work=Times Higher Education|date=June 24, 2021|access-date=June 27, 2021|archive-date=June 27, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210627085448/https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/naomi-wolf-wanted-extra-year-long-embargo-controversial-thesis|url-status=live}}</ref>

In university teaching, ''Outrages'' has been used as an example of the danger of misreading historical sources.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/non-fiction/blind-bestiality-paedophilia-naomi-wolfs-latest-book-outrage/|title=Blind to bestiality and paedophilia: why Naomi Wolf's latest book is its own outrage|last=Sweet|first=Matthew|work=The Daily Telegraph|location=London|date=February 5, 2021|access-date=February 6, 2021|archive-date=February 5, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210205220608/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/non-fiction/blind-bestiality-paedophilia-naomi-wolfs-latest-book-outrage/|url-status=live}}</ref>