"What the socialist Kama Sutra tells us about sex behind the Iron Curtain/The story behind the Eastern bloc’s most popular socialist sex manual."

By Kristen R. Ghodsee (in WaPo).

So what was the appeal of the book [“Man and Woman Intimately” by the psychologist and family counselor Sigfried Schnabl], other than the obvious? For the author, it was about solving social and psychological problems. In his introduction, Schnabl explained that unhappiness in the bedroom could lead “to the development of inferiority complexes, depressions, [and] nervous complaints …” He viewed his work as a public service, explaining that a satisfying sex life must “become a reality for every citizen of our country” and that this task was “a challenge for those who are called upon to help others with their professional training and science.”...

Reflecting on why the Politburo allowed his book to be printed so widely, Schnabl suggested, “When people are happy with each other and in bed, they don’t come up with dumb political thoughts.” He speculated that sex was a cheap way for the Politburo to keep the masses placated.

Communist leaders perhaps also hoped that an officially approved sex manual would quash the black market for smuggled Western erotica.... In the Bulgarian version of “Man and Woman Intimately,” an awkward preface by the director of the Institute for Health Education explains that the government published the book because it had a duty to “socially model” appropriate sexual behaviors lest the youth collect “incompetent information” through “illegal channels.”...