In Sexual Revolution in Early America, Richard Godbeer explores the shifting meaning of sex and sexual relations in Early America from 1600 to 1800. He finds that during the seventeenth-century there was an ongoing conflict between traditional concepts of “informal” marriage and a new ideological effort of colonial officials to regulate sexual behavior. He is careful to point out that the relationship between official and settler are not fixed, but rather fluid in nature. This nuance moves the narrative beyond a simple binary oppositional pattern, and provides for a detailed understanding of sex as an aspect of the shifting social order among early Anglo-Americans. Godbeer begins his text with a discussion on traditional “informal” marriage …show more content…
Godbeer argues, that southern leaders found a relationship between living on edge of “wilderness,” savagery, and sexual relations. Quite interestingly, Godbeer found that the cultural difference between Europeans and natives led settlers to conclude a difference in morals. Accordingly, colonists feared that sexual relations between European settlers and natives would lead to moral and social degradation. This situation was further complicated by the forced importation of enslaved Africans. African women were seen as naturally promiscuous, and thus at fault for any interracial sexual relations that occurred. This, Godbeer argues, allowed the focus to shift from the actions of white slave owners to enslaved …show more content…
Community members saw these as actions and not a behavior indicative of a certain type of person. Homosexual acts, for example, were treated as actions that were deemed sinful due to their non-reproductive nature. The work would not be complete without a consideration for other types of sex. All too easily Godbeer could have neglected non-traditional, meaning non-male and female, sexual relations. Luckily Godbeer’s work does not suffer from this potentially fatal flaw. Additionally, Godbeer does an excellent job telling the reader to check modern concepts of sex and sexual identity. By thinking of sex and sexuality in terms other than as actions would be to apply modern conceptions backwards, and totally miss the essence of sex and sexuality in early America. The word homosexual does not enter the lexicon until 1886 when it was used in the pioneering work of Richard von Krafft-Ebing, Psychopathia
In Anne Orthwood’s Bastard: Sex and Law in Early Virginia, John Pagan sets out to examine the complexities of the legal system on the Eastern Shore in the seventeenth- century. He brings to light the growing differences between the English and Virginia legal systems. Pagan, an early American legal historian at the University of Richmond School of Law, spins a tragic story on the legalities surrounding an instance of out-of-wedlock pregnancy. Indentured servant Anne Orthwood’s brief encounter with a man of higher social standing produced a series of four court cases. Pagan examines each case and persons involved, vividly connecting each case to larger themes of social class, gender, labor, and economic power.
At the beginning of the 1900s, there was a “sexual revolution” in New York City. During this time, sexual acts and desires were not hidden, but instead they were openl...
Southerland, Harold P. ""'Love for Sale'- sex and the Second American Revolution"." Duke Journal of Gender Law and Policy, 2008: 49-77.
Ulrich shows a progression of change in the way that women’s sexuality was viewed in New England. First, she starts with a society that depended on “external rather internal controls” and where many New Englanders responded more to shame than guilt (Ulrich 96). The courts were used to punish sexual misconducts such as adultery with fines, whippings, or sometimes even death. There were certain behaviors that “respectable” women were expected to follow and “sexual misbehavior” resulted in a serious decline of a woman’s reputation from even just one neighbor calling her names such as whore or bawd (Ulrich 97-98). Because the love between a man and his wife was compared to the bond between Christ and the Church, female modesty was an important ideal. “Within marriage, sexual attraction promoted consort; outside marriage, it led to heinous sins” (Ulrich 108). This modesty was expected to be upheld even as death approached and is seen with the example of Mary Mansfield in 1681. Ulrich describes Mary to have five neck cloths tucked into her bosom and eleven caps covering her hair. “A good wife was to be physically attractive…but she was not to expose her beauty to every eye”. Hence, even as she died, Mary was required to conceal her sexuality and beauty. However, at the end of the seventeenth century and throughout the
The 19th-Century was a period in which the expression of sexuality and sexual compulsion was firmly repressed. Charles E. Rosenberg explores the typical behaviors of the sexes, and how they related to the expression, or repression, of sexuality in “Sexuality, Class and Role in 19th-Century America.” Medical and biological literature tended to adopt very sex-negative attitudes, condemning sexual desires and activity. This literature was often ambivalent and self-contradicting. Initially, people viewed sex as a normal human behavior: they believed sexual excess was bad, but thought it was natural and necessary after puberty because horniness left unsatisfied and untreated could cause disease. However, in the 1830s, the previous sex-neutral attitude was quickly replaced by a harsher, more negative view of sexuality. “Quacks,” or charlatans, tried to instill people with a crippling fear of sex by warning them of
Woman and family roles are considerably different today than they were back in Puritan times. Puritans thought that the public’s foundation rested on the “little commonwealth”, and not merely on the individual. The “little commonwealth” meant that a father’s rule over his family mirrored God’s rule over creation or a king over his subjects. John Winthrop believed that a “true wife” thought of herself “in [weakness] to her husband’s authority.” As ludicrous as this idea may appeal to women and others in today’s society, this idea was truly necessary for colonies to be able to thrive and maintain social order.
Over the past couple centuries that the United States has existed, society has always had a judgement to make on one’s sexuality. At the head of society has consistently been white, Christian, hetereosexual males; therefore, they had the power to define sexual and societal norms. As a result, judgements on one’s sexuality have always intersected with one’s race, class or gender, groups of people that are not dominating society.
Halperin, David. "Is There a History of Sexuality?." The Lesbian and Gay Studies Reader. Ed. Henry
Homosexuality was not seen then as two men who were romantically involved with other but just performed sexual acts for the simple pleasure of it. It has been often that men would have ope...
Throughout American history women have been considered the inferior sex, and have endured the discrimination brought upon them by men. In the time period of 1780 to 1835 the United States underwent extensive societal and economical changes that resulted in a shift in the role of women, leading to the “cult of true womanhood.” Although the new “cult” restricted women to the virtues of piety, purity, submissiveness, and domesticity it also led to a rise in the influence of women on the developments of society. In “Bonds of Womanhood,” Nancy Cott focuses on the time period of 1780 to 1835 to effectively illustrates how the changes leading up to the “cult of true womanhood” restrained women together through the creation of a separate “women’s sphere,” while also restricting women to the ideologies that became prominent with “true womanhood.” Although I agree with Nancy Cott’s argument, it would have been more effective if she had included politics as one of the main aspects of her argument.
"The Victorian Era." History of Human Sexuality in Western Culture. Word Press, n.d. Web. 03 Jan. 2014.
Somerville, Siobhan. "Scientific Racism and the Invention of the Homosexual Body." Gender, Sex, and Sexuality. New York: Oxford University, 2009. 284-99. Print.
Homosexuality was illegal, heavily frowned upon and regarded as loathsome in the Victorian Era. However, there were many famous men who were concealed homosexu...
The sexual orientation of a person has been a critical debate over the past several centuries. For several...
... decades ago. This book is one that will allow the reader to view many aspects of sexuality from a social standpoint, and apply it to certain social attitudes in our society today, these attitudes can range from the acceptance of lesbian and gays, and the common sight of sex before marriage and women equality. The new era of sexuality has taken a definite "transformation" as Giddens puts it, and as a society we are living in the world of change in which we must adapt, by accepting our society as a changing society, and not be naive and think all the rules of sexuality from our parents time our still in existence now.