The History of Sexuality in America: February 2014

Friday, February 28, 2014

Jordan Devan

Block Entry: February

STD’s on College Campuses

In today’s world, sex is taken for granted by people, many being by young adults. Sex in college is handed out like candy on Halloween, in my opinion, and without thought. Little do people know is that along with sex come consequences that can put you at risk for life. People are quick to think they won’t catch something by some meaningless sex with someone they “think” they know, but it’s a very serious subject that even I wasn’t aware of. Some studies show that in every four college students, one person has an STD. There is an idea that most college students possess that the best sex is done people that want to “go raw” and not use a condom. This is a very unwise decision because people live in the moment and don’t think twice about what the possibility of your partner having an STD especially if you do not know the person. It is shocking to realize that statistically only 54 percent of students use condoms and that’s just for regular intercourse. Elite Daily has a great article with 10 facts college students should know about STD’s.[1] It’s also incredibly astonishing to know that colleges literally passed out free condoms all the time and students can even go to RA’s and ask for free condoms and students still don’t jump to that opportunity. In the moment of a crazy night, drunk and with an attractive guy, you can’t stop people when it comes to sex. In reality, a guy that a girl may get with says has gotten with 3 different girls. Those three girls each have had two partners each. That girl hypothetically is having sex with all those people and more. It’s that easy for an STD to spread and mess your life up. A scary fact is HPV is the number one sexually transmitted disease on college campuses. A vaccine is available for people too and that’s not even being taken advantage of. The amount of awareness that college students can receive on campus for free is unlimited and its sad to see so many people still catch STD’s. A big problem is the fact people think they can see a STD walking right by them. In my opinion, I think students need to be more aware of how easy it is to catch something and in the end, it’s not worth sex or any sexual activity to catch a disease.

[1] “The 10 Most Shocking Facts About STD’s In College,” last modified April 17, 2012,

http://elitedaily.com/dating/sex/10-shocking-facts-stds-college/

Prostitute Panache

Bethany Cooper

It amazes me how ignorant people are on the truths of prostitution. The belittlement and hostility society holds against prostitutes is bias. This idea of new nasty women isn’t in fact new at all. Prostitution has been around has been around just as long as other not-so popular occupations. Prostitution has been around for quite some time, and the negative portrayal tied to it today hasn’t always been around. In fact, in the 18^th century, prostitutes were viewed in a much more emotional tone, and society recognized the scarcity of economic opportunity women had.[1] I’m not here to say prostitution is the way, but I am here to say prostitutes are people too. Take the character Fantine in Les Miserables. Those who have watched this film often felt a deep and saddened tone towards her. Looking at her struggle shows a common reality in prostitutes, and when she finally has nowhere else to turn, she too ends up in prostitution. I find that many people didn’t see disgust towards her, because they knew she was just trying to take care of her daughter.

The reaction people had towards Fantine are those similar to the feelings towards the film “Pretty Woman.” If people knew the individual stories of every prostitute, they may not make such hard judgment towards their lifestyle, as it is not normally just “chosen”.

But although opinions have changed, these aren’t the only differences in the prostitution business. The appearance of “promiscuity” has evolved just like many aspects of the lifestyle. Ironically enough, makeup style has nearly gone polar opposite in the business. Today everyone desires a darker, “tan” complexion, while back in the day men lavished over pale women wearing bright red lipstick.[2] Funny how “beauty” changes so quickly while we are busy spending so much time trying to obtain the image we see as “beautiful.” One aspect of prostitution that actually hasn’t changed is the longing for a thinner, more petite woman. While many men like seeing “meat on their bones,” it is most common for

a man to desire a thin woman, especially looking in today’s images.

Many people don’t see the work that goes into prostitution. Often times society is so busy judging and disrespecting prostitutes that they don’t see the struggle these people go through. I hope that people will soon go back to the “old fashioned” view of prostitution by attempting to see the reality of what these people face, and how it’s often not easy.

[1] Newton, Richard. "18th Century Prostitute." (online forum message). Jane Austen's World. March 24, 2012. http://janeaustensworld.wordpress.com/tag/18th-century-prostitute/ (accessed February 21, 2014).

[2] "Makeup: 18th Century Whores and Ladies." (online forum message). Making History Tart & Titillating. October 20, 2010. http://lifetakeslemons.wordpress.com/2010/10/20/take-off-that-makeup-you-look-like-a-whore/ (accessed February 21, 2014).

The Story Of Thomas Hall

The Story Of Thomas Hall
The story of Thomas Hall helps shine light on how the colonies viewed intersex in the early 1600s. Some of their views seemed fairly accepting, but at the same time also isolated Hall from everyone else. Thomasine Hall was born in in Newcastle England and dressed as a woman until she was 22. Hall first began dressing as a man when she joined the army with her brother in the 1620s. After Hall left the army, she began dressing as a woman again until he went to Plymouth in America as a man named Thomas [1].

Although Hall was able to live normal lives as a man in a woman while still in Europe, things got a little more complicated in the colonies. Thomas’s neighbors in Plymouth became curious when he would sometimes leave dressed as a man and sometimes dressed as a woman. This led to him getting inspected for gender both by Hall’s consent and by force. Even with these inspections, the colonists couldn't reach a final decision on his gender. There were also rumors that Hall was having sex with a woman named Great Bess. Finally, Hall was determined a man and brought to court [2]. The court ended up accepting him as both a man as a woman which is what Hall wanted, but it came with some drawbacks. Thomas had to have her gender published to everyone, had to pay a fine, and was forced to dress in a mix of men and women’s clothes [3].

What surprised me about Thomas’s story is that the colonists were able to accept her gender as both a man and woman even with the numerous gender inspections when today we still have a large amount of people only believing that you can be just male or just female. Even though they accepted her gender, the colonists were still weary about her and forced her gender to be known to everyone. His story can also be used to compare how colonists and probably Europe viewed intersex people as opposed to the native Americans. Hall was accepted, but shunned for being intersex as well as dressing as a man while native Americans had two spirits who were often men dressed as woman that are praised and were known for their caring and ability to work [4]. It sheds light on the fact that although colonists were more advanced in terms of technology, they were behind in terms of sexual acceptance.

[1] Alden Vaughan, The Sad Case of Thomas(ine) Hall, (Virginia Historical Society, 1978), 147.
[2] Alden Vaughan, The Sad Case of Thomas(ine) Hall, (Virginia Historical Society, 1978), 147.
[3] Moore Crystal, "The Role of Sex and Gender in Sexual History." (lecture., UNCC, ).
[4] Williams, Walter. "The 'two-spirit' people of indigenous North Americans." The Guardian, October 11, 2010.

Pimp and Hoes? by Syeda Campbell

Women in the 21^st century are called many crude names like hoe, slut, whore, and much worse names. Men are usually referred to as pimps, players, “the man”. The difference between the man and women names that I listed is that the women names have a more negative connotation. Why is that? Is it because our society looks down upon women sexuality? Women sexuality has been studied since the beginning of time and has been tried to be controlled for even longer. But is there a real difference between the women sex drive and a man.

Women sexuality wasn’t always monitored by “society” women before the patriarchy social system they had a lot of power. Patriarchy is a social system in which men are in charge of the household, and other societal government. Patriarchy is a social system in which men are in charge of the household, and other societal government. Countries like ancient Egypt held high respect for women. Queen Cleopatra held the crown for years and eventually did it independently. Women from native tribes who were Native American were also well respected. They were thought to be powerful because of the farming they could do. Their sexuality was also never questioned because they believed sex was a part of life and the more you did it the more spiritually healthy they would be. Patriarchy changed the way men viewed women. They thought that women should stay at home and be submissive to their husbands. They thought that women were not as strong as men or smart. Women were thought as to be second class citizens before the 1960’s and some people would argue that women are still being treated this way now. A change is coming!

Now in the 21^st century women are taking back their sexuality. In shows such as Sex in the City and the B in Apartment 23 show women having casual sex just like men do and always have.

[i]The Victorian era created this stereotype that women were to only have sex to procreate and to please their husbands. Watching these shows deny this stereotype. These shows show women using foul language, wearing revealing clothes, and the “worst” having premarital sex. Why are these shows causing such a big fuss? Is it because women have been so afraid to express their sexuality because of societal high standards of the “vagina”? The world is made up of mostly a patriarchy social system. Yes, it still exists! This mean that men have a lot more power than women in today’s society. Men use the word whore and slut to describe a woman who has had multiple partners, but a man who has had multiple partners is call a player or a pimp. Even though player and pimp have negative connotations, other men use it to praise other men promiscuity.

Now what’s the difference between a women sex drive and a man sex drive? Society! Society puts the vagina on a social pedestal. The vagina seems to be the ultimate prize. A lot of coming to age films show a young man who placed a bet with his friends to deflower a girl, but the girl finds out about the bet. The guy ends of falling in love with girl and has to prove his love to her. Men have been putting a price on the vagina since the Victorian era. They’ve been trying to control women sex drive for even longer. [ii]In Somalia in other rural countries young women go through a tradition which the young women external genitals are completely removed. Most women get this procedure done when they are as young as five years old, but there have been some reports of babies being circumcised as well. The cutting is typically done be an elder women in their village. Cutting the clitoris is said to be done to eliminate women feeling of pleasure which they think can lead to them being promiscuous. [iii]The problem with this procedure is it can cause infection and even death from bleeding or sometimes childbirth. Women are looked down upon if they are not cut and are said to be undesirable. Though women are not cut here in America and some other richer countries, women are still being circumcised in a way. In countries that women get cut but don’t get it done are considered undesirable just like the women in other countries are considered to be whores if they have premarital sex. Men control women by women sexuality!

This can easily be changed. Before religion was brought to indigenous societies sex was very normal. Men and women were thought to be equal and sexual desire was high from both parties. The point of it all is that sex is natural. The penis is the key to the vagina. Society needs to stop over sexualizing sex and promote having safer sex. Men and women are equal so if the vagina is on a pedestal then the penis should be right beside it then!

[i] Gabriella, Pastor. Word Press, "The victorian era." Last modified 28 02, 2014. Accessed February 28, 2014. http://historyofsexuality.umwblogs.org/pre-20th-century/victorian-era-2/.

[ii] Better Health Channel, "Female genital mutilation." Last modified 01 01, 2013. Accessed February 28, 2014. http://www.betterhealthchannel.com.au/BHCV2/bhcpdf.nsf/ByPDF/Female_genital_mutilation/$File/Female_genital_mutilation.pdf.

[iii] Better Health Channel, "Female genital mutilation." Last modified 01 01, 2013. Accessed February 28, 2014. http://www.betterhealthchannel.com.au/BHCV2/bhcpdf.nsf/ByPDF/Female_genital_mutilation/$File/Female_genital_mutilation.pdf.

The Shakers

By: Mary Daugherty

In the late 18^th century, a woman named Ann Lee began having religious visions that resulted in her believing that all evil was caused by sex. There were only a few shakers who actually came over to the Americas, but once they arrived, they were able to spread their beliefs throughout parts of New York as well as the old Northwest. The shakers continued to grow in numbers until they reached around 6,000 followers right before the civil war.¹

The shakers had very conservative beliefs. An example would be the fact that shakers did not believe in procreation. This means that, unless they choose to adopt, shakers could not have any children.¹ I think that it is interesting that, at a time with so many different views on sex, such a large number of people would be so opposed to it. The people in shaker communities even made sure that men and women were kept separate.

I think that this religion came along due to fact that people were getting farther and farther away from the conservative lifestyle that people were supposed to be having at this time. Prostitution was at an all time high at the time when this religion came a long and sex before marriage was not as big of a deal as it used to be. Originally sex was thought to be only for procreation, but at the end of the 18^th century and into the early19th century, there were more and more people that were just having sex for pleasure. The first great awakening occurred in the early 18^th century and resulted in the separation of church and state. The great awakening was a religious revival, which caused a lot of people to start looking for a new religion to believe in. It is not too surprising that, with all of the changes from the conservative views of sex, many people wanted to go back to these views.

The shakers were vary opposed to the fact that sex was becoming more acceptable, so they formed the extreme view. Shakers were very strongly opposed to masturbation, homosexuality, and violence.¹ Although the shakers were originally looked down upon due to their strange religious views, these communities eventually gained a lot of respect as their popularity grew. The Shakers experienced another religious revival in the mid-1800’s as more and more young shaker women began having visions of sacred spirits.¹ Following the civil war, the United States became more and more industrialized, and eventually the shaker community grew smaller and smaller, although there are small shaker communities that still exist today.[1]

[1] United States. National Park Service. "Shaker Historic Trail." National Parks Service. U.S. Department of the Interior, n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2014.

History of Vibrators by Dominique Cotton

I’m pretty sure everybody knows the saying a dog is a man’s best friend. Now in some cases I heard that a man’s hand is their best friend too when times get hard! But, does a female have a best friend beside her actual friends that she has know for years, YES! A vibrator is a female’s best friend and it has been said that even the smallest devices works wonders. A vibrator is a device that vibrates; it is also used for sexual stimulation.

The first modeled vibrator dates all the way back to the 18^th century. The Tremousoir was created by the French, even though it provided relief to the female patients it did not to the doctors.[i] When we fast-forward a couple years we encounter a new device that was large, heavy and steam-powered; they named it the manipulator. It was invented by a doctor name George Taylor[ii]. Back then when the vibrator first came out it was for medical purposes only. So, if you had a common condition called Hysteria you would go to the doctor and he would manual massage your pelvic area also known as “hysterical paroxysm”.[iii] In other words the female would get excited and see her doctor where he would make her orgasm to relieve her. Only a doctor used it to treat his patient, so females couldn’t go out and buy a vibrator like we do now. Not to long after 1869 the steam was gone and now it’s electric! These devices originated by John Mortimer now had plugs and allowed a great deal of patients with hysteria to be treated. There were a many models, from musical vibrators to ones that came from the ceiling![iv] Moving into the late 1800s, early 1900 hundreds we now had cordless vibrators that were used at home to treat “pelvic hyperemia.”[v] Arriving into the sixties there were vibrators everywhere! I mean I could just walk into somebodies kitchen and see one. That would be a little bit disturbing and I probably would not want to eat there but it was and probably still is possible to see something like that! Now today we live in a world where we only use vibrators occasionally and usually our other half does the pleasing not the doctor, thank god for people like George Taylor! You have everything from sile and small vibrators to vibrators on steroids!

[vi]

[i] Dr, Ziggy. "Life on the swing set." Last modified 12 27, 2012. Accessed February 28, 2014. http://www.lifeontheswingset.com/ articles/the-history-of-the-vibrator/.

[ii] Heather, Barnett. "National masturbation month the history of the vibrator." Last modified 5 15, 2013. Accessed February 28, 2014. http://www.sheknows.com/love-and-sex/articles/992899/national-masturbation-month-the-history-of-the-vibrator.

[iii] Marlow, Stern. "Hysteria and the long strange history of the vibrator."Last modified 4 27, 2012. Accessed February 28, 2014. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/04/27/hysteria-and-the-long-strange-history-of-the-vibrator-vertical.html.

[iv] Natalie, Angier. "The Technology of Orgasm and the Vibrator. "Last modified 2 23, 1999. Accessed February 28, 2014. http://herprivatepleasures.com/hyseria.htm.

[v] Natalie, Angier. "The Technology of Orgasm and the Vibrator. "Last modified 2 23, 1999. Accessed February 28, 2014. http://herprivatepleasures.com/hyseria.htm.

[vi] Paul, Nelson. "Yours, Mines, Ours." Last modified 10 15, 2013. Accessed February 28, 2014. http://www.wernermd.com/blog/.