ISBN:
0801868009
Language:
English
Pages:
XII, 430 S.
,
ill.
Series Statement:
Gender relations in the American experience
DDC:
306.70973
Keywords:
Geschichte ANfänge-1775
;
Geschichte Anfänge-1775
;
Rôle selon le sexe - États-Unis - Histoire
;
Seksueel gedrag
;
Seksuele moraal
;
Vie sexuelle - Amérique du Nord - Histoire
;
Vie sexuelle - États-Unis - Histoire
;
Alltag, Brauchtum
;
Geschichte
;
Interpersonal Relations
;
Sex customs History
;
Sex customs History
;
Sex role History
;
Sexual Behavior history
;
Geschlechterrolle
;
Sexualverhalten
;
États-Unis - Mœurs et coutumes - Jusqu'à 1775
;
Nordamerika
;
USA
;
United States Social life and customs To 1775
;
USA
;
USA
;
Sexualverhalten
;
Geschichte Anfänge-1775
;
USA
;
Geschlechterrolle
;
Geschichte ANfänge-1775
Abstract:
In Sexual revolution in early America, Richard Godbeer boldly overturns conventional wisdom about the sexual values and customs of colonial Americans. His eye-opening historical account spans two centuries and most of British North America, from New England to the Caribbean, exploring the social, political, and legal dynamics that shaped a diverse sexual culture. Drawing on exhaustive research into diaries, letters, and other private papers, as well as legal records and official documents, Godbeer's absorbing narrative uncovers a persistent struggle between the moral authorities and the widespread expression of popular customs and individual urges. Godbeer begins with a discussion of the complex attitude that the Puritans had toward sexuality. Although believing that sex could be morally corrupting, they also considered it to be such an essential element of a healthy marriage that they excommunicated those who denied "conjugal fellowship" to their spouses. He next examines the ways in which race and class affected the debate about sexual mores, from anxieties about Anglo-Indian sexual relations to the sense of sexual entitlement that planters held over their African slaves. He concludes by detailing the fundamental shift in sexual culture during the eighteenth century towards the acceptance of a more individualistic concept of sexual desire and fulfillment. Today's moral critics, in their attempts to convince Americans of the social and spiritual consequences of unregulated sexual behavior, often harken back to a more innocent age; as this groundbreaking work makes clear, America's sexual culture has always been rich, vibrant, and contentious.
Note:
Includes bibliographical references and index
URL:
http://www.loc.gov/catdir/description/jhu051/2001002304.html
URL:
http://www.loc.gov/catdir/bios/jhu051/2001002304.html
URL:
http://www.loc.gov/catdir/description/jhu051/2001002304.html
URL:
http://www.loc.gov/catdir/bios/jhu051/2001002304.html
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