"Kiss without shame, for she desires it": Sexual foreplay in American marital advice literature, 1900-1925

Journal of Social History

Volumn 29, Issue 3, 1996, Pages 507-525

  Laipson, Peter ^a  

^a NONE

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 0030102675     PISSN: 00224529     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1353/jsh/29.3.507     Document Type: Review

References (150)

1. Letter to Dr. William Fielding from Arthur and response, Oct. 4, 1932, William J. Fielding papers, Tamiment Library, New York University.
2. Steven Seidman, "The Power of Desire and the Danger of Pleasure: Victorian Sexuality Reconsidered," Journal of Social History 24 (Fall, 1990): 50. Seidman elucidates further his argument that the Victorians spiritualized love and deeroticized sex in his book Romantic Longings (New York, 1991). See also John and Robin Haller The Physician and Sexuality in Victorian America (Urbana, 1974): 91.
3. Steven Seidman, "The Power of Desire and the Danger of Pleasure: Victorian Sexuality Reconsidered," Journal of Social History 24 (Fall, 1990): 50. Seidman elucidates further his argument that the Victorians spiritualized love and deeroticized sex in his book Romantic Longings (New York, 1991). See also John and Robin Haller The Physician and Sexuality in Victorian America (Urbana, 1974): 91.
4. Steven Seidman, "The Power of Desire and the Danger of Pleasure: Victorian Sexuality Reconsidered," Journal of Social History 24 (Fall, 1990): 50. Seidman elucidates further his argument that the Victorians spiritualized love and deeroticized sex in his book Romantic Longings (New York, 1991). See also John and Robin Haller The Physician and Sexuality in Victorian America (Urbana, 1974): 91.
5. Physician R.T. Trall, for example, wrote in the 1860s that "few should exceed the limit of once a week (for sexual intercourse)." Trall cited in Michael Gordon, "From an Unfortunate Necessity to a Cult of Mutual Orgasm: Sex in American Marital Education Literature, 1830-1940," Studies in the Sociology of Sex ed. by James M. Henslin (New York, 1971): 57. Most authors prescribed sex no more than once or twice a month. See, for example, Sylvester Graham, A Lecture to Young Men on Chastity (Boston, 1837).
6. Physician R.T. Trall, for example, wrote in the 1860s that "few should exceed the limit of once a week (for sexual intercourse)." Trall cited in Michael Gordon, "From an Unfortunate Necessity to a Cult of Mutual Orgasm: Sex in American Marital Education Literature, 1830-1940," Studies in the Sociology of Sex ed. by James M. Henslin (New York, 1971): 57. Most authors prescribed sex no more than once or twice a month. See, for example, Sylvester Graham, A Lecture to Young Men on Chastity (Boston, 1837).
7. Anita and Gordon Fellman, Making Sense of Self: Medical Advice Literature in Late 19th-Century America (Philadelphia, 1981): 99. Charles Rosenberg notes that the dangers of sexual intercourse within marriage became a subject of widespread censure only at the beginning of the 1830s in "Sexuality, Class and Role in Victorian America," American Quarterly 25 (May, 1973): 135. See also Phillip Gibbs, "Self Control and Male Sexuality in Advice Literature of 19th-century America, 1830-1860," Journal of American Culture 9 (Summer, 1986): 37-41.
8. Anita and Gordon Fellman, Making Sense of Self: Medical Advice Literature in Late 19th-Century America (Philadelphia, 1981): 99. Charles Rosenberg notes that the dangers of sexual intercourse within marriage became a subject of widespread censure only at the beginning of the 1830s in "Sexuality, Class and Role in Victorian America," American Quarterly 25 (May, 1973): 135. See also Phillip Gibbs, "Self Control and Male Sexuality in Advice Literature of 19th-century America, 1830-1860," Journal of American Culture 9 (Summer, 1986): 37-41.
9. Anita and Gordon Fellman, Making Sense of Self: Medical Advice Literature in Late 19th-Century America (Philadelphia, 1981): 99. Charles Rosenberg notes that the dangers of sexual intercourse within marriage became a subject of widespread censure only at the beginning of the 1830s in "Sexuality, Class and Role in Victorian America," American Quarterly 25 (May, 1973): 135. See also Phillip Gibbs, "Self Control and Male Sexuality in Advice Literature of 19th-century America, 1830-1860," Journal of American Culture 9 (Summer, 1986): 37-41.
10. Nancy Cott, "Passionlessness" in A Heritage of Her Own ed. by Nancy Cott and Elizabeth Fleck (New York, 1979): 162-181. Ellen Rothman maintains that female passionlessness continued to be the "central tenet of Victorian sexual ideology," after the Civil War, although she is doubtful that it described actual female behavior. ("Sex and Self-Control: Middle-Class Courtship in America, 1770-1870" Journal of Social History 16 [1982]: 421).
11. Nancy Cott, "Passionlessness" in A Heritage of Her Own ed. by Nancy Cott and Elizabeth Fleck (New York, 1979): 162-181. Ellen Rothman maintains that female passionlessness continued to be the "central tenet of Victorian sexual ideology," after the Civil War, although she is doubtful that it described actual female behavior. ("Sex and Self-Control: Middle-Class Courtship in America, 1770-1870" Journal of Social History 16 [1982]: 421).
12. William Acton, Functions and Disorders of the Reproductive Organs (1858) cited in Carl Degler, "What Ought to Be and What Was: Women's Sexuality in the Nineteenth Century," American Historical Review 79 (December, 1974): 1467.
13. William Acton, Functions and Disorders of the Reproductive Organs (1858) cited in Carl Degler, "What Ought to Be and What Was: Women's Sexuality in the Nineteenth Century," American Historical Review 79 (December, 1974): 1467.
14. George Napheys, The Transmission of Life. Counsels on the Nature and Hygiene of the Masculine Function (Philadelphia, 1871): 174.
15. See also Haller and Haller, The Physician and Sexuality in Victorian America: 99-101.
16. See, for example, Karen Lystra's Searching the Heart: Women, Men and Romantic Love in Nineteenth Century America (New York, 1989) and Ellen Rothman, Hands and Hearts: A History of Courtship in America (New York, 1984). Carl Degler has argued, based primarily on a survey of forty-five women conducted by Dr. Clelia Mosher between 1892 and 1920 that "the prescriptive literature that denigrated sexual feelings or expression among women cannot be read as descriptive of the behavior attitude of these women" ("What Ought to Be and What Was": 1488). Peter Gay concurs, noting that "(Victorians) plainly found it easier to perform the act of sex than to talk about it." The Bourgeois Experience, Volume I. Education of the Senses (New York, 1984): 141. These conclusions have been cogently critiqued by Steven Seidman, who faults Degler and Gay for overdetermining the responses of some women to the questionnaire and for ignoring the disparity between women who answered the questionnaire before and after 1900. Steven Seidman, "Sexual Attitudes of Victorian and Post-Victorian Women: Another Look at the Mosher Survey," Journal of American Studies 23 (April, 1989): 68-72 and "The Power of Desire": 59-61. See also Peter N. and Carol Z. Stearns, "Victorian Sexuality: Can Historians Do It Better?" Journal of Social History 18 (Summer, 1985): 625-34.
17. See, for example, Karen Lystra's Searching the Heart: Women, Men and Romantic Love in Nineteenth Century America (New York, 1989) and Ellen Rothman, Hands and Hearts: A History of Courtship in America (New York, 1984). Carl Degler has argued, based primarily on a survey of forty-five women conducted by Dr. Clelia Mosher between 1892 and 1920 that "the prescriptive literature that denigrated sexual feelings or expression among women cannot be read as descriptive of the behavior attitude of these women" ("What Ought to Be and What Was": 1488). Peter Gay concurs, noting that "(Victorians) plainly found it easier to perform the act of sex than to talk about it." The Bourgeois Experience, Volume I. Education of the Senses (New York, 1984): 141. These conclusions have been cogently critiqued by Steven Seidman, who faults Degler and Gay for overdetermining the responses of some women to the questionnaire and for ignoring the disparity between women who answered the questionnaire before and after 1900. Steven Seidman, "Sexual Attitudes of Victorian and Post-Victorian Women: Another Look at the Mosher Survey," Journal of American Studies 23 (April, 1989): 68-72 and "The Power of Desire": 59-61. See also Peter N. and Carol Z. Stearns, "Victorian Sexuality: Can Historians Do It Better?" Journal of Social History 18 (Summer, 1985): 625-34.
18. See, for example, Karen Lystra's Searching the Heart: Women, Men and Romantic Love in Nineteenth Century America (New York, 1989) and Ellen Rothman, Hands and Hearts: A History of Courtship in America (New York, 1984). Carl Degler has argued, based primarily on a survey of forty-five women conducted by Dr. Clelia Mosher between 1892 and 1920 that "the prescriptive literature that denigrated sexual feelings or expression among women cannot be read as descriptive of the behavior attitude of these women" ("What Ought to Be and What Was": 1488). Peter Gay concurs, noting that "(Victorians) plainly found it easier to perform the act of sex than to talk about it." The Bourgeois Experience, Volume I. Education of the Senses (New York, 1984): 141. These conclusions have been cogently critiqued by Steven Seidman, who faults Degler and Gay for overdetermining the responses of some women to the questionnaire and for ignoring the disparity between women who answered the questionnaire before and after 1900. Steven Seidman, "Sexual Attitudes of Victorian and Post-Victorian Women: Another Look at the Mosher Survey," Journal of American Studies 23 (April, 1989): 68-72 and "The Power of Desire": 59-61. See also Peter N. and Carol Z. Stearns, "Victorian Sexuality: Can Historians Do It Better?" Journal of Social History 18 (Summer, 1985): 625-34.
19. See, for example, Karen Lystra's Searching the Heart: Women, Men and Romantic Love in Nineteenth Century America (New York, 1989) and Ellen Rothman, Hands and Hearts: A History of Courtship in America (New York, 1984). Carl Degler has argued, based primarily on a survey of forty-five women conducted by Dr. Clelia Mosher between 1892 and 1920 that "the prescriptive literature that denigrated sexual feelings or expression among women cannot be read as descriptive of the behavior attitude of these women" ("What Ought to Be and What Was": 1488). Peter Gay concurs, noting that "(Victorians) plainly found it easier to perform the act of sex than to talk about it." The Bourgeois Experience, Volume I. Education of the Senses (New York, 1984): 141. These conclusions have been cogently critiqued by Steven Seidman, who faults Degler and Gay for overdetermining the responses of some women to the questionnaire and for ignoring the disparity between women who answered the questionnaire before and after 1900. Steven Seidman, "Sexual Attitudes of Victorian and Post-Victorian Women: Another Look at the Mosher Survey," Journal of American Studies 23 (April, 1989): 68-72 and "The Power of Desire": 59-61. See also Peter N. and Carol Z. Stearns, "Victorian Sexuality: Can Historians Do It Better?" Journal of Social History 18 (Summer, 1985): 625-34.
20. See, for example, Karen Lystra's Searching the Heart: Women, Men and Romantic Love in Nineteenth Century America (New York, 1989) and Ellen Rothman, Hands and Hearts: A History of Courtship in America (New York, 1984). Carl Degler has argued, based primarily on a survey of forty-five women conducted by Dr. Clelia Mosher between 1892 and 1920 that "the prescriptive literature that denigrated sexual feelings or expression among women cannot be read as descriptive of the behavior attitude of these women" ("What Ought to Be and What Was": 1488). Peter Gay concurs, noting that "(Victorians) plainly found it easier to perform the act of sex than to talk about it." The Bourgeois Experience, Volume I. Education of the Senses (New York, 1984): 141. These conclusions have been cogently critiqued by Steven Seidman, who faults Degler and Gay for overdetermining the responses of some women to the questionnaire and for ignoring the disparity between women who answered the questionnaire before and after 1900. Steven Seidman, "Sexual Attitudes of Victorian and Post-Victorian Women: Another Look at the Mosher Survey," Journal of American Studies 23 (April, 1989): 68-72 and "The Power of Desire": 59-61. See also Peter N. and Carol Z. Stearns, "Victorian Sexuality: Can Historians Do It Better?" Journal of Social History 18 (Summer, 1985): 625-34.
21. See, for example, Karen Lystra's Searching the Heart: Women, Men and Romantic Love in Nineteenth Century America (New York, 1989) and Ellen Rothman, Hands and Hearts: A History of Courtship in America (New York, 1984). Carl Degler has argued, based primarily on a survey of forty-five women conducted by Dr. Clelia Mosher between 1892 and 1920 that "the prescriptive literature that denigrated sexual feelings or expression among women cannot be read as descriptive of the behavior attitude of these women" ("What Ought to Be and What Was": 1488). Peter Gay concurs, noting that "(Victorians) plainly found it easier to perform the act of sex than to talk about it." The Bourgeois Experience, Volume I. Education of the Senses (New York, 1984): 141. These conclusions have been cogently critiqued by Steven Seidman, who faults Degler and Gay for overdetermining the responses of some women to the questionnaire and for ignoring the disparity between women who answered the questionnaire before and after 1900. Steven Seidman, "Sexual Attitudes of Victorian and Post-Victorian Women: Another Look at the Mosher Survey," Journal of American Studies 23 (April, 1989): 68-72 and "The Power of Desire": 59-61. See also Peter N. and Carol Z. Stearns, "Victorian Sexuality: Can Historians Do It Better?" Journal of Social History 18 (Summer, 1985): 625-34.
22. See, for example, Karen Lystra's Searching the Heart: Women, Men and Romantic Love in Nineteenth Century America (New York, 1989) and Ellen Rothman, Hands and Hearts: A History of Courtship in America (New York, 1984). Carl Degler has argued, based primarily on a survey of forty-five women conducted by Dr. Clelia Mosher between 1892 and 1920 that "the prescriptive literature that denigrated sexual feelings or expression among women cannot be read as descriptive of the behavior attitude of these women" ("What Ought to Be and What Was": 1488). Peter Gay concurs, noting that "(Victorians) plainly found it easier to perform the act of sex than to talk about it." The Bourgeois Experience, Volume I. Education of the Senses (New York, 1984): 141. These conclusions have been cogently critiqued by Steven Seidman, who faults Degler and Gay for overdetermining the responses of some women to the questionnaire and for ignoring the disparity between women who answered the questionnaire before and after 1900. Steven Seidman, "Sexual Attitudes of Victorian and Post-Victorian Women: Another Look at the Mosher Survey," Journal of American Studies 23 (April, 1989): 68-72 and "The Power of Desire": 59-61. See also Peter N. and Carol Z. Stearns, "Victorian Sexuality: Can Historians Do It Better?" Journal of Social History 18 (Summer, 1985): 625-34.
23. Wolkoff, "The Ethics of Sex: Individuality and the Social Order in Early Twentieth Century American Sexual Advice Literature" (Ph.D. diss., University of Michigan, 1974): 81, my emphasis.
24. G. J. Barker-Benfield, The Horrors of the Half-Known Life: Male Attitudes Toward Women and Sexuality in Nineteenth-Century America (New York, 1976): 382.
25. Rosenberg, "Sexuality, Class and Role in Victorian America": 148; Seidman, "The Powers of Desire": 53-9.
26. Rosenberg, "Sexuality, Class and Role in Victorian America": 148; Seidman, "The Powers of Desire": 53-9.
27. Walter F. Robie, M.D., Sex and Life (Boston, 1921): 359, 361.
28. Alexander Stone, ed., Sex Searchlights and Sane Sex Ethics (Chicago, 1922): 109, 121.
29. See Michael Gordon, "From an Unfortunate Necessity to a Cult of Mutual Orgasm": 60-2.
30. Steven Seidman, Romantic Longings: 25. Michael Gordon associates discussions of sexual foreplay with a slightly later period in which the advice literature emphasized sexual technique. See "From Unfortunate Necessity to a Cult of Mutual Orgasm": 68-71.
31. Steven Seidman, Romantic Longings: 25. Michael Gordon associates discussions of sexual foreplay with a slightly later period in which the advice literature emphasized sexual technique. See "From Unfortunate Necessity to a Cult of Mutual Orgasm": 68-71.
32. Beth Bailey, From Front Porch to Back Seat (Baltimore, 1988); Seidman, Romantic Longings; Kevin White, The First Sexual Revolution (New York, 1993).
33. Beth Bailey, From Front Porch to Back Seat (Baltimore, 1988); Seidman, Romantic Longings; Kevin White, The First Sexual Revolution (New York, 1993).
34. Beth Bailey, From Front Porch to Back Seat (Baltimore, 1988); Seidman, Romantic Longings; Kevin White, The First Sexual Revolution (New York, 1993).
35. Seidman, Romantic Longings: 4.
36. The advice books examined here obviously were written for a lay middle-class audience (notwithstanding the inscriptions on their title pages, for the benefit of Anthony Comstock and his myrmidons, that they were for the use of those in the medical or legal profession only). Although it is certain that some authors knew and corresponded with others - William Fielding, for example, exchanged letters with English author Marie Stopes in England and Dr. William J. Robinson - the nature and extent of organizational and institutional affiliations common to early-twentieth-century sexologists and advisors have not been well investigated. A study of this sort is much needed.
37. Walter Gallichan in Stone, Sex Searchlights and Sane Sex Ethics: 119.
38. This was not, of course, entirely novel in the early twentieth century. See Sears, The Sex Radicals (Lawrence, 1977); John Spurlock, Free Love: Marriage and Middle-Class Radicalism in America, 1825-1860 (New York, 1988).
39. This was not, of course, entirely novel in the early twentieth century. See Sears, The Sex Radicals (Lawrence, 1977); John Spurlock, Free Love: Marriage and Middle-Class Radicalism in America, 1825-1860 (New York, 1988).
40. William J. Robinson, Sexual Problems of Today (New York, 1912): 25; William J. Fielding, Sanity in Sex (New York, 1920): 188. Some authors continued to resist the eroticization of marriage. Dr. Florence Barrett, for example, argued that "when all parts of the nature (of two people) find their counterpart in another . . . frequent repetition of physical intercourse is not essential to (marriage's) highest development" Conception Control (New York, 1922): 17.
41. William J. Robinson, Sexual Problems of Today (New York, 1912): 25; William J. Fielding, Sanity in Sex (New York, 1920): 188. Some authors continued to resist the eroticization of marriage. Dr. Florence Barrett, for example, argued that "when all parts of the nature (of two people) find their counterpart in another . . . frequent repetition of physical intercourse is not essential to (marriage's) highest development" Conception Control (New York, 1922): 17.
42. William J. Robinson, Sexual Problems of Today (New York, 1912): 25; William J. Fielding, Sanity in Sex (New York, 1920): 188. Some authors continued to resist the eroticization of marriage. Dr. Florence Barrett, for example, argued that "when all parts of the nature (of two people) find their counterpart in another . . . frequent repetition of physical intercourse is not essential to (marriage's) highest development" Conception Control (New York, 1922): 17.
43. This emphasis on leisure was an impulse shared by non-sexologists as well. See, for example, William James's essay "The Gospel of Relaxation" in On Vital Reserves (New York, 1899), esp. 45, 59-60.
44. Harland Long, M.D., Sane Sex Life and Sane Sex Living (Boston, 1919): 68.
45. Henry Hanchett, Sexual Health, 2nd edition (1889) cited in Fellman, Making Sense of Self: 93; see also Haller and Haller, The Physician and Sexuality in Victorian America: 99.
46. Henry Hanchett, Sexual Health, 2nd edition (1889) cited in Fellman, Making Sense of Self: 93; see also Haller and Haller, The Physician and Sexuality in Victorian America: 99.
47. Henry Hanchett, Sexual Health, 2nd edition (1889) cited in Fellman, Making Sense of Self: 93; see also Haller and Haller, The Physician and Sexuality in Victorian America: 99.
48. Robie, Sex and Life: 359, 361.
49. Anna M. Galbraith, M.D., The Four Epochs of a Woman's Life (Philadelphia, 1904): 83.
50. Rothman, Hands and Hearts.
51. Marie Slopes, M.D., Married Love or Love in Marriage (New York, 1918): 85, italics in original; Charles Malchow, The Sexual Life (St. Louis, 1907): 122.
52. Marie Slopes, M.D., Married Love or Love in Marriage (New York, 1918): 85, italics in original; Charles Malchow, The Sexual Life (St. Louis, 1907): 122.
53. Walter F. Robie, M.D., Rational Sex Ethics (Boston, 1922): 297.
54. Robie, Sex and Life: 358-9.
55. Walter F. Robie, M.D., Sex Histories (London, 1922?): 15-16.
56. William Robinson, M.D., Woman: Her Sex and Love Life (New York, 1917): 322.
57. Long, Sane Sex Life and Sane Sex Living: 63.
58. Crete Meisel-Hess, The Sexual Crisis translated by Edna and Cedar Paul (New York, 1917): 303; Maude Royden, Sex and Common Sense (New York and London, 1924): 179-80; Thomas Galloway, Biology of Sex for Parents and Teachers (Boston and New York, 1922): 60 .
59. Crete Meisel-Hess, The Sexual Crisis translated by Edna and Cedar Paul (New York, 1917): 303; Maude Royden, Sex and Common Sense (New York and London, 1924): 179-80; Thomas Galloway, Biology of Sex for Parents and Teachers (Boston and New York, 1922): 60 .
60. Crete Meisel-Hess, The Sexual Crisis translated by Edna and Cedar Paul (New York, 1917): 303; Maude Royden, Sex and Common Sense (New York and London, 1924): 179-80; Thomas Galloway, Biology of Sex for Parents and Teachers (Boston and New York, 1922): 60 .
61. Winfield Hall, M.D., Reproduction and Sexual Hygiene (Chicago, 1913): 129.
62. Salomon Herbert, Fundamentals in Sexual Ethics (London, 1920): 34; Havelock Ellis, "Analysis of the Sexual Impulse," 1913 (original 1908) cited in Wolkoff, "The Ethics of Sex": 179.
63. Salomon Herbert, Fundamentals in Sexual Ethics (London, 1920): 34; Havelock Ellis, "Analysis of the Sexual Impulse," 1913 (original 1908) cited in Wolkoff, "The Ethics of Sex": 179.
64. Havelock Ellis, "Analysis of the Sexual Impulse," 1913 (original 1908) cited in Wolkoff, "The Ethics of Sex": 179.
65. For an example of this argument see Nancy Cott, The Grounding of Modern Feminism (New Haven, 1987): 150-151.
66. In her earlier article "Passionlessness," Cott claims that women made self-conscious use of their characterization as passionless to enhance their status and widen their opportunities in the nineteenth century but that women began to reject this notion when the medical establishment judged the concept in somatic rather than spiritual terms (see footnote 5, passim, esp. 175). Peter Cominos claims that "one of the most striking features of the second decade of the twentieth century was the re-emergence of the sexuality which had been so thoroughly repressed throughout the Victorian era" in "Late-Victorian Sexual Respectability and the Social System," International Review of Social History 8 (1963): 31; Howard Kushner, however, argues that the "net result of this so-called (sexual) revolution was to replace religious reasons for repression with more scientific ones" in "Nineteenth-Century Sexuality and the 'Sexual Revolution' of the Progressive Era," Canadian Review of American Studies 9 (1978): 37.
67. In her earlier article "Passionlessness," Cott claims that women made self-conscious use of their characterization as passionless to enhance their status and widen their opportunities in the nineteenth century but that women began to reject this notion when the medical establishment judged the concept in somatic rather than spiritual terms (see footnote 5, passim, esp. 175). Peter Cominos claims that "one of the most striking features of the second decade of the twentieth century was the re-emergence of the sexuality which had been so thoroughly repressed throughout the Victorian era" in "Late-Victorian Sexual Respectability and the Social System," International Review of Social History 8 (1963): 31; Howard Kushner, however, argues that the "net result of this so-called (sexual) revolution was to replace religious reasons for repression with more scientific ones" in "Nineteenth-Century Sexuality and the 'Sexual Revolution' of the Progressive Era," Canadian Review of American Studies 9 (1978): 37.
68. Michel Foucault, The History of Sexuality, Volume 1 : An Introduction translated by Robert Hurley (New York, 1978): 105. For elaborations of this notion, see, for example, David Halperin, One Hundred Years of Homosexuality and Other Essays in Greek Love (New York, 1990) and Jeffrey Weeks, Sex, Politics and Society (New York, 1981).
69. Michel Foucault, The History of Sexuality, Volume 1 : An Introduction translated by Robert Hurley (New York, 1978): 105. For elaborations of this notion, see, for example, David Halperin, One Hundred Years of Homosexuality and Other Essays in Greek Love (New York, 1990) and Jeffrey Weeks, Sex, Politics and Society (New York, 1981).
70. Michel Foucault, The History of Sexuality, Volume 1 : An Introduction translated by Robert Hurley (New York, 1978): 105. For elaborations of this notion, see, for example, David Halperin, One Hundred Years of Homosexuality and Other Essays in Greek Love (New York, 1990) and Jeffrey Weeks, Sex, Politics and Society (New York, 1981).
71. Christina Simmons, "Modern Sexuality and the Myth of Victorian Repression," Passion and Power (Philadelphia, 1985).
72. Ibid.: 163.
73. Havelock Ellis, "Analysis of the Sexual Impulse," cited in Wolkoff, "The Ethics of Sex": 179.
74. Havelock Ellis, "Analysis of the Sexual Impulse," cited in Wolkoff, "The Ethics of Sex": 179.
75. Malchow, The Sexual Life: 127.
76. Walter F. Robie, M.D., The Art of Love (Boston, 1921): 97.
77. Christina Simmons, "Marriage in the Modern Manner: Sexual Radicalism and Reform in America, 1914-1941" (Ph.D. dissertation Brown University, 1982); Margaret Jackson, "Sexology and the Social Construction of Male Sexuality," in Explorations in Feminism edited by L. Coveney, M. Jackson, S. Jeffreys, L. Kaye, P. Mahoney (London, 1984); Margaret Jackson, The Real Facts of Life (Bristol, PA, 1994), esp. chapters 5 and 7.
78. Christina Simmons, "Marriage in the Modern Manner: Sexual Radicalism and Reform in America, 1914-1941" (Ph.D. dissertation Brown University, 1982); Margaret Jackson, "Sexology and the Social Construction of Male Sexuality," in Explorations in Feminism edited by L. Coveney, M. Jackson, S. Jeffreys, L. Kaye, P. Mahoney (London, 1984); Margaret Jackson, The Real Facts of Life (Bristol, PA, 1994), esp. chapters 5 and 7.
79. Christina Simmons, "Marriage in the Modern Manner: Sexual Radicalism and Reform in America, 1914-1941" (Ph.D. dissertation Brown University, 1982); Margaret Jackson, "Sexology and the Social Construction of Male Sexuality," in Explorations in Feminism edited by L. Coveney, M. Jackson, S. Jeffreys, L. Kaye, P. Mahoney (London, 1984); Margaret Jackson, The Real Facts of Life (Bristol, PA, 1994), esp. chapters 5 and 7.
80. See, for example, Lois Banner, American Beauty (Chicago, 1983); Kathy Peiss, Cheap Amusements (Philadelphia, 1986); Joanne Meyerowitz, Women Adrift (Chicago, 1988); Lewis Erenberg, Steppin' Out (Chicago, 1981); Robert Allen, Horrible Prettiness: Burlesque and American Culture (Chapel Hill, 1991).
81. See, for example, Lois Banner, American Beauty (Chicago, 1983); Kathy Peiss, Cheap Amusements (Philadelphia, 1986); Joanne Meyerowitz, Women Adrift (Chicago, 1988); Lewis Erenberg, Steppin' Out (Chicago, 1981); Robert Allen, Horrible Prettiness: Burlesque and American Culture (Chapel Hill, 1991).
82. See, for example, Lois Banner, American Beauty (Chicago, 1983); Kathy Peiss, Cheap Amusements (Philadelphia, 1986); Joanne Meyerowitz, Women Adrift (Chicago, 1988); Lewis Erenberg, Steppin' Out (Chicago, 1981); Robert Allen, Horrible Prettiness: Burlesque and American Culture (Chapel Hill, 1991).
83. See, for example, Lois Banner, American Beauty (Chicago, 1983); Kathy Peiss, Cheap Amusements (Philadelphia, 1986); Joanne Meyerowitz, Women Adrift (Chicago, 1988); Lewis Erenberg, Steppin' Out (Chicago, 1981); Robert Allen, Horrible Prettiness: Burlesque and American Culture (Chapel Hill, 1991).
84. See, for example, Lois Banner, American Beauty (Chicago, 1983); Kathy Peiss, Cheap Amusements (Philadelphia, 1986); Joanne Meyerowitz, Women Adrift (Chicago, 1988); Lewis Erenberg, Steppin' Out (Chicago, 1981); Robert Allen, Horrible Prettiness: Burlesque and American Culture (Chapel Hill, 1991).
85. William Leach "Transformations in a Culture of Consumption," Journal of American History 71 (Sept., 1984): 319-342 and Land of Desire (New York, 1993); Elaine Abelson, When Ladies Go A-Thieving(New York, 1989); Kathy Peiss, "Making Faces: The Cosmetics Industry and the Cultural Construction of Gender, 1890-1930," Genders 7 (March, 1990): 143-169.
86. William Leach "Transformations in a Culture of Consumption," Journal of American History 71 (Sept., 1984): 319-342 and Land of Desire (New York, 1993); Elaine Abelson, When Ladies Go A-Thieving(New York, 1989); Kathy Peiss, "Making Faces: The Cosmetics Industry and the Cultural Construction of Gender, 1890-1930," Genders 7 (March, 1990): 143-169.
87. William Leach "Transformations in a Culture of Consumption," Journal of American History 71 (Sept., 1984): 319-342 and Land of Desire (New York, 1993); Elaine Abelson, When Ladies Go A-Thieving(New York, 1989); Kathy Peiss, "Making Faces: The Cosmetics Industry and the Cultural Construction of Gender, 1890-1930," Genders 7 (March, 1990): 143-169.
88. William Leach "Transformations in a Culture of Consumption," Journal of American History 71 (Sept., 1984): 319-342 and Land of Desire (New York, 1993); Elaine Abelson, When Ladies Go A-Thieving(New York, 1989); Kathy Peiss, "Making Faces: The Cosmetics Industry and the Cultural Construction of Gender, 1890-1930," Genders 7 (March, 1990): 143-169.
89. Kathy Peiss, " 'Charity Girls' and City Pleasures: Historical Notes on Working-Class Sexuality, 1880-1920" in Powers of Desire edited by Ann Snitow, Christine Stansell and Sharon Thompson (New York, 1983): 74-87.
90. On theaters as one fraught site of female public presence see Claudia Johnson, "That Guilty Third Tier: Prostitution in Nineteenth Century Theaters," in Victorian America ed. by Daniel Howe (Philadelphia, 1976): 111-120 and Richard Butsch "Bowery B'hoys and Matinee Ladies: The Re-Gendering of Nineteenth-Century American Theater Audiences," American Quarterly 46 (September, 1994): 374-405. An example of vice investigators' anxieties about women is the Chicago Vice Commission's report The Social Evil in Chicago (Chicago, 1911), esp. chapter 4.
91. On theaters as one fraught site of female public presence see Claudia Johnson, "That Guilty Third Tier: Prostitution in Nineteenth Century Theaters," in Victorian America ed. by Daniel Howe (Philadelphia, 1976): 111-120 and Richard Butsch "Bowery B'hoys and Matinee Ladies: The Re-Gendering of Nineteenth-Century American Theater Audiences," American Quarterly 46 (September, 1994): 374-405. An example of vice investigators' anxieties about women is the Chicago Vice Commission's report The Social Evil in Chicago (Chicago, 1911), esp. chapter 4.
92. On theaters as one fraught site of female public presence see Claudia Johnson, "That Guilty Third Tier: Prostitution in Nineteenth Century Theaters," in Victorian America ed. by Daniel Howe (Philadelphia, 1976): 111-120 and Richard Butsch "Bowery B'hoys and Matinee Ladies: The Re-Gendering of Nineteenth-Century American Theater Audiences," American Quarterly 46 (September, 1994): 374-405. An example of vice investigators' anxieties about women is the Chicago Vice Commission's report The Social Evil in Chicago (Chicago, 1911), esp. chapter 4.
93. Napheys, The Transmission of Life: 119.
94. Proponents of this idea found support in William Sanger's 1858 survey of two thousand prostitutes at New York's House of Correction on Blackwell Island. In response to a question about why they had become prostitutes originally, more than one third cited "inclination." See Barbara Hobson, Uneasy Virtue: The Politics of Prostitution and the American Reform Tradition (New York, 1987): 100. Although few essayists during this period claimed that prostitutes entered the trade because of their desires, the belief survived from earlier days. In 1914, Josephine M. Bumham was prompted to write, "A recent essay (condoning the unpardonable), by one of the most gifted American women, only voices the disapproval I have heard expressed again and again by those who fear a relaxing of our hard-won standards. . . . They say it is an error to say that poverty is often a cause of prostitution, or is even so regarded by girls who go astray. . . ." "The First Stone," Forum 51 (March, 1914): 365.
95. Proponents of this idea found support in William Sanger's 1858 survey of two thousand prostitutes at New York's House of Correction on Blackwell Island. In response to a question about why they had become prostitutes originally, more than one third cited "inclination." See Barbara Hobson, Uneasy Virtue: The Politics of Prostitution and the American Reform Tradition (New York, 1987): 100. Although few essayists during this period claimed that prostitutes entered the trade because of their desires, the belief survived from earlier days. In 1914, Josephine M. Bumham was prompted to write, "A recent essay (condoning the unpardonable), by one of the most gifted American women, only voices the disapproval I have heard expressed again and again by those who fear a relaxing of our hard-won standards. . . . They say it is an error to say that poverty is often a cause of prostitution, or is even so regarded by girls who go astray. . . ." "The First Stone," Forum 51 (March, 1914): 365.
96. Ruth Rosen, The Lost Sisterhood (Baltimore, 1982): 48.
97. Fredric Gerrish, M.D., Sex-Hygiene: A Talk to College Boys (Boston, 1917): 46.
98. Elizabeth Lunbeck, " 1A New Generation of Women': Progressive Psychiatrists and the Hypersexual Female," Feminist Studies 13 (Fall, 1987): 513-543. See also Lunbeck, The Psychiatric Persuasion (Princeton, NJ, 1994), chapter 7.
99. Elizabeth Lunbeck, " 1A New Generation of Women': Progressive Psychiatrists and the Hypersexual Female," Feminist Studies 13 (Fall, 1987): 513-543. See also Lunbeck, The Psychiatric Persuasion (Princeton, NJ, 1994), chapter 7.
100. Mark Connelly, The Response to Prostitution in the Progressive Era (Chapel Hill, NC, 1980): 6-9.
101. Rosen, Lost Sisterhood: 39.
102. William Fielding, Sanity in Sex. (New York, 1920): 174. Connelly, The Response to Prostitution in the Progressive Era: 70. Edith Hooker, writing in 1921, alleged that 60 percent of young, unmarried men either had or had had gonorrhea, and 10 to 15 percent syphilis. Edith Hooker, The Laws of Sex (Boston, 1920): 187.
103. William Fielding, Sanity in Sex. (New York, 1920): 174. Connelly, The Response to Prostitution in the Progressive Era: 70. Edith Hooker, writing in 1921, alleged that 60 percent of young, unmarried men either had or had had gonorrhea, and 10 to 15 percent syphilis. Edith Hooker, The Laws of Sex (Boston, 1920): 187.
104. William Fielding, Sanity in Sex. (New York, 1920): 174. Connelly, The Response to Prostitution in the Progressive Era: 70. Edith Hooker, writing in 1921, alleged that 60 percent of young, unmarried men either had or had had gonorrhea, and 10 to 15 percent syphilis. Edith Hooker, The Laws of Sex (Boston, 1920): 187.
105. Herbert, Fundamentals in Sexual Ethics: 107.
106. Galloway, Biology of Sex, 70. On the double standard, see Keith Thomas, "The Double Standard," Journal of the History of Ideas 30 (April, 1959): 195-216.
107. Galloway, Biology of Sex, 70. On the double standard, see Keith Thomas, "The Double Standard," Journal of the History of Ideas 30 (April, 1959): 195-216.
108. Meisel-Hess, The Sexual Crisis: 81.
109. ibid.: 167.
110. Herbert, Fundamentals in Sexual Ethics: 295.
111. Hooker, Laws of Sex: 49.
112. Elizabeth Sloan Chesser, "The Honeymoon" in Love and Marriage ed. by Ellen Key (New York, 1911): 227; Gallichan in Stone, Sex Searchlights and Sane Sex Ethics: 121, italics in original.
113. Elizabeth Sloan Chesser, "The Honeymoon" in Love and Marriage ed. by Ellen Key (New York, 1911): 227; Gallichan in Stone, Sex Searchlights and Sane Sex Ethics: 121, italics in original.
114. Slopes, Married Love: 50. Stopes linked this idea explicitly with the need to arouse female desire, claiming that "Many men . . . may fall into the error of explaining their wife's experiences in terms of the reactions of the prostitute. They argue that, because the prostitute showed physical excitement and pleasure in the sexual act, if the bride or wife does not do so, then she is 'cold' or 'undersexed.' They may not realize that often all the bodily movements of the prostitute are studied and simulated because her client enjoys his orgasm best when he imagines that the woman in his arms has one simultaneously" (49-50).
115. Although my focus in this paper is on the ideological functions of the discourse about sexual foreplay, it is unclear to what extent discussions of foreplay helped create class distinctions or reflected them. In 1948, Alfred Kinsey found that pre-coital love play was more common between partners among the upper classes of those individuals who had become sexually active between 1900 and 1925. See Sexual Behavior in the Human Male (Philadelphia, 1948): 369-70 and Regina Markell Morantz, "The Scientist as Sex Crusader: Alfred C. Kinsey and American Culture," American Quarterly 29:5 (Winter, 1977).
116. Although my focus in this paper is on the ideological functions of the discourse about sexual foreplay, it is unclear to what extent discussions of foreplay helped create class distinctions or reflected them. In 1948, Alfred Kinsey found that pre-coital love play was more common between partners among the upper classes of those individuals who had become sexually active between 1900 and 1925. See Sexual Behavior in the Human Male (Philadelphia, 1948): 369-70 and Regina Markell Morantz, "The Scientist as Sex Crusader: Alfred C. Kinsey and American Culture," American Quarterly 29:5 (Winter, 1977).
117. Royden, Sex and Common Sense: 195.
118. Meisel-Hess, The Sexual Crisis: 43.
119. Dr. Wilhelm Stekel, "The First Disappointments in Men and Women," in Love and Marriage: 287.
120. Anna Galbraith, The Four Epochs of a Woman's Life: 84.
121. Foucault, The History of Sexuality, Vol. 1:69-70.
122. Havelock Ellis, My Confessional (Boston and New York, 1934): 108-9.
123. Gordon, "From Unfortunate Necessity to a Cult of Mutual Orgasm": 68 ff.;
124. Dennis Brisset and Lionel Lewis, "Guidelines for Marital Sex: An Analysis of Fifteen Popular Marriage Manuals," The Family Coordinator (January, 1970): 46.
125. Theodore van de Velde, Ideal Marriage: Its Physiology and Technique (New York, 1930), for example, contained graphs depicting the comparative trajectories of women's and men's sexual excitement.
126. Stopes, Married Love: 8.
127. Paul Starr, The Social Transformation of American Medicine (New York, 1982), chapter 3.
128. Allan Brandt, No Magic Bullet (New York, 1985): 121. See also Sheila Rothman, Woman's Proper Place (New York, 1978): 200-209; Linda Gordon, Woman's Body, Woman's Right (New York, 1976): 250-300.
129. Allan Brandt, No Magic Bullet (New York, 1985): 121. See also Sheila Rothman, Woman's Proper Place (New York, 1978): 200-209; Linda Gordon, Woman's Body, Woman's Right (New York, 1976): 250-300.
130. Allan Brandt, No Magic Bullet (New York, 1985): 121. See also Sheila Rothman, Woman's Proper Place (New York, 1978): 200-209; Linda Gordon, Woman's Body, Woman's Right (New York, 1976): 250-300.
131. John Burnham, "The Progressive Era's Revolution in American Attitudes Toward Sex," Journal of American History 59 (1973): 885-908.
132. See John Burnham in Building the Organizational Society: Essays on Association Activities in Modern America (New York, 1972): 30. The first courses in sex instruction were developed and taught in the public schools during this period. See Clara Schmitt, "The Teaching of the Facts of Sex in the Public School," Pedagogical Seminary 17 (June, 1910): 229-241; Charles Henderson, Education with Reference to Sex (Chicago, 1909). For an interpretation of the sex education movement that emphasizes the continuity of self-control as a theme in American sexual life, see Bryan Strong, "Ideas of the Early Sex Education Movement in America, 1890-1920," History of Education Quarterly 11 (Summer, 1972): 129-161.
133. See John Burnham in Building the Organizational Society: Essays on Association Activities in Modern America (New York, 1972): 30. The first courses in sex instruction were developed and taught in the public schools during this period. See Clara Schmitt, "The Teaching of the Facts of Sex in the Public School," Pedagogical Seminary 17 (June, 1910): 229-241; Charles Henderson, Education with Reference to Sex (Chicago, 1909). For an interpretation of the sex education movement that emphasizes the continuity of self-control as a theme in American sexual life, see Bryan Strong, "Ideas of the Early Sex Education Movement in America, 1890-1920," History of Education Quarterly 11 (Summer, 1972): 129-161.
134. See John Burnham in Building the Organizational Society: Essays on Association Activities in Modern America (New York, 1972): 30. The first courses in sex instruction were developed and taught in the public schools during this period. See Clara Schmitt, "The Teaching of the Facts of Sex in the Public School," Pedagogical Seminary 17 (June, 1910): 229-241; Charles Henderson, Education with Reference to Sex (Chicago, 1909). For an interpretation of the sex education movement that emphasizes the continuity of self-control as a theme in American sexual life, see Bryan Strong, "Ideas of the Early Sex Education Movement in America, 1890-1920," History of Education Quarterly 11 (Summer, 1972): 129-161.
135. See John Burnham in Building the Organizational Society: Essays on Association Activities in Modern America (New York, 1972): 30. The first courses in sex instruction were developed and taught in the public schools during this period. See Clara Schmitt, "The Teaching of the Facts of Sex in the Public School," Pedagogical Seminary 17 (June, 1910): 229-241; Charles Henderson, Education with Reference to Sex (Chicago, 1909). For an interpretation of the sex education movement that emphasizes the continuity of self-control as a theme in American sexual life, see Bryan Strong, "Ideas of the Early Sex Education Movement in America, 1890-1920," History of Education Quarterly 11 (Summer, 1972): 129-161.
136. Edith Lowry, False Modesty (Chicago, 1914): 37, italics in original.
137. Long, Sane Sex Life and Sane Sex Living: 36, 63.
138. Robie, The Art of Love: 26, italics in original.
139. Long, Sane Sex Life and Sane Sex Living: 104.
140. Robie, The Art of Love: 302.
141. See Starr, The Social Transformation of American Medicine: 79-145. On women in the workforce Alice Kessler-Harris, Out to Work (New York, 1982), passim and esp. 217-249; on anxiety about working women see, for example, Meyerowitz, Women Adrift. On popular representations of working women, see Donald R. Makosky, "The Portrayal of Women in Wide Circulation Magazine Short Stories, 1905-1955," (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, 1966) and Caroll Smith-Rosenberg, "The New Woman as Androgyne: Social and Gender Crisis, 1870-1936," in Disorderly Conduct (New York, 1985): 245-296.
142. See Starr, The Social Transformation of American Medicine: 79-145. On women in the workforce Alice Kessler-Harris, Out to Work (New York, 1982), passim and esp. 217-249; on anxiety about working women see, for example, Meyerowitz, Women Adrift. On popular representations of working women, see Donald R. Makosky, "The Portrayal of Women in Wide Circulation Magazine Short Stories, 1905-1955," (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, 1966) and Caroll Smith-Rosenberg, "The New Woman as Androgyne: Social and Gender Crisis, 1870-1936," in Disorderly Conduct (New York, 1985): 245-296.
143. See Starr, The Social Transformation of American Medicine: 79-145. On women in the workforce Alice Kessler-Harris, Out to Work (New York, 1982), passim and esp. 217-249; on anxiety about working women see, for example, Meyerowitz, Women Adrift. On popular representations of working women, see Donald R. Makosky, "The Portrayal of Women in Wide Circulation Magazine Short Stories, 1905-1955," (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, 1966) and Caroll Smith-Rosenberg, "The New Woman as Androgyne: Social and Gender Crisis, 1870-1936," in Disorderly Conduct (New York, 1985): 245-296.
144. See Starr, The Social Transformation of American Medicine: 79-145. On women in the workforce Alice Kessler-Harris, Out to Work (New York, 1982), passim and esp. 217-249; on anxiety about working women see, for example, Meyerowitz, Women Adrift. On popular representations of working women, see Donald R. Makosky, "The Portrayal of Women in Wide Circulation Magazine Short Stories, 1905-1955," (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, 1966) and Caroll Smith-Rosenberg, "The New Woman as Androgyne: Social and Gender Crisis, 1870-1936," in Disorderly Conduct (New York, 1985): 245-296.
145. See Starr, The Social Transformation of American Medicine: 79-145. On women in the workforce Alice Kessler-Harris, Out to Work (New York, 1982), passim and esp. 217-249; on anxiety about working women see, for example, Meyerowitz, Women Adrift. On popular representations of working women, see Donald R. Makosky, "The Portrayal of Women in Wide Circulation Magazine Short Stories, 1905-1955," (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, 1966) and Caroll Smith-Rosenberg, "The New Woman as Androgyne: Social and Gender Crisis, 1870-1936," in Disorderly Conduct (New York, 1985): 245-296.
146. See The National Recreation Association's The Leisure Hours of 5,000 People (New York, 1934).
147. Lionel Lewis and Dennis Brisset, "Sex as Work: A Study of Avocational Counseling," Social Problems 15 (Summer, 1967): 10; Dennis Brisset and Lionel S. Lewis, "Guidelines for Marital Sex: An Analysis of Fifteen Popular Marriage Manuals," The Family Coordinator (January, 1970): 41-48; Michael Gordon and Penelope J. Shankweiler, "Different Equals Less: Female Sexuality in Recent Marriage Manuals," Journal of Marriage and the Family (August, 1971): 459-465.
148. Lionel Lewis and Dennis Brisset, "Sex as Work: A Study of Avocational Counseling," Social Problems 15 (Summer, 1967): 10; Dennis Brisset and Lionel S. Lewis, "Guidelines for Marital Sex: An Analysis of Fifteen Popular Marriage Manuals," The Family Coordinator (January, 1970): 41-48; Michael Gordon and Penelope J. Shankweiler, "Different Equals Less: Female Sexuality in Recent Marriage Manuals," Journal of Marriage and the Family (August, 1971): 459-465.
149. Lionel Lewis and Dennis Brisset, "Sex as Work: A Study of Avocational Counseling," Social Problems 15 (Summer, 1967): 10; Dennis Brisset and Lionel S. Lewis, "Guidelines for Marital Sex: An Analysis of Fifteen Popular Marriage Manuals," The Family Coordinator (January, 1970): 41-48; Michael Gordon and Penelope J. Shankweiler, "Different Equals Less: Female Sexuality in Recent Marriage Manuals," Journal of Marriage and the Family (August, 1971): 459-465.
150. Foucault, History of Sexuality, Vol. I: 71.