History of Sexualities Midterm #1 Terms
Claudius Galen
(c. 129-c.216 C. E.) -philosopher, famous physician in Roman Empire -his one sex model influenced European medicine for 1,500 years -called reproduction "generation" -men and women had to generate heat (mutually orgasm) enough to have blood turn to semen (esp important for women because they are naturally cold) -secretly dissected animals
Osh-tisch (crow)
-The crow are an indigenous group based in Wyoming/Montana. -lost their land in mid 1800s -3 gender system -Boté (or Bodé and Badé) - the third gender -means someone who is assigned male at birth but does not identify as such -Osh-tisch = famous Boté (born 1854) -was forced to assimilate/attend a boarding school -ran away, went home, refused to return -community banded behind her -was relevant until her death -- and afterwards less of a force to protect boté -a lot of nations adopted a two-sex model, which lead to a lot of homophobia and transphpobia
William + Virgil Maxcy
-Virgil Maxcy ( lived in Smithfield, Rhode Island) -William Blanding (lived in Rehoboth, Massachusetts) -write eachother and Maxcy mentions missing sharing a bed and cuddling (which can be platonic) -in same letter mentioned "Sometimes, I think I have got hold of your doodle when in reality I have hold of the bedpost" - Maxcy signed the letter "your humble c**t"
Mrs. Nash
-died 1878 -laundress for U.S military, (U.S Seventh Cavalry) had 3 husbands, died of appendicitis, current husband, Corporal John Noonan was bullied and committed suicide -the fact that she was Mexican is emphasized after her death -minorities that crossdressed were very "othered" to provide comfort for those who liked to picture a white cis masc hetero American west
Calamity Jane
1852-1903 -female crossdresser, identified as female -took on "male" pursuits like hunting, fishing, hiking -inspired dime novels about women who crossdressed, were in bad relationships etc and then returned to a more feminine lifestyle and did things like become a wife and have children
berdache
a slur -used by anthropologists to label people who are physically male but don't do male things -Catlin's illustration of the "Dance of the Berdache" shows caricatured people and represents two-spirit people as "other" when they are in fact integrated into society
Vibrators
invented by english inventor Joseph Mortimer Granville - patented 1880 -also used to treat arthritis, constipation, cancerous tumors -1899 first ad appears -- could not be advertised as anything sexual, said that cured headaches and wrinkles -most common ad = white cross electric vibrator ad -after 1900 could purchase a vibrator for home use -in 1920's and '30s, porn industry starts using as sex toy and changes its image
Constructionism
sexual desires, acts, IDs, are bound by social, political, historical context ex. Socialization -- emphasis that not all culture ID ppl as LGB - ex. Ancient greece gender of sex partner not important as long as a man takes charge -- or men in mexico married to women but engage in homo acts with male friends and still see selves as straight not gay --- think there is NOT a fixed percentage Constructionists will not look at 17th century wlw as a lesbian because this word wasn't there at that time so constructionists will say they are "romantic friends" because that is what they called themselves
Buggary
tends to be oral or anal sex, including bestiality, or any sex act that is not welcome ex. anal intercourse or oral intercourse by a man with a man or woman OR vaginal intercourse by either a man or a woman with an animal
essentialism
the idea that there are constants in human evolution ex. Homosexual acts have always existed at 10% pop - like current, gays today and ancient greek gays have the same identity and sexuality - it is interchangeable really -- THEREFORE sexual minorities should be given rights. Essentialists will look at 17th century wlw as a lesbian
sexuality
what we find erotic and how we act on our erotic desires. it is both behaviors and identities.
"Smoke, Lilies, and Jade"
poem by Richard Bruce Nugent (1906-1987) -published in Fire, a literary magazine -central character is openly gay -Nugent=openly gay -married to a woman for 17 years -had sex with both men and women -rejected convention, would not marry to conform -likely bisexual
Mary Jamison
(1743-1833) -6 Shawnee and 4 French descend on a family of Irish squatters in western Penn -raiding party killed father, took mother and children as well as neighbor boy -forced to do a long walk without water -Mary and another child are given moccasins and the others are killed -Mary chooses to remain for the rest of her life and gets 2 new sisters -2 white men come to take her away and her new sisters hide her -a squatter tries to take her away but fails -2 brothers not captured try to convince her to come back but are not sucessful -married, had a son, married again, had 6 more kids -died at 90 (Seneca Nation) descendants are still members of SN today -shattered British colonial superiority that she wanted to stay -she was part of war negotiations and owned 2 acres of land
Dr. Willian Acton
(1813-1875) -British medical doctor -"the majority of women (happily for them) are not very much troubled with sexual feelings of any kind" -believed women are passionless -- women should embrace this and find purity in it -- thats what makes women respectable -believed in a biological two-sex model (male-rational, aggressive, independent, tough, stronger physical makeup + female-moral, passive, domestic, nurturing, delicate) -"insanity arises from masturbation" -saw loss of sperm as loss of life/manhood -made devices to prevent men from masturbation -prescribed visits with prostitutes
Dr. Frederick Hollick
(1818-1900) -American -published The Origin of Life and The Marriage Guide -women who wanted sexual knowledge consumed Hollick's work -was considered fringe -thought sex was natural and necessary for post-pubescent people even if outside marraige -claims women also experience sexual pleasure -discussed rape w/in marriage (a new concept) -- it is NOT acceptable, it is deviant if forced -claims everyone is doing masturbation so ppl should let them -believes in legalizing prostitution to make it safe -AGAINST interracial sex, esp worried about black men with white women and their "monstrous" childrem -sexualizes Sarah Bartman -heterosexualizes sex (often used word "faggy" in his work -- very homophobic)
Jean-Martin Charcot
(1825-1893) -French neurologist, professor of pathology -gave formal lectures in France, Europe, U.S about hysteria -had Tuesday morning teaching with real patients -saw Hysteria as neurological (desexualizes it) thought men could have it -disfunction of central nervous system -phases- convulsions, going from proper to erotic to shameful -used hypnosis -made a spectacle of his patients - does not try to treat them - uses them as objects -helped to sensationalize hysteria
Eadweard Muybridge
(1830-1904) English photographer -published huge photographic study in 1887 called "Animal Locomotion" -Studied the movement of naked people and animals BUT gave props to women, which makes his images more pornographic in nature (fantasy)
Psychopathia sexualis
(1840-1902) Richard von Krafft-Ebing -German psychiatrist -documents + categorizes diff types of sexual behavior -published in Psychopathia Sexualis 1886 -- went through 17 editions bc so popular -is a series of case studies that organizes into a "rubric of perversions" with case studies progressively becoming more "perverse"
Havelock Ellis
(1859-1939) -English medical doctor and surgeon -among the first to study sexuality -made an assault on all Victorian ideologies -sexual pleasure is not a problem for a person's wellbeing -people should not be afraid of sexual passion -men and women should enjoy equally in sexual gratification -believed men = more active + sexually passionate -believed women = less passionate, could only be aroused by penetration and could not fantasize
Angela Grimté
(1880-1958) -came from prominent biracial, upperclass family -father (Archibald) = VP of NAACP -aunt = southern abolitionist + women's sufferage -Archibald marries white woman, leaves, kills herself -starts career as gym teacher, begins writing -publishes poetry, fiction, nonfiction -wrote the play, Rachel, about effect of lynching on AA in Jim Crow south (1917) -poetry subtley expressed attraction to women and clearly to men -much of unpublished poetry showed an attraction to women
Alberta Lucilla Hart/Alan Hart
(1890-1962) in Oregon -took to boys pursuits and family roles -studied top of his class - wanted to be a doctor -ended up in Connecticut Department of Health tuberculosis office -- had to move across the country -identified as another gender (ev. of what we would now call trans)
Harlem Renaissance
(1920s-1940s) a flowering of African American social thought which are expressed through: paintings, music, dance, theatre, and literature
Michel Foucault
(1926-1986) -a strong constructionist -died of AIDS in Paris -spent 6 mo. of life writing 2 vo. Of history of sexualities -grew up rich and stuffy so chose to live on margins of society and boundaries of social acceptability -1959- got doctorate in psych and looks at binary pairs (normal/abnormal) and focuses on discourse -his work looked as ancient greece and pinpointed the moment the homosexual ID was made: in 1800 sex became less a farm + church issue and more of a state + science issue. Deviant sex once seen as sinful now seen as criminal. 19th century becomes a time of sexual repression bc of state intervention -published a book 1978 (constructionist) The History of Sexuality- looked at particular moments when the history of sex changed/how sex work changed
two-sex model
-2 distinct genders (men and women) -started when ppl started drawing human skeletons - image of wider hips narrower ribcage, smaller brain led to cultural implications -1775 Pierre Roussel argues for the complete difference between men and women's bodies -- they are different in every conceivable way
Steven Gorton
-New London minister accused of same-sex activity in 1726 -case dismissed for lack of evidence -30 years later, the General Meeting of Baptist Churches punished Gorton for his "offensive and unchaste behavior, frequently repeated for a long space of time" -the penalty was fairly mild - the counsel barred him from communion for a period of several months -suggests that sodomy, in certain cases, was popularly tolerated enough to not warrant court intervention.
Molly + Helena
-met in 1868 while both attending the Cooper Institute School of Design for Women in New York -for many years, studied + explored the city together, visited each other's families -- friendship turned into deep bond that lasted their entire lives -tone of letters changed over the years from "My Dear Helena" signed "your attached friend" to "My Dearest" and "My Beloved" signed "Thine always" and "thine Molly" -towards end of fifth year, crisis, and most intense part of relationship ended -- Molly's decision not to live with Helena as they had originally planned but to remain with parents -Helena married Molly's friend and publisher -2 years later Molly married -the two wrote each other and discussed transition to male lovers (Helena depressed, Molly reassuring her) -intensity of letters could mean something sexual Molly -- "I love her as wives do love their husbands". Molly wrote to man Helena was to marry "...she loved me almost as girls love their lovers
Degeneration Theory
-popular in 19th century -neurological and mental disorders that cause sexual inversion will be the downfall of society -the rise of modernity/ industrialization causes the rise of sexual inversion -- esp in urban spaces -popularized in Krafft Ebbing's Psychopathia Sexualis
one-sex model
-the vag is an inverted penis (all genitals are the same but are just located in different places in the body) -women are inferior because they don't have enough heat (read: passion) to descend -- this means that they have "cooler constitutions" -degrees of perfection. a hotter body = more perfect -human body is defined by ambiguity and inherent validity -supports male-dominated society--patriarchal + women seen as lesser
Miss A
L.E. Emerson = Fruedian doctor "The Case of Miss A" -white lower class woman 23 yr. old -molested for years by great-grandfather + propositioned by most of her brothers+1 cousin -modern day interpreters would say she is a victim of sexual abuse who suffers from depression and copes with selfharm -Emerson sexualizes this and applies his own ideas of purity (ex. A man who wanted to marry Miss A, left her and called her a ***** after he found out about her past. Emerson says "as was natural" to describe this reaction) -Emerson claims Miss A wants children and motherhood and to please husband from sex, not the sex itself -- despite her talking about fantasies
Blue Books
Police books that documented pornography and pornographers. Often had pictures of examples of pornography and pornographers.
Progress Narrative
Starts 1770 lasts till present day the idea the history moved forward and upwards -- society is always getting better -erases the past (ie crossdressing in the west) -progress is subjective (progress can mean heterosexual) -makes it hard to accurately imagine/portray/picture the past
Comstock Act
The Comstock Laws were a set of federal acts passed by Congress in 1873, criminalized usage of the U.S. Postal Service to send any of the following items: obscenity contraceptives abortifacients sex toys personal letters with any sexual content or information or any information regarding the above items. made it illegal to distribute pornography through the post
Hysteria
literally means "womb disease" -a condition that moves from being seen as physical to psychiatric -becomes a major medical preoccupation in the 19th century -- when largest # of women are diagnosed -anxiety, sleeplessness, irritability, nervousness, erotic dreams and fantasies, vaginal lubrication -3 theorized causes: 1. 1840s - ovarian theory - knew proper functioning of ovaries and menstruation - though women had diseased ovaries 2. mental disorder - this is how men also became hysterics - the symptoms are ppl who are eccentric, too emotional, deceitful, hyper-sexual but can't express it, also very moody 3. disorder of female adolescence - when first started menstruating, have sexual feelings but are sexually ignorant