Introduction to Sexual History

1. Sex and sexuality are difficult to define

- Can be described as: actions, feelings, desires, pleasures and confusion
- Sex can be something you are, or what you do
- Sex is usually described as binary
o Normal versus abnormal, masculine versus feminine
o What is considered normal changes over time
- Sexuality is involved with: the brain, genitals, and other parts of the body
o Sexuality is ever-changing

2. One’s sex (in this course) is their biological sex; gender is socially constructed
- Masculine and feminine behaviour changes over time and place too

3. Sexuality is not a fifth entity

- Sex and sexuality are historical and social constructions
o When we discuss them, they are not static
 It changes over time, places and cultures
- Shaped by various discourses in our lives
o Religion, legislation, medicine, the media, our family, education system, and
popular culture
 Can teach us overtly or subversively what is acceptable, how to be
masculine/feminine
o Mediated by race, age and class
o Can change over one’s lifetime

4. Every society has had its rules and regulations regarding sex
- There has never been a golden age of unbridled sexuality
o There have always been political/legal/religious constraints against sex and
sexuality
o Female sexuality has always been scrutinized, policed and punished
o There has been an institution of discourses on sexuality
 Example: the church, the state, the medical profession have heavily
regulated sex
o Prescriptive literature
 Books on how to have “normal” sex

5. Sex and sexuality has been heavily determined by these discourses, and agents of
society
- Elites/regular people make rules and influence society from the bottom up
- Not everyone abides by these rules and regulations
o The feminist movement, the gay movement, etc.
 6. The state and capitalism is related to sex
- State capitalism (politics and economy) are very much related to sex
o Politicians love having control of reproductive rights
- The economy and sex are tied together
o The state relies on people having sex
 Heterosexual sex results in more people
 A lot of countries give baby bonuses
 Marriage and reproduction promote a nuclear family
 Promote population growth, consumer demand, military and
labour force
o For example, pornography, sex slavery, mail order brides and the honeymoon
industry rely on people having sex

7. When studying texts and readings, examine what doesn’t get expressed and what
does get expressed
- Need to read between the lines, and see what is not expressed
o Example: the word bachelor can be used to express a man who is single and
available for sex
 But it could also be code for a man who chooses to stay single because he
is gay
- Most of human history is private
- There is silence around sex
o As well as censorship and regulation

Ancient Greece (800BCE-500CE)

 Patriarchy: rule of the fathers
 During this time, there was a patriarchal culture in which men ruled
- Politics, businesses, civics and the home
 Men had strong sexual urges
- Male sexual activity was normal
- Society didn’t care about women’s sexual pleasure
 Men enjoyed sexual freedom
- Ancient Greece was supposed to be a monogamous society (one husband and one wife)
- Free men engaged in sex with slaves (both male and female) and high class prostitutes
o Hetaerae: high class call girls or mistresses
 They were sophisticated, beautiful, smart, educated by female standards
- Free men, slaves and hetaerae would attend a symposium
o A wild party/orgy
o They were drinking parties for free men with sex, music and food
o Wives of the free men were not allowed in the symposium
 Free and slave women were perceived as inferior
- Women were immoral and lustful
- Women were married at 12-13 years’ old (the men would be 30)
 o Society assumed that if you didn’t get married this young, they would get
themselves into sexual trouble
o Husbands could regulate and control them
 Women were forced to conform to certain behaviours
- Be loyal to their husband
- Be a mother
- Respectful
- Women lived in the upstairs areas of the house
o Apart from their husbands and confined behind closed doors
- Participated in the private sphere/domestic sector
 About ¼ of the population in ancient Greece were slaves
- Women usually household slaves
- Could be servants
o Housekeepers, nurse maids, wet nurses
 Marriage in ancient Greece was important
- More of an economic arrangement to assist livelihood
o Not based sexual attraction or romance
- Form a family farm and create a labour pool of people who would work for free
o It was especially important to produce sons
- Monogamy was a social prescription
- Adultery for women was a severe offense
o This counted for rape as well
o Men were legally compelled to divorce their wife
o Women had no chance to proclaim her innocence or deny the act
o A woman could end up living in poverty and be deemed a social outcast
 Also, be banished or deemed unmarriageable
o When men had affairs, it wasn’t considered adultery unless it was another man’s
wife
 Women were men’s property, so the crime was considered against the
other man
 Greek art and literature depicted a lot of homosexual imagery
- This promoted homosexual desire
- Seen as advantageous in many ways:
1. Improve morale for men in the military
2. Women were irrational and stupid, so men were better intellectual partners for
other men
3. When men were too connected to women, it gave them too much power
o This was bad for men
- It was acceptable for an old man (20-30) to mentor a younger man
o They would teach them about money, the economy and how to be a model
citizen
o Teach them about sex
 They would have sex together
  This would not be regarded as abusive
o The boy’s parents often endorsed the relationship
o The arrangement was normal
o Assumed the young would marry eventually
 Society never assumed the young man was gay
 Only same sex relationships between two men were tolerated
- The boy was the receiver; the man was the giver
- This was considered a relationship of equals
- Female sexuality was off the table

Christianity (1-4CE)
 The advent of Christianity changed everything
 It began in first century CE/AD
 Defiant breakaway sect from Judaism and Paganism (ancient Greece, belief in many
Gods)
- They believe God isn’t just a spiritual being
- Jesus Christ is the son of God
o Deliberately separated itself from Judaism by taking Jesus Christ as their savior
 JC was a leader, and this focused on change and attracting new followers
 By 70 CE, Christianity had moved away from the Middle East and moved to Rome as its
center
- A lot of Jews and Pagans converted to Christianity
 313 CE: the emperor of the Roman empire converted to Christianity
- This brought on many new followers
- Christianity grew from 5 million to 30 million
o Became the official religion of the Roman empire
 The Book of Genesis was created
- Starts with how God created heaven and earth
o God created plants, then animals, then man
- Enacted several deeds to the history of sexuality
1. God declared that man should have dominion over all other living things
o “Patriarchy”
2. Men should not be alone
o They should have an assistant, a health maid, etc. (AKA a women)
3. God took one of Adam’s ribs while he slept, and created women
o Women is part of this creation, but man is the standard
 Women are a derivative of men
4. Men leave their mother and father, and him and his wife become one flesh
o A man is supposed to form a family unit with his wife and to have sexual
relations
o Heterosexuality is the only way
5. Men should be fruitful and multiply
o They should have many children
Garden of Eden
 The story of Adam and Eve
 God told Eve not to eat from the tree (an apple tree of knowledge), or else she would
die
 A serpent came to undermine God’s words and trick Eve into thinking she wouldn’t die
 Eve eats from it, and convinces Adam to do so as well
 God confronts them, and Adam throws Eve under the bus
- God punished Eve by increasing her childbirth pain, and saying her husband will rule
over her
 Adam and Eve get banished
 This story shaped the reputation of women as tricksters and temptresses
 This laid the foundation of women gender relations and sexuality

Women’s Sexuality
 Times had changed from ancient Greece
- Sex became very strict and austere
 Per Christians, Jesus forbid divorce under any circumstances
- Stressed monogamy and marriage
- Encouraged celibacy inside and outside marriage
o How they pledge their devotion of God
o Children distract from total devotion of God
 Very different from paganism
 In Greece, they were allowed divorce, polygamy, extramarital
affairs, prostitution and homosexuality (under conditions)
 Jesus found nothing wrong with women staying single, or not being able to have
children
 When Jesus died, Paul took over
- He dismissed marriage and encouraged celibacy
o Used the Adam and Eve story
- Many of the new followers broke from their families, refused to get married and
embraced celibacy to reverse the sins of Adam and Eve
o This people were called ascetics
 Mostly men
 These people were like celebrities – deeply admired, sacred and holy
 Seen as having a lot of self-control and discipline
 These people were closer to God than those who were married
 People began straying from celibacy
- They wanted to be good Christians, but they wanted to have sex
- Over the centuries, celibacy softened
o This made Christianity more accessible
- Christians conformed to a more conventional practice in marriage in a family life
o Sexual marriage
 This included sex for procreation
 Heterosexual sex
 No premarital sex