Sexual Politics - Chapter 7 Notes
● St Louis - first system of regulated prostitution, later repealed
● Sex became perceived as a political issue, not only personal
○ Who should regulate sex? Individuals, families, or the state
● Men have the freedom to be with prostitutes
○ Only women were punished for no chastity
● Many opposed public expression of sexuality in art and literature like abortion ot
contraception
● Men are allowed to fulfill sexual desires elsewhere so women can spare the unwanted sex
and pregnancy
○ Prostitution was a “necessary evil”
● Post-war decades → led by women and some men are the social purity movement, a
single standard of morality for both sexes
● “Fallen women” were familyless individuals and would become prostitutes
○ Female moral reformers transformed fallen women
● Men have to restrain sexual impulses
● Doctors joined the sacred marital campaign
● Women paid the punishments for illicit sex, not the men
● Associated contraception as needed for men's ability to have sex outside of marriage
● Free lovers opposed prostitution, criticized male sexual dominance in marriage and sex,
and wanted gender equality
Free Love: right of all men and women to choose sexual partners freely on the basis of mutual
love and unconstrained by the church, state, or public opinion
- Committed to breaking middle-class taboos on the public discussion of sexuality
● St Louis - first system of regulated prostitution, later repealed
● Sex became perceived as a political issue, not only personal
○ Who should regulate sex? Individuals, families, or the state
● Men have the freedom to be with prostitutes
○ Only women were punished for no chastity
● Many opposed public expression of sexuality in art and literature like abortion ot
contraception
● Men are allowed to fulfill sexual desires elsewhere so women can spare the unwanted sex
and pregnancy
○ Prostitution was a “necessary evil”
● Post-war decades → led by women and some men are the social purity movement, a
single standard of morality for both sexes
● “Fallen women” were familyless individuals and would become prostitutes
○ Female moral reformers transformed fallen women
● Men have to restrain sexual impulses
● Doctors joined the sacred marital campaign
● Women paid the punishments for illicit sex, not the men
● Associated contraception as needed for men's ability to have sex outside of marriage
● Free lovers opposed prostitution, criticized male sexual dominance in marriage and sex,
and wanted gender equality
Free Love: right of all men and women to choose sexual partners freely on the basis of mutual
love and unconstrained by the church, state, or public opinion
- Committed to breaking middle-class taboos on the public discussion of sexuality
