Analysis Of Sexual Revolution In Early America By Richard Godbeer

1270 Words3 Pages

In Sexual Revolution in Early America, Richard Godbeer explores the shifting meaning of sex and sexual relations in Early America from 1600 to 1800. He finds that during the seventeenth-century there was an ongoing conflict between traditional concepts of “informal” marriage and a new ideological effort of colonial officials to regulate sexual behavior. He is careful to point out that the relationship between official and settler are not fixed, but rather fluid in nature. This nuance moves the narrative beyond a simple binary oppositional pattern, and provides for a detailed understanding of sex as an aspect of the shifting social order among early Anglo-Americans. Godbeer begins his text with a discussion on traditional “informal” marriage …show more content…

Godbeer argues, that southern leaders found a relationship between living on edge of “wilderness,” savagery, and sexual relations. Quite interestingly, Godbeer found that the cultural difference between Europeans and natives led settlers to conclude a difference in morals. Accordingly, colonists feared that sexual relations between European settlers and natives would lead to moral and social degradation. This situation was further complicated by the forced importation of enslaved Africans. African women were seen as naturally promiscuous, and thus at fault for any interracial sexual relations that occurred. This, Godbeer argues, allowed the focus to shift from the actions of white slave owners to enslaved …show more content…

Community members saw these as actions and not a behavior indicative of a certain type of person. Homosexual acts, for example, were treated as actions that were deemed sinful due to their non-reproductive nature. The work would not be complete without a consideration for other types of sex. All too easily Godbeer could have neglected non-traditional, meaning non-male and female, sexual relations. Luckily Godbeer’s work does not suffer from this potentially fatal flaw. Additionally, Godbeer does an excellent job telling the reader to check modern concepts of sex and sexual identity. By thinking of sex and sexuality in terms other than as actions would be to apply modern conceptions backwards, and totally miss the essence of sex and sexuality in early America. The word homosexual does not enter the lexicon until 1886 when it was used in the pioneering work of Richard von Krafft-Ebing, Psychopathia

Open Document