In America, it is popular to blame the Puritans for our repressive sexual moralities -- to the extent that they still exist in some groups. The notion is that such values as "one should not have sex before marriage", "a non-virgin female is a less desirable mate than a virgin female", and "sex is dirty or sinful" were hammered into American culture first and perhaps foremost by the Puritans (who began their migration from England circa 1630).
The truth is radically different. In fact, the New England Puritans were arguably one of the more sexually liberal groups of their time. For instance, while they did not often promote sex before marriage, they very seldom stigmatized it either. It was common for couples to have premarital sex and even to break-up afterwards before going on to new partners. That's not to say that every Puritan man and woman was engaged in premarital sex or engaged in bed-hopping, but significant numbers of them were. At least about a third had premarital sex, and a fraction of those had premarital sex with multiple partners. We know at least a third had premarital sex because historians have gone back, looked a wedding dates and compared wedding dates with the dates of couple's first childbirths. They have found about a third of all Puritan couples had kids born significantly sooner than nine months after marriage -- i.e. the woman was most likely pregnant on the day of her wedding.
For the Puritans, the key moral factor was -- NOT whether you had premarital sex -- but whether you married your sex partner should you or she become pregnant.
The Puritans were adamantly opposed to bringing illegitimate children into the world. And with good reason: Illegitimate children were almost certain to be raised in poverty at a time when there was no social safety net beyond church or private charity. Thus, the Puritans put serious emphasis on marrying if and when the woman got pregnant -- if not before.
How did the Puritans get such a bad reputation for being sexually oppressive? One influence were misreadings of Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Scarlet Letter". People in the 1900s tended to read into the novel their own moral values. Hence, they missed the true nature of Hester Prime's offense. In the novel, her offense is to refuse to name the father of her child (thus allowing the community to force him to support the kid). But as folks misread the novel, her offense was to have sex out of wedlock -- a taboo during most of the 1900s. That mistake was one source of the Puritan's bad rep.
Another source was Henry Mencken, an immensely influential newspaper editor and publisher active during the 1920s. Mencken was highly prejudiced against the Puritans and blamed them for all sorts of undesirable American cultural traits, including the relatively repressed sexuality of his times. Basically, he smeared them every chance he got, and his smears stuck.
Now, it is undeniable that American culture at one time was quite sexually repressive. It still is in some quarters. But if that sexual repressiveness did not come from the Puritans, then where did it come from?
I might (or might not) soon post another thread answering that question. In the meantime, where do you think that cultural trait came from?
FUN FACT: The Puritans had a practice called "bundling". It would require a lengthy explanation, but you should look it up. Shocking! Terribly shocking (if you assume they were totally repressed sexually, that is.)
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The truth is radically different. In fact, the New England Puritans were arguably one of the more sexually liberal groups of their time. For instance, while they did not often promote sex before marriage, they very seldom stigmatized it either. It was common for couples to have premarital sex and even to break-up afterwards before going on to new partners. That's not to say that every Puritan man and woman was engaged in premarital sex or engaged in bed-hopping, but significant numbers of them were. At least about a third had premarital sex, and a fraction of those had premarital sex with multiple partners. We know at least a third had premarital sex because historians have gone back, looked a wedding dates and compared wedding dates with the dates of couple's first childbirths. They have found about a third of all Puritan couples had kids born significantly sooner than nine months after marriage -- i.e. the woman was most likely pregnant on the day of her wedding.
For the Puritans, the key moral factor was -- NOT whether you had premarital sex -- but whether you married your sex partner should you or she become pregnant.
The Puritans were adamantly opposed to bringing illegitimate children into the world. And with good reason: Illegitimate children were almost certain to be raised in poverty at a time when there was no social safety net beyond church or private charity. Thus, the Puritans put serious emphasis on marrying if and when the woman got pregnant -- if not before.
How did the Puritans get such a bad reputation for being sexually oppressive? One influence were misreadings of Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Scarlet Letter". People in the 1900s tended to read into the novel their own moral values. Hence, they missed the true nature of Hester Prime's offense. In the novel, her offense is to refuse to name the father of her child (thus allowing the community to force him to support the kid). But as folks misread the novel, her offense was to have sex out of wedlock -- a taboo during most of the 1900s. That mistake was one source of the Puritan's bad rep.
Another source was Henry Mencken, an immensely influential newspaper editor and publisher active during the 1920s. Mencken was highly prejudiced against the Puritans and blamed them for all sorts of undesirable American cultural traits, including the relatively repressed sexuality of his times. Basically, he smeared them every chance he got, and his smears stuck.
Now, it is undeniable that American culture at one time was quite sexually repressive. It still is in some quarters. But if that sexual repressiveness did not come from the Puritans, then where did it come from?
I might (or might not) soon post another thread answering that question. In the meantime, where do you think that cultural trait came from?
FUN FACT: The Puritans had a practice called "bundling". It would require a lengthy explanation, but you should look it up. Shocking! Terribly shocking (if you assume they were totally repressed sexually, that is.)
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