Posts Tagged: Puritans

“Double Standard of Sexual Morality.” In Cott’s essay, I was particularly intrigued by the Puritan “double standard of sexual morality” (133), in which women, being of the weaker sex, were more prone to succumb to temptation, even though it was not permitted for them to initiate sexual acts. This lead to greater blame for women […]

As the sources I scour about sexuality increase, so does my understanding of the broad problems surrounding the history of sex. However, as my increased understanding, or rather, exponentially growing interest and grasps at the general ideas, grows, more questions seem to arise, the answers to them become seemingly more and more out of reach. […]

The issues of sexual sin within colonial culture are examined in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Documents 1. and 3. of Chapter 3 in Major Problems in the History of American Sexuality, and in Richard Godbeer’s essay Sodomy in Colonial New England.  What stands out in the study of said documents is the focus on […]

Identity and Sexuality in the Anglo-American Colonies In this week’s Peiss readings we get some concrete facts and history to support what  Foucault had mentioned in The History of Sexuality – the fact that sexual abnormality was often tolerated by villagers/townspeople during the Puritan era, even though legal codes created by the religious and political […]

All You Need is Love: The Scarlet Letter, part 1 I love that Nathaniel Hawthorne has written a psychological novel with The Scarlet Letter – in my opinion, his descriptions of Dimmesdale compose an acute portrait of human suffering and guilt.  Hester Prynne is worth countless critical essays, but in light of this weeks readings […]