Homosexuality in Eighteenth Century England

One aspect of Puritan society that is uncommonly known is the marriage. It is not extremely different from the modern day marriage that most people are familiar with. It is, on the other hand, different from other marriages in the same time. While other marriages were based off of arrangement and love, Puritan marriage was not. The Puritans believed in things that were very different from those of other religions. Each Puritan marriage was different, but some aspects such as gender roles and parental approval were the same.

It was not until the twelfth century that homosexuality started to be condemned. This condemnation proved to live through then until now. Due to the fact that America incorporated these early views into its early laws, even the most bland of today's sex acts were seen as unlawful (“Homosexuality and Mental Health”). Since then, these laws have changed, however, there is still a primarily negative connotation on homosexuals when coming from a church or legal standpoint concerning the masses of America.

However, if a woman did perform the responsibilities of a man her hidden male organs would emerge. Due to this belief, the distinction between men and women were defined by the clothes they wore and the jobs they performed. When people such as Thomas Hall crossed dressed by wearing women’s clothes and doing a woman’s job of needle work, they disrupted the social order of the colony (“Thomas or Thomasine?” 78). If a man believed that Thomas was a woman and approached Thomas in a sexual manner the man unknowingly would be committing a crime of sodomy, which the punishment for this crime is to be put to death (“Massachusetts Colony’s Laws 71). The definition of sodomy in New England was when sexual relations occurred within the same sex (Godbeer 95, 96). Due to the religious views of New England bestiality, sex with animals, was viewed as having sex with the Devil himself (“William Bradford Witnesses” 76). The economic problem caused by sex with slaves or indentured servants was that the women would be unable to work for a year or two if they became pregnant thus the masters would lose valuable workers they paid for. The problems the English had were due to their religious, economic, political, and social

“You’re gay,” a term now used so freely to not only insult peers but to take a stab at the homosexual community. But was this homosexual stigma always prevalent in history? Over two thousand years ago, the ancient Roman state ruled most of the known world. During those five hundred years, emperors rose to power and fell, a republic formed and was destroyed but what perhaps is one the most important aspects of Roman society is free love.

LGBT acceptance has varied greatly over time in every culture in the world. For example, while it is commonly accepted that homosexual relations were common in Ancient Greece and Rome, the same cannot be said for the Middle Ages’ Holy Roman Empire. In American culture throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, sodomy was the phrase used to describe all “deviant” sexual acts. A homosexual lifestyle was unthinkable, mainly due to the high rate of Christians who devoutly believed in the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. However people such as Walt Whitman, Charlotte Cushman, Emily Dickinson, Henry James, among others all achieved greatness in literature, the arts, and other fields, while also maintaining a secretive LGBT identity (Norton, 2004). To say that the proven biological inclinations of LGBT people is a “new” occurrence that exists solely due to societal acceptance simply contradicts historical evidence.

As reported by (nick yee, 2003) homosexuality is a current western concept (Foucault,1980) different form the conception of male-male sexual bonds of other cultures in different ways. on the other hand homosexuality considers a lifelong predisposition, other cultures have temporary constructed male-male sexual bonds as phases, homosexuality is revealed in the western concept when it is contrasted with how romantic and male-male bonds were dealt in imperial China where some male emperors had male harems and favorite male mistress, also where male prostitution (for men) was common till the end of the Qing Dynasty. There was no word for homosexuality in chinese because it was not recognised as integral or defining as part of an individual’s identity.

Same sex relations have fluctuated throughout history between being something frowned upon or even forbidden to something that is socially acceptable. The term homosexuality was created in the late 19th century by a German psychologist, Karoly Maria Benkert (Plato). Although it has yet to be accurately identified when exactly the first signs of homosexuality appeared in history it the can be dated as far back as to the 24th-25th century B.C.E. (Northeastern). Homosexuality is not something new or unheard of by any means. In 529 we begin seeing the first punishments of homosexuals (Borngay). Roman emperor Justinian ordered “persons who engaged in homosexual sex to be executed, although those who were repent could be spared,” (Borngay). Following

In recent years, the issue of homosexuality has been a controversial and frequently discussed topic within the Anglican tradition. The Lambeth conference is an assembly of bishops of the Anglican Communion and is convened by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The conference allows for a collaborative and consultation function which allows for relevant issues to be discussed within the communion (“Lambeth Conferences”). The argument over homosexuality was discussed predominately as a communion wide issue at the 1998 Lambeth conference, and it was concluded that homosexual practice was “incompatible with scripture” (“Lambeth Conferences”). Whether locally or globally, debates typically arise around the issue of homosexuality, and if should be

In Mathew Kuefler’s chapter “Homosexuality” he discusses the idea that modern-day sex scandals on behalf of many Christian Leaders can be traced back to the teachings of Saint Augustine of Hippo. While in “Hermaphroditism in the western Middle Ages” Irina Metzler argues that during the medieval period hermaphrodites were allowed to decide their own gender, but as time went on it was demanded that they fully embrace their chosen gender in order to prevent homosexual behavior. At first glance, it seems that these articles may have little in common, but in actuality the authors of these readings are demonstrating a natural progression of society in terms of homosexuality. Popular opinion was not against, if not in favor of homosexuality before

From the beginning we see how Adeline’s unwed relationship with philosopher Frederick Glenmurray is incompatible with the dictates of England’s patriarchal society. From their point of view heterosexual relationships outside of marriage represent an adoption of lax principles that can only be interpreted as both treasonous and immoral, and women who engage in such activities are defying authority and its rules. Hence, a conservative society opens no opportunity for independently minded women because it means endorsing promiscuous behavior.

The reader learned about the Puritans view on sex and heard out of some of the journals of old Puritan priests. The reader found the information given from people's point of view very intriguing. She thought that hearing facts from many people and hearing their opinion on the the topic of Puritans having sex very interesting. The reader believes that the information presented in the paper is important so that people can understand the Puritans better. Sex in relationships for the Puritans was not important in marriage. They believed that, “marriage was a spiritual partnership in which sexual intercorse was a minor or incidental matter.” The Puritans had one limitation about sex and that limitation was,”sex must not interfere with religion.”

In the first sentence of "The Invention of the Heterosexuality" it was made clear that heterosexuality was not something that just began. That term has been around since the historic days of Adam and Eve. Back during The Victorian True Love from 1820-1860 sex was more like something that you were obligated to do verses pleasure. To be considered a true woman you were measured by your distance from lust. To be considered a true male you were in less control of your lust for women. During The Late Victorian Sex-Love time period that ranges from the 1860 to 1892 heterosexuality and homosexuality were in the making in America and Germany. More doctors began to study the new medical model of normal love which was once considered the medical

​Etymologically, the word homosexual is a hybrid of Greek and Latin words, thus connoting acts of sexual behavior between members of the same sex. The word ‘homosexual’ is controversial in itself as it refers to only one’s sexual behavior as opposed to the romantic feelings and thus, people attribute the term ‘gay’ and ‘lesbian’ as appropriate. Homophilia, also means the love and sensibilities between the same sex people.

In modern society the categories “homosexual”, “heterosexual”, “bisexual”, or others are very familiar to our ears. We have a set definition of each word. Along with that, we can use these categories to identify and label individuals that meet these set definitions in our mind. These categories explain what our sexuality of preference is to others through the use of language. People perceive these categories and words as something they truly know as a factor in their identity as an individual. In terms of categorizing concepts, it is natural for the human mind to do so. However, the use of these labels to define individuals is recent in terms of human history. Before the turn of the 20th century, individuals were not used to thinking of sexuality in a way that defined their identity. Sexualities to people of the past were thought of acts that individuals took part in, nothing more or less. Increased public acceptance of sexual expression and discussion caused the up rise of sexologists: doctors “dedicated to unraveling the mysteries of human sexuality and treating sexual dysfunction” . These doctors wanted to use the power of language to differentiate between “normal” practices

1897 Havelock Ellis reflected his view of gays and lesbians as having an inside out, or inverted pattern of erotic attraction. Ellis had a desire to investigate the nature of sex. He needed to have a physiological understanding of humanity before he turned his attention to the psychology. Ellis was determined then to become a physician. Despite his training Ellis never made the practice of his medical training central to his professional life (Bering, 2013). One of this sexologist’s most important contributions was his clarifying that homosexuality is a psychological orientation, not simply a random sex act or behavior involving the same sex. He didn’t personally believe that gay and lesbians were perverts, but he used this term to convey how religious moralist wrongly saw homosexuals and other deviants as deliberately going against what is right, since for hundreds of years before it ever connoted anything sexual, pervert was an epithet