So yes, we have progressed. In Elaine Showalter's "Odd Women" chapter, masturbation is never discussed as a sexual alternative to marriage or celibacy. I tried to find when masturbation became publically talked about, but first found this:
London had a Masturbate-a-thon in 2006, where there was an exhibition of public masturbation
http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/article/1328
ha! It is even acceptable to respond 'yes' to questions about whether you masturbate (81% of guys said they started masturbating between ages 10-15, and 55% of gals said so). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masturbation
But based on that data, one can see that it is still not totally acceptable for women to be 'sexual' beings. I thought the ultimate feminist would be having lots of sex (not being celibate, but doing what guys can do and women 'can't'), but the class seemed to have a different opinion. I thought the class' opinion might have been something along the lines of having a moderate amount of sex with one partner (of their choosing, so male/female) and being independent in terms of finances, thought, decisions, and feeling of self worth. The next step could be making it acceptable to have multiple committed sexual relationships (potentially male and female), which can be called polyamory.
The text also mentioned The Labouchere Amendment, which I looked up. It was passed in England in 1885, and it does not mention lesbianism. I was interested to see what the law was which convicted Wilde, since we talked about that in class when we read his book.
The section read: "Any male person who, in public or private, commits, or is a party to the commission of, or procures, or attempts to procure the commission by any male person of, any act of gross indecency shall be guilty of a misdemeanour, and being convicted shall be liable at the discretion of the Court to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding two years, with or without hard labour."
As a result of the vagueness of the term "gross indecency," this law allowed juries, judges and lawyers to prosecute virtually any male homosexual behaviour. Compared to older sodomy laws that prescribed death or life imprisonment, the law was lenient, possibly due to the wide range of acts covered. Dubbed the "blackmailer's charter," it was famously invoked to convict Oscar Wilde in 1895. Wilde was given the most severe sentence possible under the act, which the judge described as "totally inadequate for a case such as this"[2]. The law was repealed in part by the Sexual Offences Act 1967 when homosexuality was decriminalized in England and Wales, with remaining provisions being deleted later.
I feel that the class was not receptive to your proposed reversal of the promiscuity stereotype because the idea is flawed. The whole concept of promiscuousness really dates back to when there was an actual risk of under-population and men had to "spread their seed" in order to keep the population afloat. I think we can all agree this time has LONG since passed, yet societies all over the world for thousands of years have consistently used this as an excusatory explanation of male promiscuity. I find this to be ridickulous and totally unjustified, but that’s how society has developed. In any event, to then say that women should be allowed to be just as promiscuous without social judgment would make just as much sense as it does with men (and it doesn't in my opinion, unless one is looking for a bad reputation and a lot of nasty diseases)
ReplyDeleteI was very intrigued by your research of masturbation and how you went out side of the text to answer questions you were curious about. Why is it that masturbation is never discussed as an alternative? Why has it been and almost contiue to be, at least for women a hush-hush topic. I mean obviously more people are comfortable talking about it. About the idea of a feminist having a lot of sex, I don't know about that. I always pictured a feminist being independent and in control of her being and self, but I also don't think that excludes sex.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Christina's comment, I looked up wikipedia's definition of feminism:
ReplyDeleteFeminism is the belief that women should have equal political, social, sexual, intellectual and economic rights to men. It involves various movements, theories, and philosophies, all concerned with issues of gender difference, that advocate equality for women and that campaign for women's rights and interests.
So none of those necessarily have to do with having a lot of sex, but in terms of being equal with men socially it seems like the option of that for women would be more equal.
Another idea to think about though: what if you do not consider yourself male or female (it seems the assumption is being made that all are in one of the two categories, which may not be correct), but also - why is it so important to categorize as one or the other? It's something we've learned to do, but maybe if we emphasize it less it will become less important.
In response to Alex's comment:
ReplyDeleteIt seems that now there is a problem of overpopulation, with 6.76 billion as of 2009 (according to wikipedia) we are getting closer to having more people than resources to support them (and have in some areas)
Wikipedia seems to also go into a bit of detail about some times when the world population was struggling to maintain itself...
The trend in world population has been of continuous growth since 400 AD, if not earlier,[2] although during much of the 14th century[3] there were significant short-term falls (especially in Europe) due to the Black Death. There were also short term falls at other times due to plague, for example in the mid 17th century.[3][4][2] The fastest rates of world population growth (above 1.8%) were seen briefly during the 1950s then for a longer period during the 1960s and 1970s (see graph). According to population projections, world population will continue to grow until around 2050.
I think that it is interesting that you talk about masturbation as an alternative to sexual relationships between two people. Although this may now be considered an alternative, to me, masturbation doesn't seem like a viable replacement for sex. Sexuality being relationships and interactions with others in order to keep the human race alive. Masturbation is definitely not sex in my mind, and if all men and women did was self pleasure, then the actual need for real sexuality wouldn't be needed.
ReplyDeleteAs for feminism, sometime it is hard to swallow everything they say, since I'm a firm believer that many traits of men and women are hard wired in instincts, so no matter how much women try to become equal to men, I still think pure instinct takes over sometimes. Stereotypes for men and women are there for a reason.
You know, your idea about her problems as a middle child is interesting. But I did think her younger brother was actually older than her. But the text is really unclear about this.
ReplyDeleteHi Jen!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading the last post of your blog. Thanks for researching all of those things and making them more accessible to us! ...I agree with your basic idea of equality of promiscuity but I think that your verbalization came off a little bit tangled. I think that sexually liberated women would indeed be free to be as promiscuous as they want without having the word promiscuous attached to their actions. Have you watched the L Word? I think that most of the women on this show represent the idea of being sexually liberated but it is still disturbing to see Shane and Papi (the most promiscuous) characters portrayed somewhat negatively... I think that a woman's reputation as respectable should be completely independent of her sexual activity.
: I didn't necessarily disagree with your comment, "the ultra feminist would have a lot of sex", however I might have worded it differently.. I believe the uber feminist would have the option to behave promiscuously or prudish without concerning the opinions of others who may look down on her. A woman can be a feminist and not have any sex- if that is her preference (It wouldn't be my preference, but i'm sure there is at least one uber femmy out there who rather not give it up, for a variety of reasons). I believe the ultra feminist would make her own decision regarding her sexual behavior without weighing the concerns or opinions of others, regardless if her decision is to have sex with everybody she knows and meets, or if she takes a vow of chastity.
ReplyDeleteOn a side note, I appreciate your comment, because it at least gave people something to talk about.
I agree with Meg that an extreme feminist would be one who is in total control of their sexuality and disregards other's opinions. However, I think it is interesting to note the shift in feminism from focusing on sexuality, as "Odd Women" did, now. I think there is a much larger focus on equal rights as a manner of feminism in terms of political and social, which includes, but is not restricted to, sexuality.
ReplyDeleteThat is very interesting that Elaine Showalter doesn't even mention the subject of masturbation. That seems like a major oversight! Even if it presents too much of an argument to go into for this essay I still think it would have been good to mention it. If we can talk about the feminine perspective on sex or the feminine sexual experience, why is discussing female masturbation such a faux pas? I think it ultimately comes down to seeing women as a pleasure-searching creature equal to men--this is the idea that has been surpressed above all others over the centuries. Women in love was always acceptable to a certain extent. Women seeking pleasure purely for thier personal gain/needs did not in any way serve a man and so this is why it was seen to be so unheard of.
ReplyDelete