The Sexual Freedom Movement - Essay Example

? WOMEN AND SEXUALITY OF Introduction Modern 21st century American society boasts itself as one which provides opportunities for all no matter what race, gender or any other social categories you belong to. Indeed, one of its more prominent features is its acknowledgement of women’s right to self-determination. Here in the US, women are allowed to vote, work in most professions with equal compensation and more importantly for this paper, they are allowed to exercise their right for sexual freedom. This term ‘sexual freedom’ is defined by many as the liberty to act out erotic impulses as a person chooses without restraint and fear of being stigmatized as long as nobody is hurt in the process. This was not always the case, however, as strict notions of sexual norms pervaded society since time immemorial. It was only recently, in the late 19th century, that the right to sexual freedom emerged and gained momentum thru the efforts of activists who risk the scorn of a morally-rigid society. This paper will explore and analyze how events in the 19th to the 20th century caused American society to break its traditional norms and beliefs regarding women’s right to sexual freedom. The Path to Sexuality Prior to the events concerning sexual freedom in the 19th century, America considered women as fragile beings belonging only to the home. Any tendencies for extracurricular sexual thoughts were repressed, generally frowned upon and considered as unnatural. Homosexuality, prostitution or any form of sexual determination by women is conceived as impure. The concept of ownership of one’s own body for women was basically unheard of in a highly patriarchal 19th century American society. Women were expected to be pure, pious, chaste and capable in domestic affairs. American society cherished the notions of morality where women were expected to have sex only with their husbands while it was acceptable for men to have multiple partners. They were also expected to stay with their husbands even if an affair is uncovered as divorce was not made available to them. Any woman who has sexual contact with another aside from her husband was considered as ruined or fallen. There were cases where girls who had lost their virginity due to rape had been humiliated and casted out of their communities because of engaging pre-marital sex (Forman, 12-14). Sexuality for women had legal and moral repercussions as opposed to men whose sexual activities were highly unrestricted. This social norm was to be greatly challenged thru the activism of Victoria Woodhull, the first ever woman who ran for the United States presidency. Woodhull spoke frankly about the shackles women were expected to endure such as loveless marriages and limitations on who to have sexual relationship (Athey, 15-19). According to her, this should not be the case as: ‘To woman, by nature, belongs the right of sexual determination.…When woman rises from sexual slavery to sexual freedom, into the ownership and control of her sexual organs, and man is obliged to respect this freedom, then will this instinct become pure and holy; then will woman be raised from the iniquity and morbidness in which she now wallows for existence, and the intensity and glory of her functions be increased a hundred-fold’. (Athey, 16) Woodhull, and so many others until now, challenge this notion as it implicitly depict women as lower than men as the latter is not bound by such restrictions. On Prostitution Selling a woman’s body for sexual pleasure is touted to be the oldest profession in the world yet it is also one of the most prosecuted acts due to pervading notions of immorality and inappropriateness. Religious inclinations considered the body as a sacred vessel and prostitution is believed to be an outright violation of moral doctrines as it deviates from the notion of marriage and procreation. Prostitution was a taboo never to be tolerated. The problem, however, is that women who engage in this trade bore the brunt of the stigma. From biblical times, they were recommended to be stoned and treated as ‘scum’ of the earth. Even today, prostitutes are vilified, categorized with criminals and given derogatory words such as ‘whore’ and ‘bitch’. When caught, they are immediately jailed and charged with solicitation or outright prostitution. The reasons by which they engaged themselves in such activities holds no bearing of how they are treated and prosecuted even if it is for supporting their children, themselves or simply having no other employment opportunities. Sexual freedom advocates would not tolerate this state of affairs. In her essay, The Traffic of Women, Emma Goldman forwarded the notion that women were becoming victims of the state, the church and society in general for sponsoring and enforcing the notion that prostitution was a criminal offense. Interestingly, Goldman notes that the feminists of that time (in the 19th century) also supported this notion as they saw prostitution as a concrete counter-example to their advocacy that women were superior to men. As a result of this arrogance and ignorance, they ended up supporting laws penalizing their working-class sisters thereby reinforcing the conviction that prostitution is an immoral behavior. Goldman advocated for the freedom of women to use their bodies and sexuality as they seem fit even if it is for prostitution for prostitutes are more or less the same as married women as they provide their labor in return for something of value. For married women, this would be comforts of a middle-class life or having a husband to provide for them. Prostitutes, according to Goldman, was actually have more advantage because she can “retain her freedom and personal rights” (Shaw, 2-6). The Right to Contraception, In a landmark 1917 New York contraceptive case, the trial judge handed a judgment against a woman’s right advocate with a verdict that came in with a statement that women were devoid of ‘the right to copulate with a feeling of security that there will be no resulting conception’. The woman on trial was Margaret Sanger and the trial was about her providing contraceptives to female patients in her clinic (Chester, 5). This case would serve to be the single most important impetus towards the acceptance of contraceptives in birth control for women. As the trial judge’s words would indicate, the use of contraceptives for birth control was also a taboo for the American society who prides itself of being pure and pious. Contraceptives were seen as the “devil’s devices” as it inhibits the procreation process made sacred by religious doctrines. Society then held dearly the belief that sex should be done for the purpose of procreation and not for pleasure. This belief pervaded American society spanning even during the 19th century as Emma Goldman noted that women’s health were unnecessarily harmed when they have unwanted pregnancies and forced to undergo abortion when all the while, this could have prevented by birth-control measures. Indeed, as a tragic consequence of the no-contraceptives policy, many women lost their lives not only in abortion procedures but also in the resulting humiliation of having an illegitimate child or the grief of not being able to provide for so many children. Today, in our society, contraceptives are readily available in pharmacies and even convenience stores. It is available not only for men but also for women who help them avoid any unwanted pregnancies and abortions. In the 19th and early 20th century, the availability and legality would have been unheard of. It was only thru the 1918 overturning of the 1917 judgment involving Sanger that American society finally recognized and legalized women’s rights to contraceptives. Conclusion The sexual freedom movement emanated from the need for society to recognize equality between men and women. In 19th century American society, men had privileges when it comes to exercising their sexuality while women were expected to preserve it for their husbands. The woman did not have control of her sexual organs and instead had it dictated by the state, the church and deeply held social norms. In the 21st century, many of these controls over women’s sexuality have been removed but this was due to the efforts of advocates such as Woodhull, Goldman and Sanger whose work during their lifetime inspired a culture of change and tolerance for women’s freedom of their sexuality. References: Athey, Stephanie, Eugenic Feminisms in Late 19th Century America. (New York: Genders, 2000) Chester, Ellen, Women of Valor: Margaret Sanger and the Birth Control Movement in America. (New York: Simon Schuster, 1992) Forman, Cody, The Politics of Women, Reproduction and Economy in the US. (New York: Springfield, 2000) Shaw, Francis, The Trials of Emma Goldman, Anarchist. (New York: Quadrangle Books, 1964). Read More