Purity Culture and Commandeering Female Sexuality: the 18th Century and Today
Let's go back to a time when "feminism" as we now know it didn't actually exist. Back when a woman, should she fail to find a marriable man and secure a proposal before her mid-twenties, became useless and a burden. When school and art and sex were curated for male pleasure, and should a woman think to express indulgence and interest in any of them, then she was ghastly. A time that Jane Austen wrote all about in her well-loved novel Pride and Prejudice . That's right, the lovely Regency era of 18th century England. Full of "Lords" and "Ladies", "Barons" and "Baronesses", "Viscounts" and "Viscountesses", and that oh-so-revered monarchy. Though it's heavily romanticized particularly in modern media, it was a time of restriction and the true start to many ideals now considered foundational for what we know to be feminism. In many ways, much of the culture surrounding the expectations of women do not ...