According to Jeffrey Weeks, what are the crucial evolutions in the defining of homosexuality that take place near the turn of the 20th century? Or, if you prefer, describe the changing contours of heterosocial behavior outlined by Beth Bailey. In Cather’s “Coming, Aphrodite!” how does she seem to understand changes in courtship and sexuality in the early 20th century?
3 thoughts on “Sexuality at the Turn of the Century”
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According to Jeffery Weeks, the end of the 19th century brought along the introduction to the new “type of person,” (164) the homosexual. The turn of the century into the 1900s was a crucial period that would help to form the concept of the novel realization. The aspects of law, politics, and tradition were crucial in the acceptance, or ignorance, of the invert behavior. Laws and punishments were put in affect that made the homosexual attitude difficult to express and to live with. As Jake mention, groups of progressive citizens acted out in the Gay Movement and in Gay Pride Marches that are still in affect today and work against the tough critiques of the law, politics, and conservatives to move forward with human rights. The turn of the 20th century had a large impact on the birth of the new sexual orientation and caused the continued struggle.
According to Jeffery Weeks, 1898 was one of the crucial times in regards to homosexuality and how it would be dealt with come the turn of the century. Laws on importuning for immoral purposes were tightened, and effectively applied to male homosexuals. On the other side of the coin, homosexuals teamed up and created homosexual reform groups, in which they made their name during the turn of the century and into the mid 1900’s. These groups had a single goal in mind when forming and that was to change the attitudes of the heterosexuals and force politicians to loosen the laws a little bit. Weeks understood that there were going to be several different views on homosexuality, and that was perfectly evident when it came to the Gay Movement, and the infamous Gay Pride Marches. We still see those marches around cities to this day, so it was clearly a positive tactic by the homosexual community.
Bailey describes the transition from courting to dating at the turn of the century and how that change transformed heterosexual relationships. She describes how the change from courting to dating shifted the control from the woman to the man.Courtship took place in the women’s sphere, where she was in her own home and surrounded by her family and she controlled who called. Dating shifted the control to the mans sphere, the world outside the home. A major part of the dating transition revolved around money and how “nice” of a girl a man could afford to take on a date. The dating system was a bad one, in economic terms, for men.