History 2181A/B Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Gluttony, Heterosexuality, Married People
Document Summary
The church was the greatest unrivaled influence regarding sex. Was a patriarchal culture (literally means rule of the fathers ) Men were recognized as having strong sexual urges, which was seen as normal manhood: all about male sexual pleasure, didn"t care about women"s sexual pleasure. Free men, who weren"t slaves, had a lot of sexual freedom. Monogamy was the rule, but men really engaged in sex with slaves & prostitutes, w men or women: just because there is a rule/regulation, they didn"t always follow them. Would hire milk nannies to breastfeed their children. Homosexuality: assumption that men would experience homosexuality to a certain degree, many men engaged in affairs with men even though they were heterosexual, didn"t consider homosexuality as their identity. It was very common for men to participate in same sex sex: public approved of these relationships, prepared them for war, made them feel good, made them intellectually stimulated which they couldn"t get from women.