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Post 1

I found it interesting to learn that in Missouri in 1874 prostitution was legal and regulated by the state. Prostitution was seen as a necessary evil by families because wives could avoid unwanted sex and pregnancy while their husbands had their sexual needs satisfied elsewhere. Men committed infidelity and it was accepted because they "needed" too. Then there was pushback from middle-class women and Protestant clergyman who wanted to abolish regulated prostitution. I thought this part was interesting because it seems so different from what feminist women are fighting today. However this still aligns with religious and conservative groups today who want to control people who they consider to be "sinners".

"Such organized efforts to reform sexual practices represented yet another expansion of sexuality beyond the family, into the world of politics. The increased visibility of sexuality in the public sphere disturbed middle-class Americans, especially middle-class women, who had been entrusted with the guardianship of the nation's morals. In response to the movement of sexuality outside the family, these women sought to retain their authority over sexuality by organizing moral reform and social purity crusades." (Sexual Politics, page 139)

I didn't understand why within a family unit the wife needed to maintain chastity while the husband "needed" to fulfill sexual needs with a mistress or prostitute. There was a double standard because only women's sexual transgressions were punished. I found it disheartening that during this movement while women were fighting for their own rights they didn't seem to care about the rights of other women. Women working as prostitutes were expected to take the brunt of satisfying men's sexual needs and dealing with perhaps unwanted pregnancies of their own. Regulated prostitution actually benefited the working women because of health checks that were done on a regular basis. These regulations were taken away in order to maintain a society of purity and chastity.   

Post 2

As I was reading, I took an interest in how women communicated their same-sex interests during the twentieth century. One quote in particular that caught my eye was in chapter 6 of D'Emilio’s work. the reading says, “women themselves clearly discovered the erotic possibilities between loving friends. Evidence from letters and diaries reveals that some friends longed for physical expressions of intimacy and spoke the language of courtship. In 1865, for·example; a married woman wrote to her friend, the feminist orator Anna Dickinson” (D’Emilio 127). 

I find this quote so intriguing because it is not a concept that I have thought about in previous classes. However, I think that this is so important because women during this time were expected to act a certain way and let men take charge of their lives. Their main role in life was supposed to be to stay home and take care of the children and cook while their husbands were in charge of the family's stability. This I already knew, however, I did not stop to think about how queer women found a way to express their sexualities. Therefore, I take so much interest in learning more about these journals and letters. I think as women, we are expected to look and act a certain way. This is why I do not find it surprising that women had to find creative ways to express their sexuality. 

Going off of this concept, I also took an interest in what certain terms meant when reading these diaries and letters. It is said that “in the language of the day, "to make love" implied a desire to court. not necessarily to touch her beloved. Dickinson inspired this sentiment in other "suitors'' as well. Over the next few years suffrage activist Susan B. Anthony wrote to Dickinson in a similar vein” (D’Emilio 127). We are in a different time and while letters and journals were written using different terms than what we use today, they still symbolize the same feelings and ideas. I think these queer women who lived during this time should be deeply respected by the community today. This is because they fought to express their sexuality even when the odds were against them.