The history of love and sexuality is one of complicated circumstances in which many historians have both agreed and disagreed on the foundation of ideals that shaped it. In order to study the history of love and sexuality one must first look at how modernity shaped gender, marriage, emotions, and sex. Modernity which Matt and Stearns would define as the period in which the “rise of science, some political systemization, and some of the beginnings of industrialization” began to appear, marked the period where gender, marriage and sex were transformed. For the sake of this paper, I will be focusing on the early to mid twentieth century in which industrialization was introduced. This paper not only intends to look at the history of love and sexuality,
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I will also focus my argument around the ideal that modernity transformed the female role in the household which in turn reconstructed marriage, sex and gender roles. The first part of my paper will address how industrialization, and modernization shaped gender roles inside and outside of the household. I will then move into my next section of the paper in which I will discuss the discovery of a women’s sexuality and how this led to significant social changes within society. Following this, I will focus on marriage, which is the basis for the argument of this paper. Lastly, I will conclude this paper by discussing what the history of love has to do with sexuality in relation to modernity, marriage, and gender roles.
During the early twentieth century, Western Society saw a dramatic shift into modernization. This meant that new machinery had been developed, scientific discoveries appeared, and new jobs were introduced. I would argue that this is where we see the first shift in female gender roles. Historian Julian Carter refers to this as a shift from the American Frontier into the Modern Narrative. Carter continues in her book, The Heart of Whiteness: Normal Sexuality and Race in America, to discuss …show more content…
From this, I would argue that the modernization of marriage and gender roles introduced love into sexuality. Looking at the history of this modernization, we have learned that equality became apparent in both the bedroom and society. Sex is now looked at as a mutual contribution to both the male and female to achieve orgasm together. The history of love has shown us that “love” has transformed from just being marriage between a man and a women to now being a companionship between two people where you give and take equally. Sexuality, or the capacity to have sexual feelings is now seen to be achievable by both man and women, and through the history of love, whether that 's studying marriage, sex, or gender roles, we are able to gain an understanding of how sexuality has shifted over time. Susan Matt and Peter Stearns believe that exploring these emotions in history such as love, we are able to understand how people felt throughout certain ages in history. The importance of studying love in history is that it will tell us how relationships and developing social phenomenons transformed sexuality for society. Overall, through multiple historians works, we are able to gain an understanding of how modernization transformed both male and female gender roles which in turn shaped modern marriage, and characteristics within
I will also focus my argument around the ideal that modernity transformed the female role in the household which in turn reconstructed marriage, sex and gender roles. The first part of my paper will address how industrialization, and modernization shaped gender roles inside and outside of the household. I will then move into my next section of the paper in which I will discuss the discovery of a women’s sexuality and how this led to significant social changes within society. Following this, I will focus on marriage, which is the basis for the argument of this paper. Lastly, I will conclude this paper by discussing what the history of love has to do with sexuality in relation to modernity, marriage, and gender roles.
During the early twentieth century, Western Society saw a dramatic shift into modernization. This meant that new machinery had been developed, scientific discoveries appeared, and new jobs were introduced. I would argue that this is where we see the first shift in female gender roles. Historian Julian Carter refers to this as a shift from the American Frontier into the Modern Narrative. Carter continues in her book, The Heart of Whiteness: Normal Sexuality and Race in America, to discuss …show more content…
From this, I would argue that the modernization of marriage and gender roles introduced love into sexuality. Looking at the history of this modernization, we have learned that equality became apparent in both the bedroom and society. Sex is now looked at as a mutual contribution to both the male and female to achieve orgasm together. The history of love has shown us that “love” has transformed from just being marriage between a man and a women to now being a companionship between two people where you give and take equally. Sexuality, or the capacity to have sexual feelings is now seen to be achievable by both man and women, and through the history of love, whether that 's studying marriage, sex, or gender roles, we are able to gain an understanding of how sexuality has shifted over time. Susan Matt and Peter Stearns believe that exploring these emotions in history such as love, we are able to understand how people felt throughout certain ages in history. The importance of studying love in history is that it will tell us how relationships and developing social phenomenons transformed sexuality for society. Overall, through multiple historians works, we are able to gain an understanding of how modernization transformed both male and female gender roles which in turn shaped modern marriage, and characteristics within