Sexual Revolution in Early America by Richard Godbeer

The article also states that many of the documents on sex may have been burned, this could be due to all of the experimentation that was going on in Early America. The puritans attached a godliness to sex that they feared could be taken away from their writings, they may have stopped writing about it because of this. While sex was probably written about extensively, especially be the puritans who celebrated just about every aspect of sex, many other religious sects viewed sex as it is treated in the Victorian era, that it is something that should happen between a man and a woman behind closed doors. What do you think the reviewer meant when she comments that sex in colonial New England seemed more evolutionary than revolutionary at this time? (TWL).Do you agree with Susan Klepp that Godbeer’s book is probably as vague as his sources because they have been based only on the surviving sources of male authors? Do you think she is perhaps even accusing Godbeer of just reiterating the male misogynist views of sex? (TWL).

Who might these sex-fearing Americans be? (SW)

Near the end of the article, there is a quote written by the book’s author, Godbeer, that says “Americans became increasingly troubled by the implications of a more permissive sexual culture, especially as it affected young women.” The author of the review, Susan Klepp, asks who these Americans might be, seeing as Godbeer does not explain further.

Why would there have been such limited primary sources about sex at this time? The article also says that many of the sources that had been written about sex had been burned why would the descendants have burned the material? (SW).

Answer one with a response of at least one paragraph. The questions were written by Sarah West and Tina Wong-Lu. Here are three questions on the review of Richard Godbeer’s Sexual Revolution in Early America by Susan Klepp, which you can find here.

Sexual Revolution in Early America by Richard Godbeer