The descriptions of "The World of Marriage", in D'Emilio and Freedman at the end of the 19th century were so encouraging and discouraging at the same time. Women were finally able to have sex in marriage and enjoy it too! The women were becoming more in-tune with their bodies and feeling a sexual relationship with their husband was mutal, consenting and above all for pleasure and love. Some women were actually initiating sex just to have an intimate encounter of passion with their mate or partner and not just for procreation purposes. The discouraging part of me was when men were taught unlike young women that having sexual intercourse was to be expressed, and for girls to repressed in sex education manuals. I can certainly relate to mom's telling you that if you even kiss a boy you can become pregnant and the fear, guilt and shame that builds inside of you is just horrible. Although sexual morals were more socially accepted in this era the division in class was still apparent for middle and working class families.
The document 2 about prostition in case of Wong Ah in the early 1920's, according to Kathy Peiss, was so disheartning to me as I have a daughter myself. Unfortuanately, she was poor Chinese girl who was subject to sexual deportation ring for prostitution. I was shocked that a mother would send her daughter to a foreign country witha a stranger, but because of her socioeconmic condition she believed the lies of this gentleman who promised her legitimate work. The girl was so naive and had no idea that she was going to work as a prostitiute in the US, she didnt even know at the age of 19 what a prostitute was? I was happy to learn she was rescued by the church to work for them but unfortuantely the damage of her physical and psychological sexual encounters was unfortunatately a disgrace.
