DYK in the mid-1950s a premarital exam might include stretching the #hymen open to prepare a #virgin bride for compliant sex on her wedding night? Thank Nadia Kavinoky. Ghosts of #WmnHist still haunt. HowSexGotScrewedUp.com #MarriageHistory #virginity
“Dresse the Victualls, milk the Cowes, wash for the servants and Doe allthings necessary for a woman to doe upon the said plantation.” Ghosts of #WmnHist still haunt. HowSexGotScrewedUp.com #MarriageHistory
They thought of themselves as married. The court did not. It did let them have a church wedding after the whipping. It figured they were “unfit” for anyone else. Ghosts of #WmnHist still haunt. HowSexGotScrewedUp.com #MarriageHistory
She had left him after three years of marriage because he asked for payment too often—& during the day. He was not at all shy about beating her when she refused.
Ghosts of #WmnHist still haunt. HowSexGotScrewedUp.com #DomesticViolence #MarriageHistory
The mother would have to abandon it on the doorstep of someone wealthy. It wasn’t until 1794 that Spanish colonies granted such children the same civil status as the legitimate. Ghosts of #WmnHist still haunt. HowSexGotScrewedUp.com #MarriageHistory
DYK 17thC #divorce was hard to get in English colonies? American couples had to get an act of Parliament—in England. Few people could afford that. It wasn’t until the early 18thC that MD legalized divorce. It became a lot easier to get after the Revolution.
#MarriageHistory
Deborah Read took #BenFranklin’s name, they lived together as man & wife, had two kids, & no one gave them any grief about it. Ghosts of #WmnHist still haunt. HowSexGotScrewedUp.com #MarriageHistory
After 1658, some colonies reduced the penalty for the enslaved or indentured getting married w/o permission to only one extra year. Ghosts of #HistSex still haunt. HowSexGotScrewedUp.com #MarriageHistory
“and which no man should possess. … marriage should be an equal & permanent partnership, & so recognized by law.” Ghosts of #GenderHistory still haunt. HowSexGotScrewedUp.com #MarriageHistory #WmnHist
Many became #Carribbean pirates & married each other. They called their same-sex #WeddingVows #matelotage & shared & inherited property. Many of their marriages were #MixedRace. Their shipboard democracies may have become a model for government in the colonies. #MarriageHistory
"First thrive and then wive" (Tilley T264) - Medieval relationship advice that would break modern dating apps. Maslow's hierarchy of needs, Tudor edition. Sorry, Hinge. #MarriageHistory #SelfActualization #EarlyModernDating
“This increases their desire for coitus & stiffens their member.”
HowSexGotScrewedUp.com #GenderHistory #MarriageHistory #HistSex
The “divorce capital” of the U.S. moved west from Indiana to Illinois, then South Dakota, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Wyoming, &, finally, Nevada. Ghosts of the #HistSex still haunt. HowSexGotScrewedUp.com #MarriageHistory
And some murdered their spouses. Many used poison. From 1825 to 1885 in France, for example, there were 2,169 cases of spousal poisoning. Police charged 916 men & 1,053 women. Ghosts of the #HistSex still haunt. HowSexGotScrewedUp.com #MarriageHistory
DYK until 20thC, a woman had to marry whomever her master—father, brother, owner—wished? A wife had to have sex when her new master/husband wished & abstain when he did or when he wished to have sex w/someone else. HowSexGotScrewedUp.com #GenderHistory #MarriageHistory
CFP for an excellent #LegalHistory event, with fabulous organisers! If you like medieval or early modern #CrimeHistory and #MarriageHistory this may be up your street! Pass it on!
DYK early 20thC brides were chattel & gave up legal rights as individuals? #IsadoraDuncan (d.1927) warned that “Any intelligent woman who reads the marriage contract & then goes into it, deserves the consequences.” HowSexGotScrewedUp.com #GenderHistory #MarriageHistory #WmnHist
In this way, the church forced the West to find a way besides clan to organize society. But, on the other hand, 12thC, Gratian maintained that seven-year-old children could give “meaningful consent” to marriage! HowSexGotScrewedUp.com #MarriageHistory
Christian views on sex, especially #QueerSex, got very negative, but in their first 900 years, Catholics had rituals & contracts for "#SameSex unions" very much like those for mixed-sex marriages". They added love to considerations such property & inheritance. #MarriageHistory
Even after the wedding, if they had no children, they should be able to divorce easily, & they should be able to divorce if their relations soured. Ghosts of #HistSex still haunt. HowSexGotScrewedUp.com #MarriageHistory
