The Sex Panic of the 1790s

I couldn't do better for a blog title than the title of the article in this case. This article might seem an odd choice for a project focusing on women’s homoerotic relationships, given that it is concerned almost entirely with heterosexual adultery. The relevance comes in side consequences of the shift in attitudes towards women’s sexuality centered around the end of the 18th century. The displacement of active sexuality onto the feminine Other--prostitutes, foreigners, the working class--both allowed and confined “respectable” women into a life of sentimental romance that could be enjoyed without suspicion (or encouragement) of erotic desire. Thus the rise of female Romantic Friendships that both sublimated and gave cover to women’s same-sex desires.