Within this context, the only socially acceptable way to experience and express deep emotion was within relationships with other women. Women were expected to be so naive and ignorant about sexual matters that marital relations were expected to be a major trauma, and a woman who showed too much interest in sex, even within marriage, was morally suspect.įor middle and upper class women, the majority of their lives involved separation from men, both in the public and private sphere.
In some American literature, the anxiety around sexual activity extended from a concern for its debilitating effects on women to considering it to be hazardous to the health of men as well. The sexes were considered almost as different species in terms of their natures, abilities, and even biology. As the 19th century progressed and women began to push against the limitations of this myth, they found their strongest supporters and allies in other women.
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