Sexy time periods in history

[TheWritingGroup]

Ancient Egypt. Just avoid the local contraception methods at the time ...

What have you got against crocodile dung vaginal suppositories?

-Annie

 

[RejectReality]

What have you got against crocodile dung vaginal suppositories?

-Annie

Not my cup o' tea. LOL

I didn't get to use the pregnancy test that I researched because the story demanded a time jump past it. Long past it in fact. Keeping that one in my back pocket if another idea pops in my head, or if I can use it in my fantasy world's analog for the time period.

 

[TheRedChamber]

I've always meant to write some Victoriana, but never quite gotten around to it. I agree that the prim and proper surface, with then a lot going on under the surface and in the seedier parts of the capital should make it fun. Some one mentioned Edwardian, and I think there's definitely room for a Bertie Wooster but with fucking style stories in the first few decades of the century.

From a British point of view, there's probably a slightly different moment in time for a number of different places around the world where there's still a element of exploration but the full horrors of colonialism haven't shown up yet. So for example 1700-1750 in India where there are alliances with wealthy princes and dashing battles against the French. And similar but later from China and Japan. k

I have a work in progress set in the Cloth of the Field of Gold which is good fun because there is still the tradition of courtly love and all the nobles both English and French are trying to lavishly outspend the others. Elizabethan society generally (and as @Kumquatqueen mentioned the theatre specifically) might be a fun place to write, but I also like the 'Getting your daughter noticed at court (but hopefully not decapitated)' element of Henry's VIII's reign.

Egyptian definitely works for me visually although I think I'd struggle to write anything in that period as I have less of a grasp on daily life than with the Romans or the Greeks. Critically though, it doesn't matter if it's Egyptian, Roman or Greek as long as it's Pre-Raphaelite Egyptian or Pre-Raphaelite Greek...

 

[Bramblethorn]

I've always thought the turn-of-the-century (Edwardian) period was sexier than the Victorian.

Edward would've agreed with you!

 

[StillStunned]

Any time when comfortable beds and good sanitation overlap with sexy clothes for women.

 

[TheWritingGroup]

So Crete?

-Annie

 

[onehitwanda]

Honestly, the Post-Edwardian period ticks all my boxes.

https://rosiethewriterblog.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/tumblr_mucvgndle11qlwj0lo1_500.jpg

 

[StillStunned]

Honestly, the Post-Edwardian period ticks all my boxes.

I'm refraining from making a comment about how you wish she'd tick your box. That would be too tacky.

 

[onehitwanda]

I'm refraining from making a comment about how you wish she'd tick your box. That would be too tacky.

hun, I'd do her until the bed collapsed into splinters underneath us. We're so far beyond tacky that the stars are different.

 

[Kasumi_Lee]

Any period before the 1930's has to deal with sex = baby making.

As someone with a breeding kink who loves to include it in her stories, I see that as an absolute win.

When I read a biography of Napoleon III, I couldn't wrap my head around so many women having casual affairs with the French elite, but they did.

Well...in an era and society in which men held all the power, seducing and baby-trapping a wealthy aristocrat was a pretty good plan to get ahead in life.

 

[8letters]

Well...in an era and society in which men held all the power, seducing and baby-trapping a wealthy aristocrat was a pretty good plan to get ahead in life.

Women having affairs with Nappy III and the other French elite seemed to rarely get pregnant. For example, Harriet Howard was Nappy III's mistress from 1846 (when she was 23) to 1852. She didn't have a kid during that time. Or if she did, the pregnancy was kept secret and the baby quietly disposed of. Nappy III dumped her to marry Eugénie de Montijo and immediately got her pregnant. Virginia Oldoini, Countess of Castiglione, was Nappy III's mistress for two years, and they had no kids. Nappy III's mistress from 1857 to 1861 was Marie-Anne Walewska. They had no children in that time. Quoting Wikipedia, "[Walewska's] relationship with the Emperor was not exclusive. In January 1858, it was reported that the Emperor had sexual intercourse with every woman at court who initiated it, and during 1859, he had a somewhat more serious affair with the Clothilde de La Bédoyère." In 1863, Nappy III started an affair with Marguerite Bellanger which resulted in one son. Bellanger's son is the only child of Nappy III's many, many affairs that I can find as being recognized by Nappy III.

 

[NotWise]

Thinking about the Victorians... That same time period here was the Wild West, and attitudes were far different.

Not sure how erotic the Wild West really was, as women were hard to come by. I guess that's an opening for GM stories, and for stories involving prostitution. Prostitution was legal here into the late 1920's, and it's functionally legal now.

 

[Kasumi_Lee]

Women having affairs with Nappy III and the other French elite seemed to rarely get pregnant. For example, Harriet Howard was Nappy III's mistress from 1846 (when she was 23) to 1852. She didn't have a kid during that time. Or if she did, the pregnancy was kept secret and the baby quietly disposed of. Nappy III dumped her to marry Eugénie de Montijo and immediately got her pregnant. Virginia Oldoini, Countess of Castiglione, was Nappy III's mistress for two years, and they had no kids. Nappy III's mistress from 1857 to 1861 was Marie-Anne Walewska. They had no children in that time. Quoting Wikipedia, "[Walewska's] relationship with the Emperor was not exclusive. In January 1858, it was reported that the Emperor had sexual intercourse with every woman at court who initiated it, and during 1859, he had a somewhat more serious affair with the Clothilde de La Bédoyère." In 1863, Nappy III started an affair with Marguerite Bellanger which resulted in one son. Bellanger's son is the only child of Nappy III's many, many affairs that I can find as being recognized by Nappy III.

I was talking generally rather than about any one historical figure or time period, but my point still stands: in the pre-women's liberation era, becoming the wife, mistress, or concubine of a powerful man was one of the few ways a woman could attain any kind of power or financial security, especially if she could bear his children, hence why the pre-birth control era of history is such fertile ground for erotica.

 

[NotWise]

I was talking generally rather than about any one historical figure or time period, but my point still stands: in the pre-women's liberation era, becoming the wife, mistress, or concubine of a powerful man was one of the few ways a woman could attain any kind of power or financial security, especially if she could bear his children, hence why the pre-birth control era of history is such fertile ground for erotica.

Especially if you want to write about anal sex. A lot of women died in pregnancy and childbirth, and anal sex was sex without a death wish.

 

[onehitwanda]

fertile

https://media.tenor.com/enMwAILCfnkAAAAM/mr-bean-brows.gif

 

[8letters]

Especially if you want to write about anal sex. A lot of women died in pregnancy and childbirth, and anal sex was sex without a death wish.

Did women in 19th century Europe do a lot of anal sex? Or oral sex? Instead of vaginal sex. Or did they use the rhythm method to minimize pregnancies?

 

[NotWise]

Did women in 19th century Europe do a lot of anal sex? Or oral sex? Instead of vaginal sex. Or did they use the rhythm method to minimize pregnancies?

I can't be very specific about 19th century Europe, but everything was probably in the mix. They had a lot of motivation to find alternatives. At least up to the industrial revolution, a lot of the men died in wars and a lot of the women died in childbirth. Women might have had the same attitude toward childbirth that men had to war. It's hard to say if that's true, especially since most of history is written by men.

19th-century erotica shows all manner of acts.

People didn't have a great handle on the cycle back then, so it wasn't all that reliable. There's an old riddle (not sure how old), "What do they call women who rely on rhythm?", "Mothers."

Health problems associated with feces were also not that well-known, so there wasn't as much stigma associated with anal sex.

Oral sex is always good, though sternly discouraged by the Roman Catholic Church. Condoms of various types started to become available in the 19th century, but there were often legal barriers. Latex condoms were invented in the early 1920's.

Somewhere here I have two "menus" from 19th century brothels--one in France, one in New York. Both list anal sex with a price not a lot higher than "basic service." The New York example placed an age limit on anal sex. I guess young men didn't have enough control and might hurt the working girl.

I wrote a 16th century story with a courtesan as a main character and started wondering how a courtesan wasn't pregnant all the time. This may or may not be relevant to later periods. There are several answers, but anal sex was probably part of the mix. It's hard to find real information, but there's correspondence from France at about that time indicating that marital sex was often anal sex.

A lemon slice--up to half a lemon--in the vagina was also a thing. Had to live where lemons were available.

I found a couple written lists of penance required for different unapproved sex acts, but I don't have them now. Different bishops probably produced different lists, and the lists and penance varied over time. The lists were maybe more remarkable for what was left off than for what was on the list. I don't recall that marital anal sex was listed. If it was, then the penance was mild. In contrast, anything with the woman on top was strictly punished.

 

[StillStunned]

A lemon slice--up to half a lemon--in the vagina was also a thing. Had to live where lemons were available.

Isn't that what they used in "The Great"?

 

[NotWise]

Isn't that what they used in "The Great"?

I haven't heard that. Can you put it in context for me?

 

[NotWise]

Did women in 19th century Europe do a lot of anal sex? Or oral sex? Instead of vaginal sex. Or did they use the rhythm method to minimize pregnancies?

Something I forgot re rhythm in my first post. Women often didn't have a choice of when they had sex, so there wasn't much point to using it. Some professionals might have been able to exercise a choice and use rhythm, but then there's the problem of it not working all that dependably.

 

[StillStunned]

I haven't heard that. Can you put it in context for me?

A show about Catherine the Great. Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult. Absolutely hilarious, as long as you remember the tag line "An occasionally true story".

ETA: Huzzah!

 

[Norogaster]

If you really want to delve into the Victorian era, let me recommend Dr. Fern Riddell's book The Victorian Guide to Sex: Desire and Deviance in the 19th Century. It's well researched by a seasoned professional who knows the area, ahem, intimately.

 

[NotWise]

A show about Catherine the Great. Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult. Absolutely hilarious, as long as you remember the tag line "An occasionally true story".

ETA: Huzzah!

I get it. I misunderstood.

Could be. Why not? I read some summary of historic contraceptive methods, and they picked out "lemon in the vagina" as about the only one that probably worked. I've also read that there may have been any number of other methods known to midwives, but no-one paid attention to what women had to say, so those methods were not spread around and not preserved historically.

The Romans used the seed of a wild fennel. The seed was heart-shaped, and that may be the link between heart shape and the meanings traditionally associated with it. It would be a great thing to test, but the plant was native to a small area in coastal north Africa, and it was extincted by over harvest, over grazing, and maybe climate change.

 

[yowser]

I can't be very specific about 19th century Europe, but everything was probably in the mix. They had a lot of motivation to find alternatives. At least up to the industrial revolution, a lot of the men died in wars and a lot of the women died in childbirth. Women might have had the same attitude toward childbirth that men had to war. It's hard to say if that's true, especially since most of history is written by men.

19th-century erotica shows all manner of acts.

People didn't have a great handle on the cycle back then, so it wasn't all that reliable. There's an old riddle (not sure how old), "What do they call women who rely on rhythm?", "Mothers."

Health problems associated with feces were also not that well-known, so there wasn't as much stigma associated with anal sex.

Oral sex is always good, though sternly discouraged by the Roman Catholic Church. Condoms of various types started to become available in the 19th century, but there were often legal barriers. Latex condoms were invented in the early 1920's.

Somewhere here I have two "menus" from 19th century brothels--one in France, one in New York. Both list anal sex with a price not a lot higher than "basic service." The New York example placed an age limit on anal sex. I guess young men didn't have enough control and might hurt the working girl.

I wrote a 16th century story with a courtesan as a main character and started wondering how a courtesan wasn't pregnant all the time. This may or may not be relevant to later periods. There are several answers, but anal sex was probably part of the mix. It's hard to find real information, but there's correspondence from France at about that time indicating that marital sex was often anal sex.

A lemon slice--up to half a lemon--in the vagina was also a thing. Had to live where lemons were available.

I found a couple written lists of penance required for different unapproved sex acts, but I don't have them now. Different bishops probably produced different lists, and the lists and penance varied over time. The lists were maybe more remarkable for what was left off than for what was on the list. I don't recall that marital anal sex was listed. If it was, then the penance was mild. In contrast, anything with the woman on top was strictly punished.

My main primary source for Victorian sex is 'Walter's' My Secret Life. Of course it is only one source, however extensive, and so must be interpreted carefully, but my memory is that oral was quite common, and often preferred for a variety of reasons, but that anal was unusual, although the narrator reports on a number of women who had a 'letch' for it.

Pregnancy and all manner of other health issues were serious occupational hazards for female sex workers. It was common practice for women to 'wash' right after sex to minimise both trouble-aspects.

 

[Kasumi_Lee]

Especially if you want to write about anal sex.

No thanks. I prefer my sex scenes to be PiV (for reasons which should have been obvious from my earlier posts).