Women's power in sex radical challenges to marriage in the early-twentieth-century United States. Simmons, C. Feminist Studies, 29(1):169–198, 2003.
Women's power in sex radical challenges to marriage in the early-twentieth-century United States [link]Paper  abstract   bibtex   
'The potent interaction of socialist, feminist, and antiracist radicalism converged with new conceptions of sexuality from the1910s to the 1930s to produce a period of openness in the United States that allowed sex radicals to convey explosive messages about female and sexual autonomy.' Sex radicals affirmed the legitimacy of sexual feeling and activity and women's full humanity as sexual beings, and they advocated the right of individuals to pursue sexual partnerships free of race, class, or gender (heterosexual) barriers. A mass movement promoting women's reproductive and sexual freedom advocated the use of birth control, and nonmonogamy was supported as 'an expression of individual sex freedom for women or men.' Some sex radicals supported or claimed equality for lesbian relationships. Because African Americans were still discriminated against, 'fewer black voices were raised publicly in sexual rebellion. . . Among the Harlem intelligentsia and radicals who did criticize the reigning sexual codes, however, women and men took different tacks.' Both approved birth control and saw it as contributing to race advancement, but while 'African American men praised modern women's equality and freedom and sought freer heterosexual companionship, [they] also feared women's power and difference and discussed women as sexual objects.' Black men also struggled to gain equality with white men, and that involved access to white women, a goal 'legitimate in individualist terms but potentially threatening to black women as a collective racial strategy.' African American women struggled with white racism and institutionalized state power, and 'far fewer of them spoke in the public domain, and those who did differed from white women, evincing less optimism and romanticism about sex freedom. Nevertheless, they also wished to ameliorate the burdens of reproduction, sexual repression, and male domination.' Most black women remained publicly silent about interracial relationships, though working-class blues women of the 1920s were able to use their 'already-sexualized image and turn it into an assertion of heterosexual and, occasionally, lesbian pleasure and autonomy.' In general, the African American male vision of sexual freedom found expression that black women 'could not fully share.' 'Many white male radicals were torn between a desire for closeness with women peers and attachment to the male privilege that accompanied the double standard.' They took the idea of sexual desire as detached from social bonds and 'assumed the privilege of gratifying such desire with relative impunity.' They defined women as 'too repressed.' 'White women, meanwhile, claimed sexual knowledge, the right to sexual desire and satisfaction, and the autonomy to pursue them without suffering the penalties imposed on 'bad women' under the patriarchal system.' Yet women continued to value the pleasures and rewards of motherhood and had a greater adherence to marriage and monogamy. Only a few women spoke out publicly in support of free unions and nonmonogamy. These women, 'although white, were already stigmatized by their ethnicity, class, and ideology.' Women labor activists such as Emma Goldman and Elizabeth Gurley Flynn exhibited power and bravery in affirming 'their sexual autonomy in a world that denied them safety.' 'Many women sex radicals thought in terms that included not only individual freedom but also social realities of need, power, and human ties beyond the couple.' They emphasized 'love' as well as personal freedom and community as well as the individual. (LMC) (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
@article{simmons_womens_2003,
	title = {Women's power in sex radical challenges to marriage in the early-twentieth-century {United} {States}},
	volume = {29},
	issn = {00463663},
	url = {http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=fyh&AN=FYH1276112509&site=ehost-live&scope=site},
	abstract = {'The potent interaction of socialist, feminist, and antiracist radicalism converged with new conceptions of sexuality from the1910s to the 1930s to produce a period of openness in the United States that allowed sex radicals to convey explosive messages about female and sexual autonomy.' Sex radicals affirmed the legitimacy of sexual feeling and activity and women's full humanity as sexual beings, and they advocated the right of individuals to pursue sexual partnerships free of race, class, or gender (heterosexual) barriers. A mass movement promoting women's reproductive and sexual freedom advocated the use of birth control, and nonmonogamy was supported as 'an expression of individual sex freedom for women or men.' Some sex radicals supported or claimed equality for lesbian relationships. Because African Americans were still discriminated against, 'fewer black voices were raised publicly in sexual rebellion. . . Among the Harlem intelligentsia and radicals who did criticize the reigning sexual codes, however, women and men took different tacks.' Both approved birth control and saw it as contributing to race advancement, but while 'African American men praised modern women's equality and freedom and sought freer heterosexual companionship, [they] also feared women's power and difference and discussed women as sexual objects.' Black men also struggled to gain equality with white men, and that involved access to white women, a goal 'legitimate in individualist terms but potentially threatening to black women as a collective racial strategy.' African American women struggled with white racism and institutionalized state power, and 'far fewer of them spoke in the public domain, and those who did differed from white women, evincing less optimism and romanticism about sex freedom. Nevertheless, they also wished to ameliorate the burdens of reproduction, sexual repression, and male domination.' Most black women remained publicly silent about interracial relationships, though working-class blues women of the 1920s were able to use their 'already-sexualized image and turn it into an assertion of heterosexual and, occasionally, lesbian pleasure and autonomy.' In general, the African American male vision of sexual freedom found expression that black women 'could not fully share.' 'Many white male radicals were torn between a desire for closeness with women peers and attachment to the male privilege that accompanied the double standard.' They took the idea of sexual desire as detached from social bonds and 'assumed the privilege of gratifying such desire with relative impunity.' They defined women as 'too repressed.' 'White women, meanwhile, claimed sexual knowledge, the right to sexual desire and satisfaction, and the autonomy to pursue them without suffering the penalties imposed on 'bad women' under the patriarchal system.' Yet women continued to value the pleasures and rewards of motherhood and had a greater adherence to marriage and monogamy. Only a few women spoke out publicly in support of free unions and nonmonogamy. These women, 'although white, were already stigmatized by their ethnicity, class, and ideology.' Women labor activists such as Emma Goldman and Elizabeth Gurley Flynn exhibited power and bravery in affirming 'their sexual autonomy in a world that denied them safety.' 'Many women sex radicals thought in terms that included not only individual freedom but also social realities of need, power, and human ties beyond the couple.' They emphasized 'love' as well as personal freedom and community as well as the individual. (LMC) (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)},
	number = {1},
	urldate = {2021-02-19},
	journal = {Feminist Studies},
	author = {Simmons, Christina},
	year = {2003},
	keywords = {AFRICAN Americans, BIRTH control, COMMON law marriage, EQUALITY, FEMINISM, FREE love, INTERPERSONAL relations, LESBIAN relationships, LESBIANISM, MARRIAGE, Nonmonagamy, PROGRESSIVISM (United States politics), RACE relations, RACISM, RADICALISM, REPRODUCTIVE rights, SEX, SEX \& law, SEX (Psychology), SEX -- History, SEX -- Law \& legislation, SEXUAL freedom, SOCIAL constructionism, SOCIAL movements, SOCIALISM, Sex radicalism, Sex radicals, UNITED States, UNITED States -- History, WOMEN -- Sexual behavior, WOMEN -- United States},
	pages = {169--198},
}
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