Chapter 18, Problem 3CC-P494

Summary Introduction

Introduction

Sexual practices have been judged through the lens of Christianity in the West for two thousand years. In this view, any sexual activity not meant for reproduction was suspect. Marriage was not seen as a way to satisfy sexual urges, and only the heterosexual urges were acceptable. Medical views of sex replaced religious ones in the nineteenth century, though still discouraging non-reproductive activity. In Victorian times, married men were expected to have mistresses or seek prostitutes, while women were expected to be chaste. Modern attitudes about sex are more permissive, and most people even accept premarital sex.