In the second half of the book From Front Porch to Back Seat, Beth Bailey explains the issue of sex control and the definition of ‘Masculinity’ / ‘Femininity’. It is critical to note the fact that the changes after the Nineteenth-century ‘were not sexual acts so much as what those acts meant – how they were perceived.’ (Bailey, 77) During this time, young men and women, who defined themselves as ‘youth’, had lead the celebration of sexuality, and had flourished ‘partly through public sexuality and sexual experimentation. (Bailey, 78) The adviser from the Ladies’ Home Journal had commented “It was beginning to seem, she said, that young men and women between about fifteen and twenty ‘expected handholding and kissing.” (Bailey, 79) With the aid of the mass media, the notion of ‘Adults vs. Youth’ became the popular notion during this period. It is also important to shed light on the fact that ‘dating was an unequal relationship: the man paid for everything and the woman was thus indebted to him.’ (Bailey, 81) Towards the end of the book, Bailey succeeds in explaining the issue of women robbing men’s masculinity, gender roles / behaviors, and the power of religion / bible weakening.
Michel Foucault argues in his book The History of Sexuality, that in general, we study the idea, which he calls the ‘repressive hypothesis’ as a form on history on the subject of sex. Simply put, this theory states that the use or excess of energy for pure pleasure would be looked down upon. Consequently, sex was something that took place only between a husband and a wife. (Foucault, 3) He then states three questions regarding this term and explains the relationship between sex and power.
As stated in Bailey and Foucault’s’ work, sexuality was something that took place in privacy. In a sense, the two have similar ideologies regarding power attempting to suppress or control sex as a whole. This notion was evident in both pieces with regards to children’s sexuality. Foucault explains...