1 00:00:00,200 --> 00:00:03,320 Speaker 1: Okay, let's talk about sex. In the history of sex, 2 00:00:03,680 --> 00:00:07,640 Speaker 1: no blushing? Did you know cornflakes were invented to discourage 3 00:00:07,760 --> 00:00:12,440 Speaker 1: lustful thoughts? I'm Patty Steele. Good old fashioned sex. Next 4 00:00:12,520 --> 00:00:21,360 Speaker 1: on the backstory. We're back with a backstory. Ah, sex, 5 00:00:21,800 --> 00:00:23,960 Speaker 1: Why have we always been so freaked out about it? 6 00:00:24,280 --> 00:00:26,520 Speaker 1: Have you always thought that sex in the past was 7 00:00:26,600 --> 00:00:29,560 Speaker 1: like totally taboo. You didn't talk about it and you 8 00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:32,840 Speaker 1: didn't do it much. Well, guess what. That wasn't always 9 00:00:32,880 --> 00:00:37,000 Speaker 1: the case. Some cultures celebrated it like crazy, but for 10 00:00:37,200 --> 00:00:40,159 Speaker 1: others it was a big problem and they dealt with 11 00:00:40,200 --> 00:00:44,159 Speaker 1: it in crazy ways. In eighteen hundreds, for instance, there 12 00:00:44,200 --> 00:00:47,840 Speaker 1: was an intense suspicion that sex, self pleasure, and even 13 00:00:47,920 --> 00:00:51,680 Speaker 1: sexual thoughts would not only pollute your mind and your morals, 14 00:00:51,920 --> 00:00:55,440 Speaker 1: but also make you physically sick, maybe even kill you. 15 00:00:55,440 --> 00:00:57,560 Speaker 1: You didn't think about it, and you didn't do it 16 00:00:57,640 --> 00:01:00,800 Speaker 1: except to procreate, at least if you were decent sort. 17 00:01:01,240 --> 00:01:04,800 Speaker 1: It wasn't just religious types who discouraged physical enjoyment. A 18 00:01:04,800 --> 00:01:08,640 Speaker 1: lot of doctors spoke publicly about all the evils caused 19 00:01:08,640 --> 00:01:13,399 Speaker 1: by indulging in carnal delights. That included John Harvey Kellogg 20 00:01:13,760 --> 00:01:18,440 Speaker 1: recognized that name. He with his brother Will invented corn flakes. 21 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:22,160 Speaker 1: He was so against masturbation and sex that he always 22 00:01:22,160 --> 00:01:25,480 Speaker 1: slept in a separate room from his wife, despite having 23 00:01:25,560 --> 00:01:29,319 Speaker 1: eight children with her. The introduction of corn flakes was 24 00:01:29,360 --> 00:01:33,600 Speaker 1: based on his belief that really plain tasting foods cut 25 00:01:33,640 --> 00:01:37,319 Speaker 1: down on sexual desire. He gave talks and wrote books 26 00:01:37,319 --> 00:01:40,640 Speaker 1: and articles about all the problems caused by sex, and 27 00:01:40,760 --> 00:01:44,399 Speaker 1: even opened a spa focused on pure living for health. 28 00:01:44,920 --> 00:01:47,119 Speaker 1: Kind Of hard to argue with him since he lived 29 00:01:47,120 --> 00:01:49,960 Speaker 1: to be ninety one years old, although he probably finally 30 00:01:50,000 --> 00:01:55,000 Speaker 1: died aboredom. But folks developed implements a lot more disturbing 31 00:01:55,040 --> 00:01:58,080 Speaker 1: than corn flakes to put a stop to the friskiness. 32 00:01:58,600 --> 00:02:01,360 Speaker 1: They'd go to some pretty cringe lengths to stop those 33 00:02:01,480 --> 00:02:05,640 Speaker 1: naughty thoughts. In the eighteen hundreds, doctors matter of factly 34 00:02:05,680 --> 00:02:09,800 Speaker 1: believed that women had almost no interest in sex, but 35 00:02:09,880 --> 00:02:12,519 Speaker 1: that those women who did enjoy it needed to be 36 00:02:12,600 --> 00:02:17,320 Speaker 1: protected from themselves. Sometimes they were even fitted with chastity 37 00:02:17,400 --> 00:02:21,600 Speaker 1: corsets that prevented them from enjoying themselves on their own 38 00:02:21,800 --> 00:02:24,960 Speaker 1: or even with a partner. Now, on the other hand, 39 00:02:25,360 --> 00:02:29,960 Speaker 1: they felt most young guys were absolutely incapable of thinking 40 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:33,640 Speaker 1: of anything else right and needed to be saved from 41 00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:37,160 Speaker 1: their own lust for them. Starting at an early age, 42 00:02:37,320 --> 00:02:41,160 Speaker 1: there were all kinds of gadgets, including the infamous penile 43 00:02:41,240 --> 00:02:44,640 Speaker 1: pricking ring. When worn, it was meant to inflict a 44 00:02:44,639 --> 00:02:48,160 Speaker 1: bit of pain should the poor guy dwell on impure 45 00:02:48,240 --> 00:02:51,120 Speaker 1: thoughts for too long. There were a number of companies 46 00:02:51,160 --> 00:02:54,360 Speaker 1: that made these and other devices right up until the 47 00:02:54,520 --> 00:02:59,400 Speaker 1: nineteen twenties. Other items in this category included implements that 48 00:02:59,639 --> 00:03:02,919 Speaker 1: which shaka guy when he got excited, and even one 49 00:03:03,160 --> 00:03:07,720 Speaker 1: that sounded a really disturbing alarm. Wow. Talk about awkward. 50 00:03:08,440 --> 00:03:11,320 Speaker 1: But let's go back even thousands of years to a 51 00:03:11,400 --> 00:03:15,519 Speaker 1: time when nudity and sex were celebrated. It was considered 52 00:03:15,520 --> 00:03:19,440 Speaker 1: a gift from the gods. Ancient pagan cultures saw sex 53 00:03:19,480 --> 00:03:22,800 Speaker 1: as something sacred. That's why you can see drawings and 54 00:03:22,880 --> 00:03:28,840 Speaker 1: sculpture that looks insanely graphic from Greece, Rome, Egypt, China, Japan, 55 00:03:29,160 --> 00:03:31,800 Speaker 1: and a lot of other places. Now think about it. 56 00:03:32,200 --> 00:03:35,600 Speaker 1: Until central heating in the form of fireplaces came along, 57 00:03:35,960 --> 00:03:39,560 Speaker 1: most people lived ate and slept in a communal space, 58 00:03:40,120 --> 00:03:43,200 Speaker 1: so at bedtime with a big fire in the middle 59 00:03:43,200 --> 00:03:46,240 Speaker 1: of the main room that sort of vented through openings 60 00:03:46,240 --> 00:03:49,400 Speaker 1: in the ceiling. The whole family and even guests and 61 00:03:49,440 --> 00:03:52,600 Speaker 1: servants if you had him, all staked out a spot 62 00:03:52,680 --> 00:03:55,880 Speaker 1: around the edges of that big main room and then 63 00:03:56,400 --> 00:03:59,240 Speaker 1: hat at it. I mean, sex was a normal part 64 00:03:59,240 --> 00:04:02,360 Speaker 1: of life that everybody saw and took for granted from 65 00:04:02,400 --> 00:04:06,160 Speaker 1: a young age. Now one sidebar here. In almost all 66 00:04:06,280 --> 00:04:10,680 Speaker 1: cases across most societies, sexual freedom was just for men. 67 00:04:11,320 --> 00:04:14,720 Speaker 1: Inheritance was the main issue there. That was because there 68 00:04:14,800 --> 00:04:17,680 Speaker 1: was the realization that if you weren't sure who your 69 00:04:17,760 --> 00:04:21,320 Speaker 1: kid's real father was, you might leave your worldly goods 70 00:04:21,360 --> 00:04:24,440 Speaker 1: to the wrong people. So women were supposed to be 71 00:04:24,520 --> 00:04:27,680 Speaker 1: true to their husbands and that's where the fidelity stopped. 72 00:04:28,279 --> 00:04:31,400 Speaker 1: But things changed, believe it or not, with the invention 73 00:04:31,640 --> 00:04:34,880 Speaker 1: of the chimney. That's when houses began to have an 74 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:40,800 Speaker 1: upstairs with individual fireplaces in private rooms. That simple invention 75 00:04:41,320 --> 00:04:46,080 Speaker 1: caused a major cultural shift that historians say basically saw 76 00:04:46,120 --> 00:04:50,880 Speaker 1: the invention of privacy. No more communal living. That behind 77 00:04:50,960 --> 00:04:54,680 Speaker 1: closed doors element made sex look like something to hide, 78 00:04:55,160 --> 00:04:59,360 Speaker 1: and that led to centuries of censure. So when was 79 00:04:59,400 --> 00:05:01,839 Speaker 1: the next sea change when it came to our views 80 00:05:01,880 --> 00:05:05,600 Speaker 1: on sex wasn't until the craziness of the nineteen twenties, 81 00:05:05,960 --> 00:05:09,200 Speaker 1: what with the dawn of women's liberation as well as 82 00:05:09,279 --> 00:05:13,200 Speaker 1: In Your Face movie romance, that sex became more intriguing 83 00:05:13,440 --> 00:05:16,800 Speaker 1: and less shameful. And of course it really flowered in 84 00:05:16,839 --> 00:05:19,760 Speaker 1: the late sixties and beyond, thanks in part to the 85 00:05:19,760 --> 00:05:24,400 Speaker 1: birth control pill. So question is is sex shameful or 86 00:05:24,480 --> 00:05:28,080 Speaker 1: is it a celebration of life? Well, it seems the 87 00:05:28,160 --> 00:05:31,960 Speaker 1: answer is really just a reflection of whatever time you 88 00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:35,720 Speaker 1: live in. I hope you like the Backstory with Patty Steele. 89 00:05:35,760 --> 00:05:38,799 Speaker 1: I would love it if you would subscribe or follow 90 00:05:38,839 --> 00:05:43,039 Speaker 1: for free to get new episodes delivered automatically, and feel 91 00:05:43,040 --> 00:05:45,320 Speaker 1: free to DM me like James did if you have 92 00:05:45,360 --> 00:05:47,920 Speaker 1: a story you would like me to cover. On Facebook, 93 00:05:47,960 --> 00:05:54,520 Speaker 1: It's Patty Steele and on Instagram Real Patty Steele. I'm 94 00:05:54,520 --> 00:05:59,120 Speaker 1: Patty Steele. The Backstories a production of iHeartMedia, Premiere Networks, 95 00:05:59,279 --> 00:06:03,279 Speaker 1: the Elvis Dear and Steel Trap Productions. Our producer is 96 00:06:03,320 --> 00:06:07,080 Speaker 1: Doug Fraser, our writer Jake Kushner. We have new episodes 97 00:06:07,120 --> 00:06:10,159 Speaker 1: every Tuesday and Friday. Feel free to reach out to 98 00:06:10,200 --> 00:06:13,920 Speaker 1: me with comments and even story suggestions on Instagram at 99 00:06:13,920 --> 00:06:17,440 Speaker 1: real Patty Steele and on Facebook at Patty Steele. Thanks 100 00:06:17,480 --> 00:06:20,640 Speaker 1: for listening to the backstory with Patty Steele, the pieces 101 00:06:20,680 --> 00:06:23,159 Speaker 1: of history you didn't know you needed to know.