WEBVTT - Ouija Board Husband! Comstock Part 3 0:00:08.245 --> 0:00:13.125 School of Humans. Ooh, you already know the drill filth heads. 0:00:13.165 --> 0:00:16.285 So I'll be brief. We're doing our first American Filth 0:00:16.325 --> 0:00:20.445 live recording in Atlanta on Saturday, June twenty ninth. It 0:00:20.445 --> 0:00:23.685 will be at Dynamic El Dorado in the Edgewood neighborhood 0:00:24.045 --> 0:00:26.965 and we'll be talking about the American Revolution and some 0:00:27.125 --> 0:00:29.965 gay stuff. So come on out. It's going to be 0:00:29.965 --> 0:00:33.285 a blast. Tickets we'll be in the description of this episode, 0:00:33.445 --> 0:00:36.445 and also you can find the link on Instagram at 0:00:36.565 --> 0:00:44.045 American Filth Pod. All right, let's do some history. So 0:00:44.085 --> 0:00:46.965 in the last couple episodes of American Filth, we were 0:00:47.005 --> 0:00:51.365 talking about Anthony Cumstock, who passed his Obscenity Law through 0:00:51.405 --> 0:00:54.765 Congress in eighteen seventy three, making it okay for him 0:00:54.765 --> 0:00:58.805 to arrest and charge people for sending obscene materials through 0:00:58.845 --> 0:01:02.685 the mail, even worse than a mall cop a post 0:01:02.725 --> 0:01:06.365 office cop. And the convenient thing about the Comstock law 0:01:06.765 --> 0:01:10.645 is it didn't actually define what is obscene, so it 0:01:10.685 --> 0:01:13.645 was kind of up to whatever Comstock thought was obscenity, 0:01:13.925 --> 0:01:17.485 what a loophole, And towards the end of the nineteenth 0:01:17.485 --> 0:01:20.725 century and into the twentieth he was targeting women who 0:01:20.725 --> 0:01:24.445 worked in healthcare and provided birth control and abortions, but 0:01:24.525 --> 0:01:26.805 he was also going after women and men who were 0:01:26.845 --> 0:01:31.125 feminist scholars, philosophers, writers, and especially when they were talking 0:01:31.165 --> 0:01:36.405 about sex yucky. And what I think is super crazy 0:01:36.445 --> 0:01:39.525 about Comstock coming after some of these people was that 0:01:39.565 --> 0:01:42.285 a lot of these feminists at the time weren't talking 0:01:42.325 --> 0:01:46.365 about sexual liberation or being sex positive things we associate 0:01:46.405 --> 0:01:49.725 with feminism today. A lot of these people were actually 0:01:49.725 --> 0:01:55.005 really into abstinence, chastity, celibacy, and so Comstock was going 0:01:55.045 --> 0:01:57.845 after people who are already like, hey, yeah, we're not 0:01:57.885 --> 0:02:00.605 actually promoting sex. We actually want you to have less 0:02:00.605 --> 0:02:05.965 of it. There was a lot of feminist activity, you know, 0:02:06.165 --> 0:02:10.085 feminist activity going on in Chicago at the time. There 0:02:10.165 --> 0:02:13.965 was this one lady, doctor Alice Bunker Stockton, and she 0:02:14.125 --> 0:02:18.325 was a big old feminist and she believed that sex 0:02:18.405 --> 0:02:22.205 for men was a physical necessity, but for women it 0:02:22.365 --> 0:02:26.005 was not. She was like, marriage turns a woman into 0:02:26.045 --> 0:02:31.405 a prostitute because she loses all ownership of herself. She's like, actually, 0:02:31.445 --> 0:02:33.725 a wife is worse than a prostitute because you don't 0:02:33.725 --> 0:02:37.085 even get paid for it. In marriage, you have no agency. 0:02:37.445 --> 0:02:39.405 You have to bear all these children you don't want 0:02:39.445 --> 0:02:44.325 to have because your husband needs to have sex. She 0:02:44.445 --> 0:02:48.365 was like, yeah, abstinence except for procreation, that's the way 0:02:48.445 --> 0:02:52.725 to go. And doctor Stockton, she was actually friends with 0:02:52.765 --> 0:02:56.965 the people over at Oneida, remember the Oneida community, and 0:02:57.045 --> 0:03:02.405 she believed in coitus reservetists, basically being like, dudes, you 0:03:02.485 --> 0:03:06.405 don't have to ejaculate to have a good time during sex. 0:03:07.765 --> 0:03:11.005 Another woman who became a follower and then a colleague 0:03:11.005 --> 0:03:15.965 of Stockton was Ida Cratic and cratic well, she was 0:03:16.005 --> 0:03:20.805 a bit kookier than Stockton. She was all about coitus reservatus, 0:03:21.245 --> 0:03:25.125 but she doubled down with spiritualism. She was like, yeah, 0:03:25.445 --> 0:03:29.645 it's easy not to jiz Fellas, especially if there was 0:03:29.685 --> 0:03:34.525 a quote aspiration to have a communion with God. This 0:03:34.645 --> 0:03:39.685 communion creates the most intense physical and mental satisfaction in 0:03:39.805 --> 0:03:43.685 the act. That's right, Fellas. If you embrace the Lord 0:03:43.725 --> 0:03:46.645 in the right way, you don't need to ejaculate to 0:03:46.645 --> 0:03:50.885 get pleasure from sex. Think about God while you're doing it, 0:03:52.245 --> 0:03:55.565 and yeah, this is all a bit he haha. But 0:03:55.765 --> 0:03:59.405 these were also serious people having serious thoughts trying to 0:03:59.405 --> 0:04:03.085 make life better for women at the time, and Comstock 0:04:03.245 --> 0:04:06.165 was coming after these people hard. She was trying to 0:04:06.325 --> 0:04:11.525 ruin their lives, their career. And Cratic, the same as 0:04:11.525 --> 0:04:15.565 Mademe Foistelle from the last episode, met her demise because 0:04:15.565 --> 0:04:19.245 of Comstock, because she was arrested repeatedly for one of 0:04:19.285 --> 0:04:24.045 her pamphlets that was considered super duper obscene, and then 0:04:24.085 --> 0:04:27.485 after her last arrest, she just couldn't take it any longer. 0:04:28.645 --> 0:04:31.365 But during her life she was a sex expert for 0:04:31.485 --> 0:04:34.605 young couples and she knew what she was talking about 0:04:34.645 --> 0:04:37.965 because she had a husband who was also a ghost. 0:04:38.645 --> 0:04:48.045 What this is American filth And I'm Gabby Watts. Every 0:04:48.085 --> 0:04:50.805 week I tell you a filthy story from American history. 0:04:51.285 --> 0:04:55.805 This week's episode Comstock Part three, and don't worry, guys, 0:04:55.805 --> 0:04:57.605 it's also the last part. Then we're going to go 0:04:57.605 --> 0:05:07.565 on to something very stupid. Yes, you didn't miss here. 0:05:07.725 --> 0:05:11.565 I just said that Idacratic's husband was a ghost or 0:05:11.605 --> 0:05:14.925 maybe he was a like a spirit, like an angel, 0:05:15.245 --> 0:05:21.085 But will get there. Idacratic was born in eighteen fifty 0:05:21.165 --> 0:05:24.205 seven in Philadelphia, and she was raised by a single 0:05:24.285 --> 0:05:28.405 mom and very religious amongst her Quaker Brethren. She was 0:05:28.445 --> 0:05:31.405 also pretty smart, pretty curious, and by the time she 0:05:31.485 --> 0:05:36.525 was sixteen, she was already a radical feminist. She protested 0:05:36.525 --> 0:05:39.525 against the University of Pennsylvania to be admitted as a 0:05:39.565 --> 0:05:42.485 student because at the time they were like, mmmmm, we 0:05:42.525 --> 0:05:45.725 don't want any women in here. She was denied, but 0:05:45.805 --> 0:05:48.645 that wouldn't stop her from trying to get an education. 0:05:49.885 --> 0:05:52.525 And back then, if you're a woman trying to get 0:05:52.565 --> 0:05:55.525 an education, you were limited to being taught about shit 0:05:55.725 --> 0:06:00.925 like being a secretary. So by eighteen, Kratick was the frickin' 0:06:00.965 --> 0:06:03.845 best secretary that she could be. And she even wrote 0:06:03.845 --> 0:06:07.525 a textbook called Primary Phonography, and then she taught a 0:06:07.565 --> 0:06:11.205 stenography course at a business college. But you know, once 0:06:11.245 --> 0:06:13.965 you already write a textbook, you're kind of like, well, 0:06:14.045 --> 0:06:18.285 this is boring, what do I do next? So what 0:06:18.325 --> 0:06:22.285 she did is she moved from Philadelphia to California. Another 0:06:22.325 --> 0:06:24.405 reason she did this was she wanted to get away 0:06:24.405 --> 0:06:28.365 from her doma neering mother. And after she moved, she 0:06:28.485 --> 0:06:31.925 was bopping across the United States in England getting various 0:06:32.005 --> 0:06:36.125 jobs working in business. When she was back in the States, 0:06:36.245 --> 0:06:39.445 she ended up going to Chicago and started connecting with 0:06:39.565 --> 0:06:43.725 people like doctor Stockton and other writers and thinkers, and 0:06:43.765 --> 0:06:48.005 she herself was thinking and writing about sexuality and feminism, 0:06:48.605 --> 0:06:52.605 so obviously she was set to be on Comstock's naughty list. 0:06:53.925 --> 0:06:56.685 And she was put in direct debate with Comstock in 0:06:56.805 --> 0:07:03.685 eighteen ninety three at the World's Columbian Exposition. Oh doesn't 0:07:03.685 --> 0:07:08.085 everyone love an exposition? And what happened at the exposition 0:07:08.725 --> 0:07:11.405 was that there was a performance by this woman who 0:07:11.445 --> 0:07:15.965 went by Little Egypt and her act was quite controversial 0:07:16.085 --> 0:07:22.005 because it was, oh my god, belly dancing. And Anthony 0:07:22.085 --> 0:07:27.325 Comstock hated this. He was like, a woman undulating her belly, 0:07:27.765 --> 0:07:33.405 oscillating her tom tom. That is disgusting, that is obscene. 0:07:33.445 --> 0:07:37.885 He described it as a houcci coochy dance. Honestly, that 0:07:37.965 --> 0:07:40.485 description is more obscene than the belly dancing to me. 0:07:41.445 --> 0:07:43.885 And he was like, this dance is so gross, we 0:07:43.965 --> 0:07:48.125 gotta get this show canceled. But then Kratick wrote an 0:07:48.205 --> 0:07:51.805 article that was like, hmm, seems like Comstock is being 0:07:51.845 --> 0:07:56.885 a little bit sensitive. You know, Comstock, you can see 0:07:56.965 --> 0:07:59.645 stuff much worse than this on the streets of New 0:07:59.725 --> 0:08:03.445 York City any day of the week. You're saying, this 0:08:03.605 --> 0:08:08.805 dance of the belly is worse es than that, And 0:08:08.885 --> 0:08:11.685 through the article she wrote, she elaborated some of the 0:08:11.725 --> 0:08:17.285 finer points of her philosophy on sexuality. She was like, actually, 0:08:17.365 --> 0:08:20.605 I think Little Egypt's dance is pretty modest and there's 0:08:20.685 --> 0:08:24.125 no lewdness. Actually, I feel like this dance isn't promoting 0:08:24.205 --> 0:08:27.245 us to have wild, copious sex at all, but is 0:08:27.325 --> 0:08:30.285 demonstrating to us that we should show restraint in our 0:08:30.365 --> 0:08:36.165 own sexuality. She wrote, it shows that prolonged pleasure goes 0:08:36.245 --> 0:08:40.605 hand in hand with sexual self control and spiritual bliss. 0:08:41.685 --> 0:08:44.605 And she was like, this dance shows married couples that 0:08:44.685 --> 0:08:48.565 they should exercise restraint and self control in their sex life, 0:08:48.925 --> 0:08:52.605 because that would end the horrors of accidental or forced 0:08:52.645 --> 0:08:57.485 maternity without violating the natural law. At the end of 0:08:57.565 --> 0:08:59.365 the article, she was like, Oh, by the way, I'm 0:08:59.405 --> 0:09:02.165 writing a whole pamphlet about this, so you should purchase 0:09:02.205 --> 0:09:05.965 that separately from this article, and that will you how 0:09:06.005 --> 0:09:09.445 to practice coitus reservatists and all that other good stuff. 0:09:10.245 --> 0:09:13.805 And she's like, in conclusion, stupid comstock. I actually think 0:09:13.845 --> 0:09:16.485 this dance should be shown around the country so that 0:09:16.645 --> 0:09:22.005 everyone knows how to show sexual restraint. Yes, that's right. 0:09:22.085 --> 0:09:27.885 She got all of that from belly dancing. And I 0:09:27.925 --> 0:09:33.205 would say Kradick won this argument because first of all, 0:09:33.405 --> 0:09:36.685 the Post Office said that her article and the pamphlet 0:09:36.805 --> 0:09:39.885 she wrote was obscene, but then she wasn't sentenced to 0:09:39.925 --> 0:09:43.845 any prison time. And then the bigger win was that 0:09:43.885 --> 0:09:47.565 the dance did not close at the exposition. In fact, 0:09:47.685 --> 0:09:51.445 it was the most popular attraction. So they're also like, oh, yeah, 0:09:51.445 --> 0:09:53.605 we can't close it because that's how we're making all 0:09:53.645 --> 0:09:57.085 of our money. Ah, so capitalism is the real winner. 0:09:58.165 --> 0:10:00.885 But this was just the beginning of her public disputes 0:10:00.925 --> 0:10:05.285 with Comstock, and he wasn't her only hater. Because many people, 0:10:05.605 --> 0:10:09.925 including her mom, wanted to throw Kratick in an asylum. 0:10:10.405 --> 0:10:14.365 Kratick's mom thought she was crazy. The main reason being 0:10:14.845 --> 0:10:18.765 was that Krati's husband, who was named soph wasn't a man. 0:10:19.405 --> 0:10:23.085 Oh no, he was a spirit slash ghost who Cratic 0:10:23.165 --> 0:10:27.725 talked to via a Oigi board. We'll be right back 0:10:27.765 --> 0:10:37.405 after these soothing advertisements. So we finally reached the husband. 0:10:38.365 --> 0:10:41.285 Sof was a ghost or a spirit or like a 0:10:41.605 --> 0:10:46.165 heavenly presence who Kratic had met on my favorite dating app, 0:10:46.325 --> 0:10:49.845 Ouiji board and According to Kratik, they had a very 0:10:50.045 --> 0:10:55.925 sexually intellectual relationship. She learned everything she knew about sexuality 0:10:56.245 --> 0:11:00.965 through Sof, her ghost husband. She was just like me 0:11:01.045 --> 0:11:03.725 and Sof, we have a lot of conversations and sexual 0:11:03.765 --> 0:11:08.245 experiences that will help me help other married couples. You know, 0:11:08.325 --> 0:11:10.405 that's why I'm a sex educator, because I've had all 0:11:10.445 --> 0:11:15.365 this experience with my ghost husband. So yes, a lot 0:11:15.405 --> 0:11:18.285 of people thought Kratick was delusional, including her mom, who 0:11:18.285 --> 0:11:21.725 had actually introduced Kratick to the world of spirituality in 0:11:21.765 --> 0:11:26.165 the first place. So Yes, Kratick was raised Quaker but 0:11:26.285 --> 0:11:31.245 also spiritual. Spiritualism became quite popular in the US and 0:11:31.285 --> 0:11:33.925 the mid nineteenth century, and it kind of kicked off 0:11:33.925 --> 0:11:37.245 in eighteen forty eight after these two young sisters, the 0:11:37.285 --> 0:11:42.325 Fox sisters allegedly talked to some spirits in their family farmhouse. 0:11:43.405 --> 0:11:45.885 What happened is one day they asked their neighbor to 0:11:45.925 --> 0:11:49.285 come over because they had been hearing this weird tapping 0:11:49.525 --> 0:11:54.965 on the wall of their home. They were like, yeah, 0:11:55.085 --> 0:11:58.125 every night around bedtime, we hear a knocking on the 0:11:58.165 --> 0:12:03.005 wall and it has this vibe of being otherworldly. So 0:12:03.125 --> 0:12:06.285 one night, the neighbored along with the sisters parents stood 0:12:06.285 --> 0:12:09.205 in the girls room and they were like, hey, spirit, 0:12:09.445 --> 0:12:13.765 if you're there, knock three times and guess what. The 0:12:13.845 --> 0:12:24.045 spirit did knock, or at least something knocked the neighbor, 0:12:24.085 --> 0:12:27.685 and the Fox parents were terrified. The Foxes were actually 0:12:27.725 --> 0:12:32.605 so terrified that they moved house. But that incident it 0:12:32.645 --> 0:12:36.285 got reported around and propelled the Fox sisters into a 0:12:36.365 --> 0:12:42.125 career of communing with the spirits, and seances and spiritual 0:12:42.165 --> 0:12:48.645 ceremonies erupted across the United States. One reason seances might 0:12:48.685 --> 0:12:51.245 have been popular at the time was because it was 0:12:51.325 --> 0:12:54.165 pretty bleak out there. There was a lot of disease. 0:12:54.325 --> 0:12:57.805 A lot of people were dying of smallpox, especially children. 0:12:58.205 --> 0:13:01.165 Women were dying in childbirth, men were dying at war, 0:13:02.725 --> 0:13:04.965 so there was a lot of loss, so it makes 0:13:05.005 --> 0:13:07.285 sense that people would want to talk to the beyond. 0:13:08.165 --> 0:13:10.685 Even Mary Todd Lincoln had a seance at the White 0:13:10.725 --> 0:13:14.485 House after her son died. And this is when ougi 0:13:14.565 --> 0:13:18.965 boards became popular. Because the thing about a seance is 0:13:18.965 --> 0:13:22.165 sometimes it can get a little tedious, a little annoying, 0:13:22.605 --> 0:13:24.885 because usually what would happen is you would call out 0:13:24.925 --> 0:13:27.645 to the spirits and be like, hey, are you there, 0:13:28.085 --> 0:13:30.805 and then you would start calling out the alphabet and 0:13:30.845 --> 0:13:33.725 so the spirit could tap when you say the right letter. 0:13:34.445 --> 0:13:37.405 But that's tedious. That takes a long time. So people 0:13:37.445 --> 0:13:40.405 started making boards with the alphabet on them and then 0:13:40.445 --> 0:13:42.765 having a little tool that would then move them around 0:13:42.765 --> 0:13:46.085 the board. And then this guy in Marylyn was like, huh, 0:13:46.205 --> 0:13:49.245 this seems like a good opportunity to make money, so 0:13:49.285 --> 0:13:52.685 he created a Ouiji board, got the patent, and then 0:13:52.765 --> 0:13:55.005 was able to make a lot of money off of 0:13:55.045 --> 0:14:00.005 this niche spiritual community and cratics. She was all about 0:14:00.045 --> 0:14:03.565 spiritualism as she was working as a secretary. She was 0:14:03.605 --> 0:14:07.845 also looking into stuff like which folklore the occult and 0:14:07.885 --> 0:14:10.525 she had a weija board or some sort of tool, 0:14:10.725 --> 0:14:13.125 and that's how she met soph who she called her 0:14:13.205 --> 0:14:20.125 borderland husband. So anyway, after Kradik got all that public 0:14:20.165 --> 0:14:23.845 attention because of her article about the belly Dancer, she 0:14:23.965 --> 0:14:26.925 pitched herself as a lecturer and toured around the country 0:14:26.965 --> 0:14:30.565 being like, I'm an expert on sex education and maritual affairs. 0:14:30.805 --> 0:14:33.125 Obviously I know all about this stuff because I have 0:14:33.205 --> 0:14:35.885 a husband, and yes he is a spirit but whatever. 0:14:37.645 --> 0:14:40.285 So yeah, she was writing all these pamphlets about sex, 0:14:40.765 --> 0:14:43.245 and then in eighteen ninety four ninety five, she wrote 0:14:43.245 --> 0:14:47.085 a pamphlet called Heavenly Bridegroom, where she talked about her 0:14:47.165 --> 0:14:51.965 spirit husband's soph She was like, yeah, he's my heavenly bridegroom, 0:14:52.005 --> 0:14:55.085 and I'm his earthly wife. And she was like, yeah, 0:14:55.165 --> 0:15:00.525 now I go by missus Kratick. But obviously she had 0:15:00.565 --> 0:15:03.165 a lot of critics about this. They're like, what, You're 0:15:03.245 --> 0:15:07.565 married to a ghost? That is ridiculou Liz. People were 0:15:07.605 --> 0:15:09.925 accusing her of all sorts of stuff. They're like, you're 0:15:09.965 --> 0:15:13.285 just creating this mystical husband because you're trying to hide 0:15:13.325 --> 0:15:19.165 all of your illicit affairs, or you're an absolute crazy person. 0:15:19.245 --> 0:15:23.205 We can't trust you. And Kratick's mom was like, Hey, 0:15:23.725 --> 0:15:25.725 I do feel like you're getting a bit too into 0:15:25.765 --> 0:15:29.725 this spiritualism stuff, so I think you should be institutionalized. 0:15:30.685 --> 0:15:34.445 Kratick hated that, but in eighteen ninety five she did 0:15:34.485 --> 0:15:37.645 spend a short time in an asylum, but then she 0:15:37.765 --> 0:15:40.005 was able to get out and she went to London 0:15:40.085 --> 0:15:43.405 to avoid legal action against her and her crazy writings. 0:15:44.925 --> 0:15:47.725 When she moved back to Chicago, she was giving lectures 0:15:47.725 --> 0:15:52.405 and opened up a sex clinic, basically pitching herself as 0:15:52.445 --> 0:15:56.765 a sex expert for young couples, and then if couples 0:15:56.805 --> 0:15:59.485 were too embarrassed to see her in person, she would 0:15:59.485 --> 0:16:03.045 send them pamphlets through the mail. And so you guys 0:16:03.085 --> 0:16:06.885 know where this is going. She's sending of material through 0:16:06.965 --> 0:16:13.965 the mail. So Comstock came callin. In eighteen ninety nine, 0:16:14.125 --> 0:16:17.765 Credit got arrested after a medical journal published her pamphlet 0:16:17.925 --> 0:16:21.085 Right Marital Living, which she had also been sending in 0:16:21.125 --> 0:16:25.565 the mail. After that, her place was raided, her pamphlets 0:16:25.565 --> 0:16:29.325 were confiscated and destroyed, so she was arrested and she 0:16:29.405 --> 0:16:31.485 was able to get out of jail because a free 0:16:31.485 --> 0:16:35.325 speech advocate paid her bail, and then she was only 0:16:35.405 --> 0:16:41.405 able to avoid prison time by pleading guilty. After this happened, 0:16:41.645 --> 0:16:47.525 Cradock was so depressed that she contemplated committing suicide, but 0:16:47.685 --> 0:16:52.965 instead she decided to write another pamphlet. This one was 0:16:53.005 --> 0:16:57.125 called The Wedding Night. And it's The Wedding Night that 0:16:57.245 --> 0:17:01.445 led to Cradock's end. So what was it about cratics 0:17:01.445 --> 0:17:06.205 writings that were so abhorrent to Comstock? It's weirdly she 0:17:06.325 --> 0:17:10.645 and Comstock actually agreed on a lot of things they 0:17:10.685 --> 0:17:15.765 both didn't like, prostitution, masturbation, contraception, abortion. By the thing 0:17:15.805 --> 0:17:19.325 that they disagreed on was talking about this stuff in public. 0:17:20.165 --> 0:17:23.325 She said, I need make no plea for the propriety 0:17:23.365 --> 0:17:27.165 of my subject. What concerns us all is imminently fit 0:17:27.245 --> 0:17:30.285 for discussion by all, and too much light cannot be 0:17:30.365 --> 0:17:33.725 thrown upon it. So let's take a look at the 0:17:33.765 --> 0:17:37.685 Wedding Night. It's a pretty short pamphlet, about thirty pages, 0:17:38.405 --> 0:17:41.365 and what it does is outline how traumatic sex can 0:17:41.405 --> 0:17:45.525 be for a woman on her wedding night. She was like, Hey, 0:17:45.765 --> 0:17:48.445 women don't usually know about this stuff, and then on 0:17:48.485 --> 0:17:52.645 their wedding night they're expected to just show men their genitals, 0:17:52.645 --> 0:17:54.885 even though they've been told their whole lives. Don't show 0:17:54.885 --> 0:17:59.445 anyone your genitals. But let's have a reading, shall we. 0:18:01.805 --> 0:18:04.045 The young girl who has never been alone in a 0:18:04.125 --> 0:18:06.605 locked room with a man in all of her life, 0:18:07.005 --> 0:18:10.965 suddenly finds herself, as though in a dream, delivered over 0:18:11.045 --> 0:18:14.565 by her own innocent and pure affection, into the power 0:18:14.645 --> 0:18:17.805 of a man to be used at his will and pleasure. 0:18:18.685 --> 0:18:21.525 She who has never bared more than her throat and 0:18:21.565 --> 0:18:24.285 shoulders and arms to the world now finds that her 0:18:24.325 --> 0:18:27.925 whole body, especially those parts which she has all her 0:18:28.005 --> 0:18:31.085 life been taught it was immodest to fail to keep covered, 0:18:31.885 --> 0:18:35.245 are no longer to be her own private property. She 0:18:35.365 --> 0:18:39.725 must share their privacy with this man. Fortunate, indeed is 0:18:39.765 --> 0:18:42.685 the bride whose lover at such a moment is a 0:18:42.765 --> 0:18:46.805 gentleman in every fiber of his being. For there is 0:18:46.845 --> 0:18:48.925 a wrong way, and there is a right way to 0:18:49.045 --> 0:18:52.805 pass the wedding night. In the majority of cases, no 0:18:53.125 --> 0:18:57.245 genital union at all should be attempted, or even suggested 0:18:57.645 --> 0:19:02.925 upon that night. To the average young girl virtuously brought up, 0:19:03.205 --> 0:19:06.245 the experience of sharing her bedroom with an man is 0:19:06.285 --> 0:19:10.645 sufficient of a shock to her previous maidenly habits without 0:19:10.685 --> 0:19:14.965 adding to her nervousness by insisting upon the close intimacies 0:19:15.005 --> 0:19:20.365 of genital contact. And incredible as it may sound to 0:19:20.405 --> 0:19:24.445 the average man, she is usually altogether without the sexual 0:19:24.485 --> 0:19:28.925 experience which every boy acquires in his dream life. The 0:19:29.085 --> 0:19:34.165 average typical girl does not have erotic dreams. In many cases, too, 0:19:34.605 --> 0:19:37.885 through the prudishness of her parents, a prudishness which is 0:19:37.965 --> 0:19:42.005 positively criminal. She is not even told beforehand that genital 0:19:42.125 --> 0:19:45.485 union will be required of her and the ideal honeymoon. 0:19:45.645 --> 0:19:49.685 The bridegroom will not seek genital contact until the bride 0:19:49.725 --> 0:19:54.645 herself shows indications of desiring it, but she might never 0:19:54.765 --> 0:19:59.005 want it. My dear sir, you must be indeed lacking 0:19:59.045 --> 0:20:02.725 in manhood to be unable to arouse sex desire in 0:20:02.765 --> 0:20:05.405 a bride who loves you with even a halfway short 0:20:05.685 --> 0:20:12.845 of affection. Cratig then goes on to talk about how 0:20:12.885 --> 0:20:15.805 while a man thinks a penis is awesome, women think 0:20:15.845 --> 0:20:20.645 they are disgusting. She says, you should remember that that 0:20:20.925 --> 0:20:24.125 organ of which you are justly so proud is not 0:20:24.245 --> 0:20:27.565 possessed by a woman, and that she is utterly ignorant 0:20:27.605 --> 0:20:32.525 of its functions practically until she has experienced sexual contact, 0:20:33.045 --> 0:20:35.565 and that it is to her who is not desirous 0:20:35.605 --> 0:20:40.365 of such contact, something of a monstrosity. Even when a 0:20:40.405 --> 0:20:44.805 woman has already had pleasurable experience of genital contact, she 0:20:44.925 --> 0:20:48.965 requires each time to be aroused amorously before that organ, 0:20:49.325 --> 0:20:52.885 in its state of activity, can become attractive for a 0:20:52.885 --> 0:20:56.365 man to exhibit to even an experienced wife, his organ 0:20:56.445 --> 0:20:59.885 ready for action when she herself is not amorously aroused 0:21:00.405 --> 0:21:04.285 is as a rule, not sexually attractive. To her. On 0:21:04.365 --> 0:21:08.645 the contrary, it is often sexually repulsive and at times 0:21:08.765 --> 0:21:13.765 out and out disgusting to her. But then Krata gets 0:21:13.805 --> 0:21:16.765 into the willy nilly of how you should have sex 0:21:17.245 --> 0:21:21.085 first for play. If you will kiss and caress her 0:21:21.165 --> 0:21:24.965 in a gentle, delicate and reverent way, especially at the 0:21:25.045 --> 0:21:28.525 throat and bosom, you will find that little by little, 0:21:29.005 --> 0:21:32.405 you will, by reflex action from the bosom to the genitals, 0:21:32.805 --> 0:21:37.285 successfully arouse within her a vague desire for the intertwining 0:21:37.405 --> 0:21:41.765 of the lower limbs, with ever closer and closer contact, 0:21:42.085 --> 0:21:45.485 until you melt into one another's embrace at the genitals 0:21:45.725 --> 0:21:50.325 in a perfectly natural and wholesome fashion. You will then 0:21:50.405 --> 0:21:54.765 find her genitals so well lubricated that your gradual entrance 0:21:55.085 --> 0:21:58.045 can be affected not only without pain to her, but 0:21:58.085 --> 0:22:01.285 with a rapture so exquisite to her that she will 0:22:01.325 --> 0:22:04.765 be more ready to invite your entrance upon a future occasion. 0:22:06.365 --> 0:22:08.845 Kratik then gives some more advice. She's like, you got 0:22:08.845 --> 0:22:13.405 to stop smoking and drinking alcohol will lessen that coordination 0:22:13.525 --> 0:22:18.725 among your nervous ganglia, accentuate your prominent weaknesses, and inhibit 0:22:18.765 --> 0:22:22.885 your powers of self control. Basically, you'll get whiskey dick. 0:22:24.445 --> 0:22:27.165 But then Krata gives some weird advice. She says, do not, 0:22:27.445 --> 0:22:30.765 upon any account use the hand for the purpose of 0:22:30.885 --> 0:22:35.725 sexual excitation at the bride's genitals. There is only but 0:22:35.965 --> 0:22:40.005 one lawful finger of love with which to approach her genitals, 0:22:40.445 --> 0:22:44.525 and this is the male organ. That's right, fellas, don't 0:22:44.525 --> 0:22:49.525 stimulate the clitteris with your hands disgusting, And she says 0:22:49.565 --> 0:22:52.405 that which is confusing. She's like, don't touch the clitterists. 0:22:52.445 --> 0:22:55.405 But still try to make a woman come, she says. 0:22:55.445 --> 0:22:58.165 When you are performing your movements, do not indulge in 0:22:58.205 --> 0:23:01.085 the thought of how much you are enjoying them. Rather 0:23:01.205 --> 0:23:04.165 dwell in thought upon how much pleasure you are giving 0:23:04.205 --> 0:23:07.805 your bride, and study carefully every movement with reference to 0:23:07.885 --> 0:23:12.845 its pleasure producing effect upon her. For the lady, bear 0:23:12.885 --> 0:23:14.845 in mind that it is part of your wifely duty 0:23:14.885 --> 0:23:19.005 to perform pelvic movements during the embrace, riding your husband's 0:23:19.085 --> 0:23:23.205 organ gently and at times passionately, with various movements up 0:23:23.245 --> 0:23:27.325 and down, sideways, and with a semi rotary movement resembling 0:23:27.325 --> 0:23:30.325 the movement of the thread of a screw upon a screw. 0:23:31.325 --> 0:23:34.085 And then she gives this really great advice. She's like, hey, ladies, 0:23:34.085 --> 0:23:36.205 before your wedding night, you should go to a doctor 0:23:36.245 --> 0:23:39.125 and ask him to snip your hymen with surgical scissors. 0:23:41.205 --> 0:23:43.885 So obviously this pamphlet caused quite a stir with the 0:23:43.885 --> 0:23:47.565 Comstockians of the time. She moved to d C and 0:23:47.685 --> 0:23:50.365 was arrested there for her distribution of The Wedding Night, 0:23:51.165 --> 0:23:53.205 and then she moved to New York City, which was 0:23:53.285 --> 0:23:55.845 Comstock country. That's where he was from, that's where he 0:23:55.925 --> 0:24:00.165 was living. An idocratic said about her move, I have 0:24:00.245 --> 0:24:03.205 an inward feeling that I am really divinely led here 0:24:03.205 --> 0:24:06.645 to New York to face this wicked depress man Comestock 0:24:06.725 --> 0:24:11.005 and open court. So she moved and she started reprinting 0:24:11.045 --> 0:24:13.325 The Wedding Night and sending it out through the mail. 0:24:14.365 --> 0:24:18.365 State police raided her home and busted her. They were like, wahaha, 0:24:18.605 --> 0:24:22.245 are these your pamphlets? We're taking you to jail. In 0:24:22.325 --> 0:24:25.165 the courtroom, the legal people were like, hey, if you 0:24:25.205 --> 0:24:28.365 plead insanity, we can probably get all these charges dropped. 0:24:28.965 --> 0:24:31.525 You know, you have your spirit ghost husband's soaf, that's 0:24:31.565 --> 0:24:35.125 pretty good evidence that you're insane. But she was like, no, 0:24:35.245 --> 0:24:39.605 I refuse, so She was sentenced to three months at 0:24:39.645 --> 0:24:43.965 Blackwell Island. As she was taken away in the courtroom, 0:24:44.165 --> 0:24:47.925 one newspaper wrote, Kradick took her sentence in stoic silence 0:24:48.845 --> 0:24:50.885 and looked neither to the right nor the left as 0:24:50.885 --> 0:24:54.805 she was led away. Right as she got out, Comstock 0:24:54.845 --> 0:24:58.725 then arrested her on federal charges of obscenity. Her mom 0:24:58.765 --> 0:25:02.885 even was like, hey, please, just plead insanity. Honestly, an 0:25:02.965 --> 0:25:05.365 indefinite stay in an asylum isn't going to be nearly 0:25:05.525 --> 0:25:08.285 as bad as five years in prison. Just say you're crazy. 0:25:10.005 --> 0:25:14.165 But again Kradick refused. She locked herself away in her room, 0:25:14.485 --> 0:25:17.165 wrote a series of letters, and then she drank some 0:25:17.285 --> 0:25:21.645 lamp oil and cut her wrists and died. I know 0:25:21.725 --> 0:25:25.765 it's another sad one I told you in those letters. 0:25:25.765 --> 0:25:28.285 She wrote to her mom, I maintained my right to 0:25:28.365 --> 0:25:31.565 die as I have lived, a free woman, not cowed 0:25:31.605 --> 0:25:35.965 into silence by any other human being. She ended her 0:25:36.045 --> 0:25:39.285 letter to her mom saying that they would meet beyond 0:25:39.325 --> 0:25:42.965 the grave, where Comstock and corrupt judges and impure minded 0:25:43.005 --> 0:25:48.685 people are not known. Twelve hundred people came to her funeral. 0:25:49.445 --> 0:25:53.925 She was heralded as a martyr fighting obscenity, and that woman, 0:25:54.005 --> 0:25:56.685 doctor Stockton, gave a speech where she was, like Kratik, 0:25:56.685 --> 0:26:00.405 spent her life nobly teaching tabooed subjects and seeking to 0:26:00.565 --> 0:26:06.205 educate where she found ignorance Anthony Comstock. He finally died 0:26:06.245 --> 0:26:11.325 of pneumonia in nineteen fifteen, but don't worry. The Comstock 0:26:11.445 --> 0:26:13.845 Act is still around, and it's what a lot of 0:26:13.845 --> 0:26:16.765 conservatives are trying to use right now to block people's 0:26:16.805 --> 0:26:22.045 access to the abortion pill. Isn't life amazing? As always, 0:26:22.045 --> 0:26:24.085 we learn a lesson on American Filth, and I think 0:26:24.085 --> 0:26:27.445 that lesson today is that if you can't find that 0:26:27.525 --> 0:26:32.045 man of your dreams, get a Ouiji board. You might 0:26:32.085 --> 0:26:36.805 be there. Cure the credits. American Film is a production 0:26:36.885 --> 0:26:40.445