The Backstory: Old Fashioned Sex

No Time Like the Present to Revisit an Eye-Catching Topic! Sex Has Been... Complicated... Throughout History. At Times Celebrated as a Life Force... and at Other Times Vilified. But Get This!! Some of the Items Invented to Discourage Sex Included the Pricking Ring... and Believe It or Not... Corn Flakes!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Okay, let's talk about sex. In the history of sex,
no blushing? Did you know cornflakes were invented to discourage
lustful thoughts? I'm Patty Steele. Good old fashioned sex. Next
on the backstory. We're back with a backstory. Ah, sex,

(00:21):
Why have we always been so freaked out about it?
Have you always thought that sex in the past was
like totally taboo. You didn't talk about it and you
didn't do it much. Well, guess what. That wasn't always
the case. Some cultures celebrated it like crazy, but for
others it was a big problem and they dealt with
it in crazy ways. In eighteen hundreds, for instance, there

(00:44):
was an intense suspicion that sex, self pleasure, and even
sexual thoughts would not only pollute your mind and your morals,
but also make you physically sick, maybe even kill you.
You didn't think about it, and you didn't do it
except to procreate, at least if you were decent sort.
It wasn't just religious types who discouraged physical enjoyment. A

(01:04):
lot of doctors spoke publicly about all the evils caused
by indulging in carnal delights. That included John Harvey Kellogg
recognized that name. He with his brother Will invented corn flakes.
He was so against masturbation and sex that he always
slept in a separate room from his wife, despite having

(01:25):
eight children with her. The introduction of corn flakes was
based on his belief that really plain tasting foods cut
down on sexual desire. He gave talks and wrote books
and articles about all the problems caused by sex, and
even opened a spa focused on pure living for health.
Kind Of hard to argue with him since he lived

(01:47):
to be ninety one years old, although he probably finally
died aboredom. But folks developed implements a lot more disturbing
than corn flakes to put a stop to the friskiness.
They'd go to some pretty cringe lengths to stop those
naughty thoughts. In the eighteen hundreds, doctors matter of factly
believed that women had almost no interest in sex, but

(02:09):
that those women who did enjoy it needed to be
protected from themselves. Sometimes they were even fitted with chastity
corsets that prevented them from enjoying themselves on their own
or even with a partner. Now, on the other hand,
they felt most young guys were absolutely incapable of thinking

(02:30):
of anything else right and needed to be saved from
their own lust for them. Starting at an early age,
there were all kinds of gadgets, including the infamous penile
pricking ring. When worn, it was meant to inflict a
bit of pain should the poor guy dwell on impure
thoughts for too long. There were a number of companies

(02:51):
that made these and other devices right up until the
nineteen twenties. Other items in this category included implements that
which shaka guy when he got excited, and even one
that sounded a really disturbing alarm. Wow. Talk about awkward.
But let's go back even thousands of years to a

(03:11):
time when nudity and sex were celebrated. It was considered
a gift from the gods. Ancient pagan cultures saw sex
as something sacred. That's why you can see drawings and
sculpture that looks insanely graphic from Greece, Rome, Egypt, China, Japan,
and a lot of other places. Now think about it.

(03:32):
Until central heating in the form of fireplaces came along,
most people lived ate and slept in a communal space,
so at bedtime with a big fire in the middle
of the main room that sort of vented through openings
in the ceiling. The whole family and even guests and
servants if you had him, all staked out a spot

(03:52):
around the edges of that big main room and then
hat at it. I mean, sex was a normal part
of life that everybody saw and took for granted from
a young age. Now one sidebar here. In almost all
cases across most societies, sexual freedom was just for men.
Inheritance was the main issue there. That was because there

(04:14):
was the realization that if you weren't sure who your
kid's real father was, you might leave your worldly goods
to the wrong people. So women were supposed to be
true to their husbands and that's where the fidelity stopped.
But things changed, believe it or not, with the invention
of the chimney. That's when houses began to have an

(04:35):
upstairs with individual fireplaces in private rooms. That simple invention
caused a major cultural shift that historians say basically saw
the invention of privacy. No more communal living. That behind
closed doors element made sex look like something to hide,

(04:55):
and that led to centuries of censure. So when was
the next sea change when it came to our views
on sex wasn't until the craziness of the nineteen twenties,
what with the dawn of women's liberation as well as
In Your Face movie romance, that sex became more intriguing
and less shameful. And of course it really flowered in

(05:16):
the late sixties and beyond, thanks in part to the
birth control pill. So question is is sex shameful or
is it a celebration of life? Well, it seems the
answer is really just a reflection of whatever time you
live in. I hope you like the Backstory with Patty Steele.
I would love it if you would subscribe or follow

(05:38):
for free to get new episodes delivered automatically, and feel
free to DM me like James did if you have
a story you would like me to cover. On Facebook,
It's Patty Steele and on Instagram Real Patty Steele. I'm
Patty Steele. The Backstories a production of iHeartMedia, Premiere Networks,

(05:59):
the Elvis Dear and Steel Trap Productions. Our producer is
Doug Fraser, our writer Jake Kushner. We have new episodes
every Tuesday and Friday. Feel free to reach out to
me with comments and even story suggestions on Instagram at
real Patty Steele and on Facebook at Patty Steele. Thanks
for listening to the backstory with Patty Steele, the pieces

(06:20):
of history you didn't know you needed to know.