Regulating Passion: Sexuality and Patriarchal Rule in Massachusetts, 1700-1830

Synopsis

Sexuality Was Critical To How Individuals Experienced, Learned, And Contested Their Place In Early America. Regulating Passion Shows The Sweeping Changes That Affected The Social And Political Morass Centered On Sexual Behavior During The Late Eighteenth And Early Nineteenth Centuries In Massachusetts -- Even As Patriarchy Remained Important To Those Configurations Of Power. Charting The Government's And Society's Management Of Sexuality, Kelly A. Ryan Uncovers The Compelling Stories Of The Individuals Charged With Sexual Crimes And How Elites Hoped To Contain And Exploit 'illicit' Sexual Behavior -- Publisher's Description. Introduction: Patriarchy And Sexuality -- 1. The Slaves Of Hymen: White Women's Sexuality And The Insistence On Marriage -- 2. The Passions Are Against You: White Men's Sexual Reputations -- 3. Racialized Patriarchy: Indians And African Americans In The Patriarchal Ideal -- 4. Hardy Men And Rustic Women: Sexualizing The Politics Of The Imperial Crisis -- 5. Dealing With Independence: The Patriarchal Gaze And The Crisis In Racialized Patriarchy -- 6. Making Chaste Citizens: Sexual Regulation And Reputation In The Early Republic -- 7. Seduced Women And Designing Men: Refashioning The Sexual And Gendered Self -- 8. Scrutinizing Sexuality: Charity And The Patriarchal Gaze -- Conclusion: Nothing But Our Rights: Patriarchy, Sexual Reputation, And Power. Kelly A. Ryan. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 211-253) And Index.