In XIXth century lower classes families, was it common for kids to witness their parent's intercourse?
Upvote:0
Yes, it was (and is in many places around the world) common for kids to be around while adults are having sex. Before 1900, most people in the Europe and the United States were farmers. So, not only did kids watch their parents having sex, but they watched the animals on the farm having sex on a daily basis. I knew a kid who came from a farm and he told me that one of his duties was to give the stallion a hand job to "get him started" in cases where the horse was bushed and was not mounting on his own.
Upvote:1
This is a question without anything possible but anecdotal answers. The first comprehensive sexual scientific study wasn't until 1948 when Alfred Kinsey produced Sexual Behavior in the Human Male. In 1966, Masters & Johnson produced Human Sexual Response. Unfortunately for your question, neither of these studies concentrated on Sexual Awareness of Children in Lower Class Families of the 19th Century. (First, thank you for allowing me to use the word sexual legitimately so many times and second, that sounds like a great title for a thesis... hmmmm)
During the major industrial revolution, in the cities, families were actually down-sizing, but your description of family nighttime life is pretty spot on, in that there was often a single room, and if lucky a single bed. This was not only true for lower class first world countries, but second- and third-world ones as well. My own thoughts on the matter are that youngsters (pre-pubescent) wouldn't be likely to understand or comprehend the moans and groans and movements they may have witnessed, but the older teenagers certainly would.
However, as the majority of older children worked, be it on the farm, or in the city, they'd be more likely to be sound asleep rather than spying on mom and dad's shenanigans.
Upvote:5
Parents would wait for the kids to fall asleep before intercourse and try to do it quietly.
If a kid would wake up, s/he would usually not understand what was happening.
PS. "sex usually in private" is one of the very long list of "human universals" in the appendix to Pinker's "The Language Instinct" (yes, I know he was citing someone else).
PPS. This is relevant not just to 19th century. Many families in the Soviet Union lived in a single room (kids, parents, and grandparents). This is, actually, my source - anecdotal.
More post
- 📝 What uniform is this (German/WW1?) and could a 15–16 year old be wearing it?
- 📝 Is there any chronology of the repartition of productive capital since -1000 B.C?
- 📝 Why did the US drop nuclear bombs on a weakened Japan?
- 📝 Did Archimedes have any students?
- 📝 Birth by Caesarean Section in Ancient Times
- 📝 How was Euclid's Elements likely written?
- 📝 Was Marc Antony with Julius Caesar when he crossed the Rubicon?
- 📝 What was the Soviet role in Syria during the Cold-War?
- 📝 is this a correct ottoman map in year 1803m
- 📝 Where can I find an explanation of the variations in style of Egyptian hieroglyphs?
- 📝 Did the Romans see Africa as a black continent? Was there a perception of a divide between Africa and Europe?
- 📝 Were metal purities in coins well known and standardized by the 1500s?
- 📝 Did "droit du seigneur" actually exist in medieval Europe?
- 📝 What was the travel time from Zagreb to Pittsburgh in 1895?
- 📝 What is the historical basis for the claim that "Taiwan has always been part of China"?
- 📝 Why was agriculture more conducive to slavery in U.S. South than the North?
- 📝 Was garlic an Egyptian deity, based on Pliny the Elder's "Natural History" (Book XIX, Ch 32)?
- 📝 How could West Berlin had access West Germany/world while the wall was up?
- 📝 Did the US and Soviet navies really come close to blows in the Indian Ocean in 1971?
- 📝 Was the Zimmerman Telegram a ruse on the US or a way of Germany to incite Mexico to declare war on the US?
- 📝 Most fought over piece of land?
- 📝 When did Warren Harding say "I am not fit to be president." Why?
- 📝 When was the last cavalry charge?
- 📝 Why would a rifleman have his bayonet fixed to the rifle in a non-combat situation?
- 📝 How Many Members of US Congress Have Died While In Office?
- 📝 What percent of the Roman Republic's population were citizens in various centuries?
- 📝 What was the primary source Brugsch used to argue for Egyptian monotheism?
- 📝 Was Islam really responsible for the Italian Renaissance?
- 📝 Are there historic examples of slave emancipation leading to mass starvation?
- 📝 Was there a priest on the Titanic who stayed on the ship giving confession to as many as he could?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 In XIXth century lower classes families, was it common for kids to witness their parent's intercourse?
- 📝 Was the act of servicemen exchanging their weapons for enemy weapons common during WWII?
- 📝 Was frequent bathing for personal hygiene in medieval Europe common or not?
- 📝 Why did families in 6th century Mecca send their babies to be raised in the desert?
- 📝 How common was banditry in 16th & 17th century Great Britain and Ireland?
- 📝 How common was it for people to live 80+ years in the 17th century?
- 📝 How common was it for un-documented ships to bring settlers to the American colonies 1700-1750
- 📝 How common was it for Americans to visit Europe in the late 19th century?
- 📝 Was the enclosure responsible for the supply of factory workers in 18th and 19th Century England?
- 📝 What was the typical range of travel of a Pennsylvanian resident for everyday life in the late 18th early 19th Century Pennsylvania?
- 📝 Before iron was common, what did common people use for door hinges?
- 📝 Was it common practice for men to kiss on the lips in 1920s USA?
- 📝 How common was the German desire for revenge for the humiliation of 1918 armistice?
- 📝 How did people 'park' their horse and buggy in early 20th century cities? How was theft prevented?
- 📝 What was the Soviet reasoning for developing their Airborne Forces (VDV) into a powerful military branch?
- 📝 How common was it for USAAF aircrews to swap airplanes?
- 📝 In Montgomery, Alabama, how common was it to be arrested for sitting in the incorrect section of the bus?
- 📝 Was it widespread during the 17th and 18th Century for British country people to be evicted and replaced with more profitable agriculture?
- 📝 What was used for writing in 15th century Europe?
- 📝 How common was it for Red Cross personnel to fight (in both World Wars)?
- 📝 Why did Uesugi Kenshin never marry? Was it common practice for Japanese Buddhists of the time?
- 📝 Why was 17th Century England a particularly supportive place for groundbreaking thought?
- 📝 How common among Abolitionists was the goal of complete civil equality for Blacks?
- 📝 Was it common for unmarried couples to live in the same hotel room in Europe of the 1930es?
- 📝 Was the Times of London available for sale in 19th century Singapore?
- 📝 What incentives were there for Soviet and Chinese politicians to try climb to the top when there was so much history of deposing their own?
- 📝 Is there any resource to learn interiors of a house for particular classes in 17th Century in Bohemia?
- 📝 Was it common to address politicians by their first names / nicknames in the past?
- 📝 How common was it for archaeologists in past eras to believe in giants?
- 📝 Was there social pressure among whites for slave owners to trade their slaves north in the 1850s?