Ideology and Sexuality Among Victorian Women

Ideology and Sexuality among Victorian Women
Author(s): Nancy S. Landale and Avery M. Guest

Source: Social Science History, Vol. 10, No. 2 (Summer, 1986), pp. 147-170
Published by: Cambridge University Press
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Ideologyand Sexuality
amongVictorian Women
NANCY S. LANDALE & AVERY M. GUEST
IN RECENTYEARS,Americansocietyhas engaged in what is fre-

quentlydescribedas a "sexualrevolution"
involvingsignificant
changesin relationships
betweenmenand women.As a resultof
extensivesocialsurveys,
weknowthatbothspecificbehaviors
and
the prevailingideologyregarding standardsof be-
appropriate
haviorhavebeensubjecttorapidchange.In thepasttwodecades,
ratesof sexualintercourse have increased(Hunt,
and intimacy
1974; Westoff,1974), use of effectivecontraceptionhas become
widespread, and it is increasingly
acceptedthata physicaland
emotionalattraction betweenmembers oftheoppositesex might
lead to a sexual relationship. In short,participation
in sexual
activityhas cometo be seenas a naturaloutgrowth oftheenjoy-
mentofsex.
Unfortunately, our long-term historicalknowledgeof sexual
behaviorthroughsurveysis muchmorelimited.Whilea vast
NancyS. Landaleis a Ph.D. candidatein theDepartment of Sociology,Uni-

versityof Washington.AveryM. Guestis professorof Sociology,Universityof
Washington, Seattle,Washington,
98195.
This Researchhas been partially
supportedbya grant,U.S. Fertilityin 19oo,
fromtheNationalInstituteofChildHealthand Development. Weareespecially
gratefultoJamesMcCannand ThomasPullumfortheiradviceand encourage-
mentin thisresearch.Daniel ScottSmithalso providedextremely usefulcom-
mentson a previousversionofthispaper.
Social ScienceHistoryio:2 (Summer1986). Copyright ? 1986by theSocial
Science HistoryAssociation. ccc o145-5532/86 /$1.50.
148 SOCIAL SCIENCE HISTORY
literature
hasanalyzedhistorical
patternsofsexualbehavior,most
studieshavebeenbasedon indirect or"unobtrusive"sourcessuch
as correspondence, statements
medicalliterature, inthemassme-
dia, and publicreportsof conflicts the
involving family.Results
fromonlya smallnumberofpre-World WarII surveysareavail-
able, and mostof the well-known pioneeringsurveys (Davis,
1929; Dickinson and Beam, 1932; Hamilton, 1929) were con-
ducted in the 1920S.
In theearly1970s,Stanford
historian
CarlDeglersubstantially
improved our temporal of Americansexualbe-
understanding
haviorby discoveringinterviews women
with45 Victorian-era
whichwere completedbetween1892 and 1920 by Clelia Mosher,
a Stanford andphysician.
biologist HousedintheStanford
library,
Mosher'sinterviews includedextensive aboutsexual
information
behavior,buttheresultshad neverbeen published.Subsequent
provocativeanalysesoftheMosherdata(Campbell,1979;Degler,
1974, 1980; Jacob, 1981) have expanded greatlyour knowledgeof
Victorian-era sexualbehavior.
MostpreviousanalysesoftheMosherdata haveconcentrated
on describing theoverallcharacteristicsof thesamplein regard
to sexualbehavior.Littleis knownaboutvariationsamongthe
samplewhendividedbyimportant socialand attitudinal
charac-
In particular,
teristics. we have limitedinformation concerning
whether socialvariationsinsexualbehaviorweresimilartothose
foundin more"modern"samples.For instance, we do notknow
whether theallegedcontemporary relationshipbetweentheenjoy-
mentof and extentof participation in sexualactivity
was also
oftheseVictorian-era
characteristic women.
Thispaperconcentrates on thesocialand attitudinal
correlates
ofself-reported idealand actualratesofcoitalfrequency among
theMosherwomen.In disagreeing withpreviousanalysesofthe
Mosherdata,we attempt to determine themajorfeatures ofVic-
toriancultureand social structure whichled womento engage
frequently in sexualintercourse.For comparative purposes,we
shallalso analyzetheresponses ofmarried femalerespondentsto
a 1974research on sexualbehaviorwhichwasfilled
questionnaire
outbythereadersof Psychology Todaymagazine.Bothsamples
primarily consistofwell-educated, middleto upper-middle class
women.
Ideologyand Sexuality I49
Victorian
VICTORIAN-ERA BEHAVIOR
Whenstarting hisreporton theMosherdata,Deglerechoedthe

conventional wisdom."As everyschoolgirlknows,"he indicates
(1974: 1467),"thenineteenth centurywas afraidofsex,particu-
larlywhenitmanifested inwomen."Bytheendofhisreport,
itself
he had presenteda fardifferent imageof Victorian-era sexual
behavior.According (1974: 1486),"a frank
to his interpretation
and sometimes acceptanceofsexualrelations
enthusiastic wasthe
responsefrommostofthewomen." heconcludes(1974:
Elsewhere,
1488) ".. . thatamong thesewomen sexual relationswere neither
Basingher
rejectednorengagedin withdistasteor reluctance."
conclusions partlyon Degler's report,Jacob (1981: 57) argues
thattheMosherdataindicatedVictorian-era womenapproached
sexualactivitywith"gusto."
Mostofthesupporting evidenceforDegler'snon-conventional
interpretationof Victorian-erabehavioris based on the direct
reports oftheMosherwomen,indicating thata largenumber had
experienced pleasurefromsexualcontactandhadregular orgasms
(some 35.5% said they"usually"or "always"had a venereal
orgasm).He attributed the alleged"fearof sex" mythabout
Victorian-era womenprimarily to a tendency amonghistorians
adviceofmedicalmanualsas indicators
to use theprescriptive of
actual behavior.From Degler's perspective(1974: 1490), "histori-
ans need to recognizethattheattitudesof ordinary peopleare
quitecapableofresisting to reshapeor alterthem."
efforts
Whilesome historians writingabout the Victorianera have
womenexperienced
assertedthatVictorian fewsexualfeelingsof
any kind (Cominos, 1972; Tannahill, I980), Degler's reportof
sexualpleasureamongtheMosherwomenis quiteconsistent with
scholarlyanalysesof theVictorianera whichemphasizethero-
manticnatureofmarriage (Gordon,1976;Waller,1982; formore
qualifiedevidence,see Gordonand Bernstein, 1970).Apparently
marriageamongmanycoupleswas as mucha productof the
heartas ofcontract or logic.Furthermore, theVictoriansenseof
romantic loveplacedconsiderable emphasis on the nature
spiritual
ofthemaritalbond,and sex was seenas a of
way enhancing that
closeness.
spiritual What seems most and
striking unusualabout
Degler'sinitialinterpretationsof the Mosherdata is thatthe
womenallegedly expressed enthusiasm aboutthesexualactitself

ratherthanconfining theirinterest
totheemotional-spiritual bond
withtheirhusband.
Otherinterpretations of theMosherdata havesuggestedless
historicalcontinuityin sexual behavior.In a lateranalysisof
theMosherdata (I980), Deglerre-affirms hisargument thatthe
womenwererelatively "modern"intheirenjoyment ofsexualbe-
havior.However, unlikehisoriginal1974discussion, he recognizes
whatappearsto be a disconcerting patternin the Mosher data,
the
namely relatively low rateof "ideal"coitus compared the
to
actualrateas reported by thewomen (Degler,I980: 295). Intui-
this
tively, would suggestthat the women mighthavesomereti-
cenceaboutsexualrelations. ButDeglerbelievesthatthewomen
were"using"therateofcoitusas a toolforpowerbargaining in
thehousehold.Bywithholding sexfromtheirhusbands(whopre-
sumablydesireda highrateofcoitus),womencouldexertcontrol
overotherhouseholddecisions.Thispowerwas particularly im-
portantin an economy where married women had limitedwork-
forceopportunities and thuslittleopportunity to challengethe
husband'soccupationaldominance(Smith,1973). While Degler's
is plausible,he didnotinvestigate
hypothesis inrates
differentials
ofcoitusto determinewhether thedata supported hisviewpoint
orwhether theMosherwomensincerely desireda lowfrequency.
Campbell (1979) providesa moremixedinterpretation
ofsexual
behavioramongthe Mosherwomen.Whileacknowledging that
61% ofthewomencitedpleasureas a reasonforsexualrelations,
shealso notesthatnearlyall reported as a reason
"reproduction"
(1979: 87). Furthermore,"love" and "necessity"were frequently
citedas rationalizations,
in conjunction
withor in theabsenceof
reportsconcerning "pleasure."
She also indicatesotherpatterns
in thedata whichare noten-
tirelyconsistentwiththeidea thatVictorian-erawomengained
greatpleasurefromsexualrelationships.Forinstance,aboutone-
thirdofthewomenanswering thequestionindicated
thattheydid
nothabitually sleepwiththeirhusbands(Campbell,1979:84). In
fact,someofthewomenvolunteered thattheyhadlittlepersonal
desireto sleepwiththeirhusbands.
Campbell(1979: 85) also pointsout a relativelylow rateof
actualcoitus,comparedwiththatreported inthewell-known 1953
KinseyReport.Furthermore, sherecognizestheevenlowerrate
Victorian
Ideologyand Sexuality 15
of ideal sex amongthe Mosherwomen.In contrastto Degler,

Campbellarguesthatthewomenhada relatively lowinvolvement
in sexualrelationsbecausetheyfearedpregnancy.Even though
mostof thewomenused someformof contraception, thetech-
niquesweregenerally lesseffective
thanthoseusedtoday.In sup-
portof herview,she showsthatthemeansexualfrequency per
weekamongthe Mosherwomenfollowedlittleregulardecline
withage; otherdata showthatcoitalfrequency declines
typically
withage and maritaldurationin mostcontemporarypopulations
(Kinsey et al., 1953; Hunt, 1974). The relativelyhigh rates of
sexualintercourse amongthe older Mosherwomen,especially
thoseover50, wereattributed to a lowfearof pregnancy,
since
theirbiologicalabilityto bearchildrenhad presumably
ended.
VIEW
AN ALTERNATE
In thispaper,we presentan alternateinterpretation of sexual
behaviorwithintheMoshersample.Our viewmightbe labelled
sinceit is primarily
"conventional," consistent withmanypre-
viousanalysesof Victorian-erasexualbehavior, at leastuntilthe
discoveryof the Mosherdata. Accordingto thisview,many
womenviewedsexualrelations
Victorian-era as important within
marriage,buta largenumberalso failedto perceivea basic hu-
man need forfrequentsexualintercourse. The prevailing view
withinVictoriansocietyseemedto be thatcouples,particularly
women,simplydid not need morethana minimalamountof
divertthemselves
coitus,orcould,alternatively, tootheractivities
yieldinggreatersocialand materialrewards(Reed, 1978:Ryan,
1981).
A succinctstatementofthetypicalVictorian female's
perceived
needforsex is providedby Hale:
Sexual repression,modesty, and innocencewereassociated
withmiddle-and upper-class women.Thesetraitswerethe
sexualequivalents and refinement.
ofsocialgentility Women
wereexpectedto be "ministering angels,"creaturesof"more
heavenly endowments" [Hale, 1966:42].
Giventhisliterature,we believethatthefrequency of sexual
intercourse
among Victoriancoupleslargely their
reflected beliefs
abouttheimportance ofsexualrelations as a basichumanneed.
In turn,coitalfrequency is likelytohavehadlittlerelationship to
of
perceptions pleasure from sexualactivityitself.
Severalexplanations havebeenoffered to accountfortheap-
parent denialof theneedfor sexamong Victorian-erawomen.One
important explanationcenters on high social among
aspirations
Victorianmenand women,whichwereperceivedas attainable
only througha highdegreeof self-denial(Rosenberg,1973).
Cominos(1963),forexample,notesthattheriseof themerito-
craticcareerand individual concernswithestablishing socialpo-
sitionin VictorianEnglandled mento delaymarriageuntila
late age. Frequentsexualintercourse
relatively was apparently
perceived as a drainon individual In
energy. addition, highrates
of coitusalso posed a seriouseconomicthreat,forthefemale
partner wouldhaveto be supported, and an accidentalpregnancy
wouldbe costly.Periodsof abstinencewerealso allegedlycom-
monamongmarriedcouplesattempting to avoidconceptionto
furtherstatusattainment(Banks, I981).
Othershaveinterpreted Victorianattitudes abouttheneedfor
sexualintercourse withinthecontextof broadersocialand cul-
turalconstraints.Waller(1982), forinstance, viewsmanyupper-
classVictoriansas seekingthestabilityofromanceand thefamily
amidstdramaticsocialchangessuchas urbanization and indus-
trialization;
yet,the need forsexual intercourse was repressed be-
cause manyindividuals believedthatrecognition ofsucha need
wouldleadtounrestrained sexualrelations,evenoutsidethehome,
and thuscontribute to thedestruction ofthefamily.
Whiletheabove literature is suggestive, we do not actually
knowwhether sexualactivity was divorcedfromperceptions of
pleasureamongVictorian-era women.Wearealsoignorant about
thetypesof attitudes whichweremoststrongly correlated with
coitalfrequency.Some suggestive data are provided in studiesof
sexual behaviorwhichwereconductedduringthe1920S. In one
project,Hamilton(1929) investigated the relationships among
variousrelevantvariablesin a sampleof Ioo middle-to upper-
statuscouplesin New YorkCity.Amongotherpatterns, he finds
thatforboth men and womenself-perceived intensity of sex
desirehad an inverserelationship to generalmaritalsatisfaction
(Hamilton,1929: 538). Analyzingresultsfroma mailquestion-
naire,Davis (1929: 215) determined the relationship between
happinesswith"yourlifeas a whole"and feelings aboutsexual
Victorian
activityforI,ooo marriedwomen.Those womenwho reported

"no sex feelingor sex experience"
(12.4%ofthesample)had the
highest of
degree happiness.
OTHER HYPOTHESES
Our viewthatvariations in Victorian-era

sexualactivity among
womenprimarily reflected outlooks
ideological does notpreclude
the possibility
thatotherfactorswerealso important. Further-
it is
more, possible that otherexplanationswere more important
thantheonewe haveemphasized. UsingtheMosherdata,wealso
considerthepossibility in ratesof sexualinter-
thatdifferences
coursewereprimarily due to familyplanningpatterns, age and
maritalduration,healthfactors,and attributesassociatedwith
socialcharacteristics.
Wediscusseachofthesepossibilitiesinturn.
Family Planning
As notedearlier,Campbell'sanalysisoftheMosherdataempha-
sizedtheimportance ofpregnancycontrol inunderstandingvaria-
tionsin ratesof coitus.However,shedid notactuallyrelatethe
degreeand natureoffertilitycontrolamongthewomento their
sexualbehavior.
The majority oftheMosherwomendid practicesomeformof
control.
fertility The principalmethodsmentioned in theinter-
viewsweredouche,withdrawal, use of thecondom,and absti-
nenceduringtheunsafepartofthemonth(althoughthewomen
werefrequently misinformedaboutthemonthly cycle).Sinceuse
ofbarrier-typemethodsrepresents advanceoverthe
a significant
othermethods, we mightexpectsuchuse to be associatedwitha
reducedfearof pregnancy and consequenthigherfrequency of
bothactualand idealratesofintercourse.
Age and Duration of Marriage

One wouldpredictthattheearlyyearsofmarriage wouldbe the
timeofmostfrequent sexualactivity. women,how-
Victorian-era
ever,oftenenteredintomarriage into
afteryearsofsocialization
theVictorianstandard.Ryan(I981) notes,forexample,thatdur-
ingthecourseofthenineteenth century,maleand femalerealms
of activitybecamequite separate,largelybecause males were

increasinglyemployed awayfromthehome.As a result,maternal
oftheyoungtookon unprecedented
socialization importance.Be-
cause womenwereconsidered theguardiansof temperance and
publicmorality, younggirlsreceivedconsiderable exposureto a
normative climatefavoring sexualrestraint.
Additionally,young
girlsgrew up havingverylittlecontactwithboys and men
(Dyhouse,1981). The internalization of the Victorianideology
coupled with a lack of cross-sex
tiesbeforemarriagemayhave
madeyoungwomenparticularly reticentaboutsex. The sexual
of theearlyyearsof marriagemayhave
interestcharacteristic
beentempered bysuch reticence.
HealthFactors
Victorian-eracouples,especiallywomen,werebelievedto be af-
witha variety
flicted ofphysical andemotional illnesses,
including
nervousness,melancholia, chronicheadache,and dyspepsia(gas-
trointestinal one mightarguethatcouples
upset).Superficially,
from
suffering theseand otherproblemswouldvoluntarily restrict
theirsexualactivity.
In fact,someoftheprescriptiveliterature
of
theperiodwarnsagainstexcessivesexualintercourse becauseof
thesupposednegative ofsexon generalhealth(Rosenberg,
effect
1973). Consistentwiththis,Davis (1929: 213) findsin hersample
ofmarriedwomenthatself-reported
"nervousbreakdowns" were
low
disproportionately amongthose "no
reporting sex feelingor
experience."
Social Characteristics
An important butambiguousfactorin understanding Victorian
sexualbehaviorwas thesocialpositionof thewomen.As noted
earlier,someanalystsof Victorian-erasexualbehaviorhaveem-
phasized "moral
restraint" becauseof urbanupper-middle class
socialand economicaspirations. However,thisfactoris notlikely
tobe importantas an explanationofdifferences
withintheMosher
samplebecausethesamplewas essentially upper-middle classin
composition.
Morelikely,wecanviewthesocialcharacteristicsoftheMosher
womenas important in indicating
thedegreeto whichtheymore
Victorian
generally heldtraditional, conservativeas opposedto liberal,pro-

gressiveattitudes.The Mosherinterviews werecollectedduring
theendoftheVictorian era,and weknowthatthefeminist move-
mentwas championed, at leastto someextent,by urban,well-
educatedwomen(Jensen,1973).Suchwomenwouldpresumably
be lessrestrainedbyVictorian-era moralvaluesthanothers.Fur-
thermore, contemporary studiesshowthatlesstraditional values
aboutsocialrelationships and issuesare mostoftenespousedby
personswithurbanresidenceand higheducationalattainments
(Fischer,1982: 68-76). It isforthesereasonsthatwemightexpect
theeducatedurban-reared womento mostclearlybreakfreefrom
theVictorian normin regardto sexualbehavior.
Usingtheinterviews of theMosherwomen,we shalltestthe
usefulness ofthesehypotheses inexplaining variationsinboththe
"ideal" and actual ratesof coitus.The relativestrength of the
arguments willbe determined bytherelationshipsbetween appro-
priateindicatorsandsexualactivity. Beforetestingthehypotheses,
we providea description ofthedataand ofourcodingprocedure.
THE MOSHER DATA
The interviewscollectedbetween1892 and 1920 by Mosher have

certainlimitations
becausethesampleis smalland derivedfrom
an unspecified
population.It is notclearhow Mosherobtained
all herrespondents,
butmostwereapparently acquaintancesor
friends, duringheracademiccareerat Stanford
especially and the
University of thewomenshe
of Wisconsin.!The vast majority
interviewedwerebornand grewup beforetheturnofthecentury.
Six of the 45 women were born before 1850; 30 were born be-
9 werebornbetween1875
tween1850and 1875;theremaining
and 19oo.
Mostofthewomenweremarriedto upper-middle classmen,
thosewithacademiccareers.Furthermore,
especially thewomen
werea highlyeducatedgroup.Some 22 werecollegegraduates;
an additional13 had attendedcollegeor normalschool.David
oftheMosher
and Sanderson(1978)havearguedthatthefertility
womenis representativeofthatofthewivesofurbanprofessionals
in 19io. Degler (1980) has furtherassertedthatthislink suggests
and behaviors
thattheattitudes intheMosherdatamay
described
representthoseof thelargergroup.
The originalinterviews addressedan impressive numberof

topics,including family and
background respondent health,sexu-
ality,and birth history.The interviews were especially usefulfor
the
tapping ideological dimensions ofsexual for
behavior, Mosher
askedmostof herrespondents, "Whatdo you believeto be the
truepurposeof intercourse?" This questionwas followedbyin-
quiries about specificpurposes,including"necessity to man,"
to and
"necessity women,""pleasure," "reproduction." Mosher's
interestin "necessity"seemsto tap theVictorian-era beliefthat
adultshad the moralcourageto restrainthemselves sexually.
Womensometimes elaborated verballyon theirresponses tothese
questions; in almost all cases theyprovided rather clear-cut an-
swers.Beliefsin thevalueof intercourse for"reproduction" are
notanalyzedsincetheresponsewasalmostuniversally positive.
In analyzingthe correlatesof sexualintercourse amongthe
Mosherwomen,we wereforcedin manycasesto recodeanswers
intodiscretecategories.WhileMosherdid notprovidediscrete
closed-ended categories as foundin manycontemporary surveys,
theresponsesofthewomensuggestthattheytypically answered
questions(or weredirectedto answerquestions)withratherspe-
cificcodeableresponses.The twoauthorsseparately coded the
data withhighcorrespondence. AppendixI liststhe questions
usedto indicatethevariablesincludedin theanalysis.
SincetheMoshersampleis smalland notclearlydrawnfroma
well-defined universe,thereare seriousproblems in determining
whether patternsin the data would be replicated thetrueuni-
for
verseof Victorian-era women.It is unlikely thata largerand/or
morerepresentative sample will be found, thuswebelievethat
and
almostanyrelationship hassomesubstantive interest.Ourgeneral
approach, involves
therefore, emphasizing the relative sizeofrela-
in the
tionships adjudicating importance of various hypotheses.
Whilestandardtestsof statistical significance are reportedfor
therelationships, theseonlyindicatewhether thenullhypothesis
wouldbe rejectedifthesampleis representative of somelarger
universe.
In judgingthestrength of relationships amongvariables,we
have decided to follow the standards set by Davis (1971: 49),
based on his experiencein analyzinga largenumberof cross-
tabulations
withgammameasures.He claimsthatany relation-
shiplessthan.Io inabsolutesizemaybe considered"negligible?'
Abovethisabsolutelevel,he usesthefollowing terms:
descriptive
Victorian
.Io0 to .29, "low"; .30 to .49, "moderate";above .50, "substantial."

Exceptfortheverylast sectionof thepaper,we reportonly
Multivariate
bivariaterelationships. analysisis possiblewiththe
dataand wasattempted bytheinvestigators.
However, theoverall
smallsamplesizemeantthatmanycellsin,say,a three-way cross
tabulationwouldhavea verysmallabsoluteexpectation ofcases.
The multivariate resultswerethusgenerally verydifficultto in-
Ordinaryleastsquaresmultipleregression
terpret. analysiswas
largelyprecludedby the categoricalnatureof the data. Even
suchdummy variabletechniques classification
as multiple analysis
overkillwithsucha smallsample.
struckus as statistical
The data fromthe 1974 PsychologyToday researchquestion-
naireon sex are includedprimarily becausethetwosamplesare
similarintheiremphasis onwell-educated womenbutdiffer inthe
period ofobservation.Some 51.2% oftheMosher respondentswho
reported educationalattainment werecollegegraduates;
49.7%of
themarriedrespondents to thesamequestionin thePsychology
Todaysurveywerealso collegegraduates. Whilethequestionsin
thetwosurveys do notoverlapcompletely, thereis enoughsimi-
larityto suggestsomeof thedifferences betweencontemporary
and Victorian-era sexualbehavior.The codingschemeutilizedin
ouranalysisofthePsychology Todaydatais presentedin Appen-
dix 2.2
FINDINGS
Beforeturning to hypothesis we presentin Table I the

testing,
ofintercourse
actualandidealfrequencies reported bytheMosher
women.As previously noted,the Mosherwomenreportedlow
frequenciesforbothactualand idealcoitus.Fully50.0% of the
womenengagedin sexual intercourse less thanonce a week.
Moreover, 71.4% ofthe28 responding reported for
a preference
engagingincoituslessthanoncea week.For64.0%oftheMosher
respondents (who answeredbothquestions),thereportedideal
frequencyofintercoursewaslowerthantheactualfrequency. Un-
forreasonswhichare not clear,a segmentof the
fortunately,
samplewasnotaskedaboutidealfrequency ofsexualrelationsor
refusedto answerthequestion.
The Mosherwomenstandin sharpcontrast to contemporary
women.TableI presents reported coital
frequencies amongmar-
riedfemalerespondents to the1974survey. In thissample,only
Table I Reported frequencyof intercourse:Mosher women (actual

and ideal) and contemporarymarriedwomen (actual)
MosherWomen
Actual Ideal
Timespermonth Frequency Percent Frequency Percent
o-I 8 18.2 13 46.4
2-3 14 31.8 7 25.0
4-5 8 18.2 6 21.4
6-7 5 11.4 I 3.6
8+ 9 20.4 I 3.6
N=44 Ioo.o N=28a I00.0
MarriedWomen
Contemporary
Actual-Women
Frequencyof Actual-All Women Over30
b
intercourse Frequency Percent Frequency Percent
Neveror Rarely 30 6.4 23 10.3
I-2 Times a Month 47 Io.o 27 12.1
I-2 Times a Week 176 37.6 96 42.9
3-4 Times a Week 153 32.7 59 26.3
5 or More Weekly 48 10.3 16 7.1
Daily or More Often 14 3.0 3 1.3
N=468 I00.0 N=224 100.0
Sources: MaHood, Jamesand KristineWenberg,eds. (I980) The Mosher
Survey:Sexual Attitudesof 45 VictorianWomen.New York: Arno Press.
Note: The Moshersurveyswerepublishedin theirentirety in thisvolume,
whichwas thesourceofdata forthepresentanalysis.1974PsychologyToday
ResearchQuestionnaireon Sex.
a. Validresponsesto thisquestionwereavailablefromonly28 oftheMosher
women.While37 womenansweredthequestion,9 oftheresponsescouldnot
be quantified.
b. Thiscodingschemeforfrequency ofintercourseis theoriginalbreakdown
fromthe PsychologyTodayquestionnaire. It shouldbe notedthattheleap
fromI-2 timesa monthto I-2 timesa weekexcludesintermediate possi-
bilities.Additionally,
the highesttwocategoriesare notmutuallyexclusive.
Becausenothingcan be doneafterthefactaboutsuchshortcomings, we have
lefttheschemeintact.
Victorian
16.4%ofthewomenreported engagingin sexualintercourse less

thanoncea week.The Psychology Todaywomenwere,on aver-
age,somewhatyounger thantheMosherwomenwhensurveyed
(30 ofthe37 Mosherwomenwitha specific reported age wereat
least30 at thetimeoftheinterview). Butevenamongthecontem-
porarywomenat least30 yearsold (and thusperhapsthemost
comparableto theMosherwomen),only22.4% claimedsexual
intercourse occurredless thanonce a week.3Unfortunately, in-
formation on idealfrequency wasnotavailableinthe1974survey.
Table 2 presentsthe bivariaterelationships betweenvarious
predictors and frequency of idealand actualsexualintercourse.
Firstfocusing on idealbehavior, wefindthemostinteresting rela-
tionshipsdealwithresponses tothequestionMosheraskedabout
the"necessity of sex."The beliefthatcoitusis necessaryto the
femaleis clearlythestrongest positivecorrelate ofidealsex. The
importance of needin understanding idealratesof sexualinter-
courseis indicatedby thefactthat,of the II womenwho per-
ceivedcoitusas a necessity, 9 reported theiridealrateof sexual
intercourse as greaterthanoncea month.In contrast, of the17
womenwhodidnotfeelsexualintercourse wasa necessity, only6
desiredcoitusmorethanoncea month.The relationship between
thenecessity ofsex and theidealamountwas theonlycoefficient
to achievestatistical significance in our investigation of sexual
intercourse. Male need,as perceived bythefemale,is also a sub-
stantialcorrelateof ideal ratesof coitus.However,it does not
achievestatistical significanceat theconventional .05 level.
Our findings abouttherelationship betweentheperceivedne-
cessityof sex and idealbehaviormaybe clearlycontrasted with
thoseconcerning the"pleasure"variables.Pleasurefromsex is
essentiallyunrelated to idealratesofsexualintercourse. A negli-
giblepositiverelationship was foundbetweenthereported plea-
surefromsexandidealfrequency ofsex.Moreover, thefrequency
oforgasmis actuallyrelatedto idealratesofcoitusin a negative
direction.The sexualenjoyment variablesarealso relatedin nega-
tivepatternswiththeactualfrequency of intercourse. Whatis
important to noteabouttheserelationships is nottheirstrength
buttherefutation oftheideathatenjoyment ofsexualintercourse
necessarily leads to greaterfrequency of it.
The findings do notseemto supportDegler'sinterpretation of
Victorian-era motivation forsexualrelations.Nevertheless, it is
60o SOCIAL SCIENCE HISTORY
Table 2 Bivariate Gammas: ideal sex

and actual sex by predictorvariables
Female
Actual necessity
Ideal sex sex ofsex
I. Sexual Enjoyment
a. pleasure fromsex .098 -.233 -597*
b. frequencyof orgasm -.156 -.342 -159
II. BeliefsRegarding the Necessityof Sex

a. to the female .652* -.-136
b. to the malea .507 -.074 I.ooo*b
III. Reproductionand Contraception

a. contraceptiveeffectiveness .286 -.185 -373
b. numberof livingchildren .o81 .io8 .708*
IV. Health Factors

a. sanguine wife -.o034 .119 .448
b. good physical health,wife .172 .408 .141
c. sanguine husband .143 .282 .000
d. good physical health,husband .222 -.204 .254
V. Age and Marriage

a. age of woman -.143 -.095 .371
b. maritalduration -.075 .308 .434
VI. Social Characteristics

a. urban woman -.073 .310 .034
b. college graduate .270 .352 .161
*Statistically at the.o5 level,one-tailedtest.
significant
a. It should be notedthatbeliefsregardingthe male need forsex are the
femalerespondents' perceptionsofsuchneed.
b. The valueofgammawillequal I.ooo whenvariablesare dichotomized and
any cell has no observations.
No respondents feltsex was necessaryforwo-
menbutnotformen.
possiblethatwomenwhofailedto citethenecessity ofsex were

simplyprovidinga sociallyacceptablelegitimation
fortheiruseof
sexualrelations
tocontrol theirhusbands.Yet,mostofthewomen
(24 of29) whoindicated forthem-
as unnecessary
sexualrelations
selvesalso madethesameclaimsfortheirhusbands.Sex would
presumably havelittleuse as a bargainingagentwhenthehus-
banddid notperceivea needforcoitus.
Victorian
The women'sdifficulties in controllingsexualactivity are fur-

thersuggestedby thesurprisingly low Gamma(.347) between
ideal and actual ratesof coitus.Actualactivitywas relatedto
idealsbuthardlyin a strongfashion.A largepotentialinfluence
of the husband,or joint decision-making, is suggestedby the
relationship.
On thewhole,theothervariablesin Table 2 do notcorrelate
verywellwithidealfrequency ofintercourse byalmostanyabso-
lutestandards. The associations mustbe described as lowat best.
The secondstrongest relationshipin thetable is evident forcon-
traceptive The
effectiveness.4 absence of a stronger relationship
couldbe duetothefactthatnoneofthecontraceptive methods of
theperiod(withtheexception ofthediaphragm, whichwas used
byonlytwoof thewomen)had highreliability. Use of thecon-
dom,whileperhapsmoreeffective thanwithdrawal or douche,
stillcouldnotalleviateconcernsaboutpregnancy.
Also notableis thepositivebutlowassociation betweeneduca-
tionandidealratesofsexualintercourse. Consistent withtheasser-
tionthateducationfostersnon-traditionalism, collegegraduates
preferred to engagein coituswithgreaterfrequency thanthose
who had notcompletedcollege.Finally,of someinterest is the
factthathealth,lengthofmarriage, and age arehardlyrelatedto
idealratesofsexualintercourse.
As notedearlier, therelationship between idealandactualrates
ofcoituswas onlymoderate, and thusone wouldnotnecessarily
expectthesamecorrelates of thetwoactivity measures.Indeed,
thefemale'sbeliefsconcerning thenecessityofsexareevennega-
tivelyrelatedto actualcoitalrates.Again,theweakbargaining
poweroftheVictorian-era womanis suggested.
Furthermore, indicators of sexualenjoyment are even more
negatively relatedto actualthan idealbehavior. In contrast,while
therelationships are notso strongas one mighthope,character-
isticsrelatedto health,thewomen'sstatusorigins,and marital
cohabitation emergeas thebestcorrelates ofactualbehavior. The
strongest correlateoftheactualamountofcoitusis thewomen's
physicalhealth.Alsooflowimportance amongthehealthfactors
are thewomen'sreportsof theirhusbands'mentalhealth,those
with"sanguine"husbandsengagingin somewhathigherratesof
sexualintercourse thanthosewith"nervous" husbands.However,
husband'sphysicalhealthis negatively relatedto actualbehavior.
Educationand urbanresidencealso turnout to be stronger
correlates ofactualthanidealsexualpractices. The interpretation

of thisresultwouldseemproblematic. As previously discussed,
thesevariablesmayindicatemore"liberal"attitudes aboutsexu-
ality.Ifindeededucationand urbanoriginswereassociatedwith
a moremodernoutlookon sexualmatters, itis unclearwhysuch
an outlookwouldimpactbehaviormorethanideals.
Finally,we have foundthatextendedmaritaldurationsare
moderately associatedwithincreasedsexualactivity, consistent
eitherwithdecreasingsocial distancebetweenthe sexesor de-
creasedfearofcontraceptive failure.Increasedsexualintercourse
seemsmostcharacteristic of marriages whichhavelastedmore
thanIo years.Thus,8 of12womenwithmarital durations greater
than20 yearsreported a sexualfrequency ofat least4 timesper
month, as did6 of8 womenwhoweremarried betweenIo and 19
In
years. contrast, only 6 of 19 women with marriages oflessthan
Io yearsengaged in sexual intercourse as frequently 4 timesa
as
month.
Our resultsseemmoresupportive ofthesocialdistancerather
thancontraceptive failurehypothesis. Theyconflict clearlywith
Campbell's(1979: 86) analysis of the same in
data, whichshe
foundthatwomenovertheage of50 had an unusually highrate
of sexualintercourse. As Table 2 shows,we founda negligible
association between ageandactualsexualactivity. The differences
inourfindings do notresultfromtheslightvariations inagecate-
but
gorization may stem partlyfrom other variations in methods.
In herstudy, shepresented only mean ratesof sexual intercourse.
It turnsout that5 of the 7 womenwho said theyhad sexual
intercourse at least8 timespermonthwereover45,thusinflating
anyresulting average.At thesametime,3 of the6 womenwho
had sex no morethanoncea monthwerealso over45. We have
founda weakerrelationship betweenage and sexualactivity be-
causeour methodofcross-tabulation gives less weight(than the
averages)to theextremely highcases.
Some ofthestriking changesin sexualbehaviorare suggested
by our analysis,presented in Table 3, of thecorrelates of coital
frequency amongthe1974Psychology Todaywomen.Unfortu-
nately,thenumberand rangeofvariableswas notso greatas in
theMoshersurvey.Furthermore, sincethecontemporary women
werenotaskedabouttheiridealfrequency ofsexualintercourse,
theanalysisis restricted toexamination ofthecorrelates ofactual
sexualfrequency.
VictorianIdeology and Sexuality 163
Table 3 Bivariate Gammas: Actual sex by

predictorvariables, contemporarywomen
ActualSex
I. Sexual Enjoyment
a. enjoymentof sex .412*
b. satisfactionwithsex .604*
c. frequencyof orgasm .140
II. Reproduction and Contraception
a. contraceptiveeffectiveness .337*
III. Age and Marriage

a. age of woman -.402*
b. maritalduration -.245*
IV. Social Characteristics

a. urban womana .079
b. college graduate -.048
* Statistically at the.05 level,one-tailedtest.
significant
a. The questionemployedin thismeasureasked respondents about current
place of residence.The urban variable examined in our analysis of the
Mosherdata queriedrespondents aboutresidenceduringchildhood.
Source: 1974Psychology TodayResearchQuestionnaire on Sex.
The moststriking contrastis indicatedbythestrongpositive

relationships 1974surveybetween
inthe actualfrequencyofinter-
courseand bothenjoyment ofand satisfactionwithsex.The data
demonstrate thedegreeto whichsexualrelationshipshaveshifted
to a basisofpleasurefromtheVictorian-era standard.The other
majordifference is therelationshipbetweenlengthof marriage
and actualcoitalfrequency. Contrary to theMosherdata,coital
frequency clearlydecreaseswith increased ofmarriage
longevity
the
among contemporary women.
MARITAL DURATION AND THE NEED FOR SEX
How did theperception of a needforsex ariseamongsomeof

theseVictorian-era women?Unfortunately,we knowlittleabout
thehistoryofthemaritalrelationships.
Nevertheless,someofthe
interview as indicatedby Table 2, in which
data are suggestive,
we also showthe bivariaterelationshipsbetweenthe women's
I64 SOCIAL SCIENCE HISTORY
Table 4 Ideal sex bymaritalduration

bybeliefsregarding thefemaleneedforsex
Idealfrequency Sexnotnecessary Sexnecessary

ofsex(times Marital
duration
(inyears) Marital
duration
(inyears)
permonth) o-9 Io-19 20+ o-9 Io-19 20+
0-I 66.7 33.3 100oo.o 25.0 0.0 20.0
(4) (2) (5) (0)
(I) (I)
2-3 o.o 50.0 o.o 50.0 50.0 20.0
(0) (3) (0) (2) (I) (I)
4+ 33.3 16.7 0.0 25.0 50.0 60.0

(2) (I) (0) (I) (I) (3)
I00.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

(6) (6) (5) (4) (2) (5)
(n=I7) (n=II)
perceivedneedforsexand theotherindependent variablesinthe

analysis.Some of thestrongest relationships mightbe anticipated.
Forinstance, theneedforsexis mostevidentamongwomenwho
obtainedpleasurefromintercourse and wereemotionally "san-
guine,"although neither of these variables is an especiallyuseful
predictor of actualor idealcoitalfrequencies. Furthermore, we
findat leastmoderaterelationships betweentheperceivedneed
forsex and actualreproductive behavior.Womenwhopracticed
fertility
regulation and those with a largenumber ofchildren were
particularly to
apt report a need for sex.
The explanation oftherelationships involving control
fertility
and number ofchildren seemsobscurebutis undoubtedly related
to one of the strongest and most interesting patterns-those
womenwithlong marriages and of olderages are mostapt to
perceivetheneedforsex. Sincefamily planninganda number of
children aremostfrequently foundinthelaterstagesofmarriage,
therelationship betweentheneed forsex and reproductive be-
haviormaypartlybe a resultoflengthofmarriage.5
Thattheideologicalneedforsexwouldincreasewithmarriage
durationis an anomalyin termsof modernAmericanbehavior
butseemsreasonableto us withintheVictorian-era context.As
alreadynoted,menand womeninthisperiodweresocializedinto
Victorian
a worldwhichemphasized socialdistancesbetweenthesexesand
restrainedsexuality within the maritalrelationship.Experience
withinthecompanionate marriagemayhave reducedtheneed
to adherestrictlyto Victoriansexualstandards.However,even
thoughtheneedforsexand maritalduration arestrongly related,
theneedforsex is a strongcorrelate of idealsexualintercourse
whilemaritalduration is not.
To bettersortout therelationships betweentheneedforsex,
maritalduration, and theidealamountofsexualintercourse, we
haveindicatedtheirthree-way cross-tabulationin Table4. While
some of thecategoriesmightbe collapsed,variousattempts at
doingso hid,ratherthanelucidated,whatwe perceiveas some
important relationships in thetable.As mightbe expected,the
number ofcategories leadstoverysmallcellsizes,andtheresults,
whileclear,can onlybe considered suggestive.
Whatis knownas a three-way statistical
interactionis evident
inthedata.The relationship between maritaldurationanddesired
coitalfrequencydependson theattitude ofthewomenconcerning
whether sexis necessary. Forwomenwhobelievethatsexis nec-
essaryin marriage,the ideal amountof sexualintercourse in-
creaseswithmaritalduration.However,forwomenwhobelieve
sexis notnecessary, wefindtheoppositepattern-theidealcoital
frequency decreases withlengthofmarriage. Another wayto ex-
our
press finding is that Victorian-era women particularlywanted
a highrateofsexualintercourse whenboththemaritalduration
was longand theperceivedneedforsexwashigh.Neither condi-
tionin itselfwas as impressive as thejointeffect. The same in-
teractioneffect(not shownhere)was foundin therelationship
betweenage and idealcoitalfrequency.
CONCLUSION
Ouranalysisdocuments theimportance ofstrikinglydifferentide-

in
ologies explaining sexual behavior over the past one hundred
years.Today,we takeit forgrantedthatthepleasureand satis-
factionwederivefromsexshouldimportantly influence ourlevel
ofsexualactivity.
Couples view sexas a pleasurein lifewhich can
be
legitimately fulfilled, as
just enjoyingmany other is
activities
considereda reasonableimpetusforengagingin them.
Whileourresultsareimpliedbyotherliterature, we havebeen
abletodocument forthefirsttimethedisjunction betweenpleasure

and activitywhichexistedin the Victorian-era family.Women
whoexpressedsatisfaction withsexualintercourse wereactually
no morelikelythanotherwomenin theMoshersampleto report
highidealand actualcoitalrates.
Idealdesiresseemedmostdependent on an ideologicaloutlook
whichgrappledwiththequestionof whether sex was necessary
withintheVictorian-era moralworld.Womenat thistimewere
frequentlyconstrained bya normativebaggagewhichproclaimed
thatself-controland restraint shouldgovernbothsexualactivity
and endeavorsin otherareasoflife.Womenwhorecognized the
legitimatenecessityofsexual were
activity espousing a more mod-
ern outlook,whichbecamethe precursor of new relationships
betweenmenand women.For Victorian-era womenwho had
madethetransition to a more"modern"outlook,itwouldappear
thatmarriage itselfheightened sympathy to increasedsexualcon-
tactbetweenthesexes.In contrast, womenwho had not made
thisideologicaltransition increasinglyadjustedtheirdesiresfor
coitusdownward overthelifecourse.
Our analysishas been muchless successful in understanding
theactualratesof sexualintercourse among Victorian couples.
This undoubtedly stemsfromour inability to knowmoreabout
thepowerand socialrelationships amongthesecouples.Yet,con-
sistentwithat least some researchon the positionof women
within Victorianfamilies,femalesexualideology appearedto have
littleimpacton actualbehavior.
In summary, then,ourstudysuggests thatVictorian-era women
in theMoshersamplewereneither very "modern" in their
sexual
behavior norverypowerful inbringingbehavior inlinewithideals.
APPENDIX I Original Mosherinterviewquestions

correspondingto
variablesincludedinanalysis inparentheses
(codingschemes indicate
categoriesusedinpresent
analysis)
Variable Mosher's
question
I. IdealSex What, toyou,wouldbean idealhabit?
(I=o-I timespermonth;2=2-3 timesper
month;3=4+ times
permonth)
2. ActualSex Habitofintercourse,
number
oftimesper
week?permonth?peryear?(I=o-I times
Victorian
per month;2=2-3 timesper month;3=4+

timespermonth)
3. Pleasurefrom Is intercourse
agreeableto youor not?
Sex (I=no, hesitantor qualifiedyes;2=yes)
4. Frequency of Do youalwayshavea venerealorgasm?
Orgasm (I=neveror rarely;2=frequently or
always)
- Female
5. Beliefs Whatdo youbelieveto be thetrue
NeedforSex purposeof intercourse? necessityto
woman?(I=no, qualified yes;2=yes)
- Male
6. Beliefs Whatdo youbelieveto be thetrue
NeedforSex purposeof intercourse? (a)necessityto
man?(I=no, qualified yes;2=yes)
7. Contraceptive Have youeverusedanymeansto prevent
Effectiveness conception? Ifso, what?(I=no
contraception;2=use ofnon-barrier
method;3=use ofbarriermethod,suchas
condomor diaphragm)
8. Numberof Living Numberofchildren? Statein connection
Children witheach (a) dateofbirth(b) sex
(c) whetherhealthy or not(I=O,I; 2=2,3;
3=4+)
Wife
9. Sanguine Temperament? 2=calm,
(I=nervous;
sanguine)
Io. GoodPhysical General
health
beforemarriage?since
Wife
Health, Note:variable
marriage? basedonhealth
sincemarriage
(I=poortomoderate;
2=excellent)
I I. Sanguine Temperament? 2=calm,
(I=nervous;
Husband sanguine)
12. GoodPhysical (I=poortomoderate;
Health? 2=excellent)
Health,Husband
13. Age of Woman Note:variableconstructedfromDate of
Birthand Date of Interview
(I=under30;
2=30-44; 3=45+)
Duration
14.Marital Number
ofyearsmarried?
(I=o-9;
2= Io-19; 3=20+)
15.UrbanWoman Earlylifeincityorcountry?(I=country;
2=smalltownorcity)
16.CollegeGraduate Where educated, givedegreesifany?
(I=notcollegegraduate;2=college
graduate)
APPENDIX 2 PsychologyTodaysurveyquestions(codingschemesin
parenthesesindicate usedin present
categories analysis)
Variable Surveyquestion
I. ActualSex In thepastsix monthshowoften,on the
average,didyouengagein sexual
intercourse?(I=o,I or 2 timesper month;
2=2 timesperweek;3=3+ timesper
week)
of Sex
2. Enjoyment Whichofthefollowing describesyour
experiencewithsexualintercourse?
(I=veryunpleasant to mostlypleasant;
2=veryenjoyable)
With
3. Satisfaction Howwouldyourateyoursex life?(I=very
Sex to satisfactory;
unsatisfactory 2=very
satisfactory)
of
4. Frequency Howoftendo youreachorgasmin sexual
Orgasm (I=neverto about3/4ofthe
intercourse?
time;2=almosteverytimeor more)
5. Contraceptive Whatmethodofcontraception do youor
Effectiveness yoursexpartner use?(I=no contraception;
2=non-barriermethods, exceptpillor
IUD; 3=barriermethods, pill,IUD)
6. Age of Woman What is yourage? (I=under 30; 2=30-44;
3=45+)
7. Marital
Duration Howmanyyearshaveyoubeenmarried
(includeall marriages)?
(I=o-5; 2=6-II;
3= I 2+)
8. Urban Woman What is the populationof the cityor
communityyou live in? (I=less than
I00,000; 2=100,000+)
9. College Graduate What level of educationhave you
completed?(I=not college graduate;
2=college graduate)
NOTES
I Jacob(I981: 61) indicatesthatthefirst werebasedon returns

surveys from
members oftheMothersClubat theUniversity ofWisconsin.Mosherthen
lecturedtheclubon thenatureoftheresponses.
2 The responsecategories provided forsomeofthePsychology Todayques-
tions(actualcoitalfrequency and maritalduration)madeitimpossible
to
utilizetheidenticalcodingschemefortheMosherand contemporary ana-
VictorianIdeology and Sexuality 169
lyses.To insurethatthisdid notmakeproblematic ourcomparison ofthe

bivariategammasforthetwosamples,theMosherdata wererecodedto
correspond as closelyas possibleto thePsychology Todaycategories.The
bivariategammasbetweenactualcoitalfrequency and thepredictive vari-
ables in theMoshersamplewerethenrecomputed. No significant
changes
in thepattern ofresultswerefound.
3 Analysing data collecteduntiltheearly30s, Dickinsonand Beam's(1932:
58) studyofsexualbehavioramong526 married couplesofwidelyvarying
agesindicates theyfellbetweenthePsychology Todayand Moshersamples.
Forinstance, theyfoundthat6o% reported coitusat least"onceortwicea
week"comparedwith83.6%amongthemagazinesample.It is difficult to
comparedirectly theDickinson-Beam studywiththeMoshersample,butit
seemsunlikely thattheMosherwomenwouldhavehadcoitusas frequently.
4 Mosher'squestionabout birthcontroldid notincludea timereferent or
inquireintotheregularity ofuse fora givenmethod.Thus,we are unable
to distinguishoccasionalfromregularusers.
5 In Mosher'ssmallsample,durationof marriagewas so highlyrelatedto
numberofchildren and contraceptive usethatitwasverydifficult
to sepa-
rateouttheirpartialrelationships withviewsaboutthenecessity ofsex.We
believethatthelengthofmarriage hasa moreplausibletheoretical
relation-
shipwithviewsaboutthenecessity ofsexthantheothervariables.
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Ideology and Sexuality among Victorian Women

Author(s): Nancy S. Landale and Avery M. Guest

IN RECENTYEARS,Americansocietyhas engaged in what is fre-

NancyS. Landaleis a Ph.D. candidatein theDepartment of Sociology,Uni-

Whenstarting hisreporton theMosherdata,Deglerechoedthe

womenallegedly expressed enthusiasm aboutthesexualactitself

of ideal sex amongthe Mosherwomen.In contrastto Degler,

activityforI,ooo marriedwomen.Those womenwho reported

Our viewthatvariations in Victorian-era

Age and Duration of Marriage

of activitybecamequite separate,largelybecause males were

generally heldtraditional, conservativeas opposedto liberal,pro-

THE MOSHER DATA

The interviewscollectedbetween1892 and 1920 by Mosher have

The originalinterviews addressedan impressive numberof

.Io0 to .29, "low"; .30 to .49, "moderate";above .50, "substantial."

Beforeturning to hypothesis we presentin Table I the

Table I Reported frequencyof intercourse:Mosher women (actual

N=44 Ioo.o N=28a I00.0

16.4%ofthewomenreported engagingin sexualintercourse less

Table 2 Bivariate Gammas: ideal sex

II. BeliefsRegarding the Necessityof Sex

III. Reproductionand Contraception

IV. Health Factors

V. Age and Marriage

VI. Social Characteristics

possiblethatwomenwhofailedto citethenecessity ofsex were

The women'sdifficulties in controllingsexualactivity are fur-

correlates ofactualthanidealsexualpractices. The interpretation

Table 3 Bivariate Gammas: Actual sex by

III. Age and Marriage

IV. Social Characteristics

The moststriking contrastis indicatedbythestrongpositive

MARITAL DURATION AND THE NEED FOR SEX

How did theperception of a needforsex ariseamongsomeof

Table 4 Ideal sex bymaritalduration

Idealfrequency Sexnotnecessary Sexnecessary

4+ 33.3 16.7 0.0 25.0 50.0 60.0

I00.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

perceivedneedforsexand theotherindependent variablesinthe

Ouranalysisdocuments theimportance ofstrikinglydifferentide-

abletodocument forthefirsttimethedisjunction betweenpleasure

APPENDIX I Original Mosherinterviewquestions

per month;2=2-3 timesper month;3=4+

I Jacob(I981: 61) indicatesthatthefirst werebasedon returns

lyses.To insurethatthisdid notmakeproblematic ourcomparison ofthe

Banks,J. A. (I98I) VictorianValues: Secularismand the Size of Families.

Dyhouse, C. (I98I) GirlsGrowing Up in LateVictorian andEdwardian En-

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