In Chapter four of Voices of Revolution, Victoria Woodhull, Ezra and Angela Heywood, and Moses Harman are discussed as prominent figures in the sexual reform movement of the 1800's.
This was a very enlightening and broadening chapter for me. Coming from a very modern perspective, I realized I have looked at the concept of "free love" as completely normal. It is amazing that editors and "free love" supporters had to dangerously fight for what we see as a functional marriage today.
But what bothered me about this chapter was the end of it. On page 77 of Streitmatter, it is said that, "The sexual reform press, in fact, never even succeeded in spawning a social movement that was larger than itself..."
This really put a damper on journalism. Seems to me that the best journalists, or the ones who live on forever, try to make an ultimate change in the world. They go to jail, face unbelievable charges and are even put to death over a cause that really will make no difference anyway.
"Most fundamentally, the sexual reform press failed utterly in its central goal of destroying the institution of marriage and replacing it with a system in which women and men were free to create and dissolve sexual unions at will," (Streitmatter 77).
The most depressing part is, is that some of these editors and their supporters, went back to conforming after these rebellious publications were stopped.
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