Stephen Brogan Rictor Norton is the renowned historian of early modern and nineteenth-century homosexuality, best known for his book Mother Clap’s Molly House: The Gay Subculture in England 1700-1830 (1992). His website is a treasure trove of primary sources and essays, including his online-only source book Homosexuality in Eighteenth-Century England. NOTCHES caught up […]
Tag: early modern sexuality
Three’s a Crowd?: Navigating a Love Triangle in Enlightenment France
How an Enlightenment philosopher understood the love between his mistress and her sister
‘She rose in the Morning of a contrary Sex’: Stories from Early Modern Wonder Books
Early modern wonder books included stories of people who changed sex as a surprising natural phenomenon.
Teaching the Early Modern “Penis-Vagina”
Presenting Vesalius’ “penis-vagina” (as many students took to calling it) on the first day of class immediately primed students to dissect early modern social constructions of gender and sexuality.
Same-Sex Marriage in Renaissance Rome
Same-sex couples in the early modern period claimed marriage in their own particular ways.
Women’s Experiences in Fornication and Paternity Suits in Massachusetts, 1740-1800
Women’s confessions and paternity suits reveal a host of information about the sexual lives of early Americans.
The Origins of Sex: An Interview With Faramerz Dabhoiwala
Dabhoiwala traces the transformation of western approaches to sexuality during the Enlightenment.
Recent Posts
“Homosexual Hearers” and Queer Musicality in Xavier Mayne’s The Intersexes (1909)
Squirming in the Dark: Playful Occupations for Sex Workers in the 1870 Census
NOTCHES Vacancies: Apply for Social Media Editor and Layout Editor positions
“The best fighters of each other’s oppressions”: Trans and Non-Trans Solidarity in Lesbian Communities
“Beyond the Law”: The Politics Ending the Death Penalty for Sodomy in Britain