History - has it ever been 'acceptable' for a woman to be promiscuous

[NewJeffCT]

I have a strange question here. This came up in passing in another thread on another board (not DU) and I thought I would come here as we have a lot of people here that are a lot smarter and more knowledgeable than me, as it got me thinking. (If you are wondering, I had started a thread on an RPG board...)

But, has there ever been a time in history where it has been socially acceptable for a female to be sexually promiscuous? I am not talking about isolated cases like Madonna from the 80s or early 90s, but just in a society in general. I think there are examples in nature, including some where the female is promiscuous and the male is not.

I know in history it has often been acceptable for men to be sexually promiscuous, but I could not think of any examples of the reverse.

Are there any examples of it being socially acceptable for a woman to be sexually promiscuous?

[Worst Username Ever]

1. Anthropologists would argue it is natural for men to be promiscuous

I am not an anthropologist so I have no idea.

[Beer Snob-50]

2. it was acceptable during the day of early person

women screwed with anyone and everyone just to keep the species going.

[MaryH]

28. There have been cultures - Eskimos where women had more

than one husband.

[NewJeffCT]

30. good example

But, could men have more than 1 wife?

[patcox2]

33. Ah yes, I remember now. Eskimos were scandalous.

They would go at it at the drop of a hat. Europeans were aghast, at the time of the first contacts. Went right to work christianizing them and put a stop to all that.

[StopTheMorans]

3. i find it socially acceptable now; can't be having double standards

is that good enough? :evilgrin:

[NewJeffCT]

13. in some circles it may be

But, I think even outside the fundamentalist churches, it is still generally not acceptable in America for a woman to 'sleep around'

[redqueen]

4. I don't know but I wish I could live in a place like that.

[Left Is Write]

9. Try Aldous Huxley's Brave New World.

Sexual promiscuity wasn't merely acceptable, it was pretty much required.

[redqueen]

11. That's the other extreme

How about we just let people be who they are and quit judging everyone based on what we think they should be doing with a willing partner? Is that so much to ask?

[NewJeffCT]

17. not at all

It's not too much to ask at all, and that is how it should be. But, we're talking real life & history here.

It wasn't that long ago that women were expected to be purer than Ivory Soap on their wedding days, while it was acceptable for men to have had "experience"

[plcdude]

23. really

what do you say girl

[MichiganVote]

5. In film or the theater, and what would the bible be w/o Mary Magdalen

[sam sarrha]

6. always acceptable in the bed of the man she is with at the time......

[Bouncy Ball]

8. LOL

So true, so true.

[DebinTx]

7. Actually, I think women over the age of 25 SHOULD be promiscuous.

Treat those men as sex toys and throw their asses out the next a.m. while promising to call them and then don't.

By the age of 30, women will have gotten it out of their system and will be ready to marry and have kids.

[NewJeffCT]

10. oh, if that were true

Actually, if women over 18 would be that way... I'm sure our society would be a lot less uptight.

[sandnsea]

15. Ah, the 70's

Sorry you gals missed it. ;)

[whalerider55]

12. Thank G-d...

i've been waiting for a thread like this to spill the beans on my longterm personal relationships with several generations of Bush women....

they make me get on my knees and howl.

aroooooo

whalerdier55

[Red State Rebel]

14. Now - Amsterdam? n/t

[underpants]

16. Cleopatra? Mae West? Angie Dickinson? Bea Arthur?

Just to name a few

[NewJeffCT]

18. those are individuals

Like Madonna from the past 20 years, who gained notoriety from it.

[underpants]

20. Oh

Well Howard Zinn documents that in many maternal Native American societies the woman could kick their husband (yes they did divorce) out if they found someone else or were tired of his crap. I don't know if that is necessarily "promiscuous" though.

Now that I read the original post-Are you saying that you don't feel that anyone on DU is smarter than you?

:bounce: Just kidding.

[NewJeffCT]

25. nope, too many here are smarter than me

that why I come here - to learn!

[sasquatch]

19. It did help Catherine the Great rise in power as the Tsar of Russia

[DrWeird]

21. Yup.

There's a modern tribe(s?) of aboriginals where the woman are expected to be promiscuous.

[papau]

22. History says 20% of all humans via the wrong "pair" via women.

Seems those groups that try to have one male in control of many females and their kids - such as lions - end up with about 40% of the kids sired by someone other than the boss male.

Sort of explains the single males hanging around the boss male lion - and the boss male lion killing a kid now and then.

But in Humans the Twin study indicated only a 20% level - and my medical friends say that is a good rough guess as to the number of kids not related to their "father".

But you asked if it was ever socially acceptable for a woman to be sexually promiscuous - I would guess that as long as males made the rules and the game was to pass along your DNA to the next generation the answer would be NO!

peace

:-)

[Phillycat]

24. Ancient Greece.

It was expected for married women to take multiple lovers. I did my honors thesis on this in college. It wasn't until Christianity that the real severe patriarchy got into power.

[the Princess]

26. I would argue

It's natural for men and women to be promiscuous. It's unnatural to be married to one person forever.

[China_cat]

27. Most of the Polynesian cultures

not only allowed but encouraged sexual experimentation for both genders until marriage. Advent of christianity ended that.

Ancient Rome had the temple prostitutes who were highly respected.

[JerseygirlCT]

29. I would imagine that the problem is so

few cultures where women were the ones with the power. Men have controlled women by controlling their sexuality.

Can't think of one, but I would guess it would have to be a culture where the women were the rulers, where society was matriarchal.

[pdx_prog]

31. It should be mandatory....

Nothing like a good cigar and a trashy woman...:)

[OldLeftieLawyer]

32. Did you miss the sixties?

It wasn't promiscuous when we did it.

It was sharing the wealth.

And it was glorious....................

:grouphug: