What Were Georgian Attitudes Towards Sex? | Georgian Pleasures
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 ก.พ. 2025
- Historian Dr Kate Lister removes Bridgerton’s rose-tinted glasses, unlaces the corsets and unbuttons the breaches of the Georgians. Join Kate as she investigates how s*x and the world of celebrity were a big thing long before the 20th century.
The fabulous wealthy elite of Bridgerton look perfectly preened, their teeth, hair, make up, even their sex scenes are all filled with opulent glamour! But in reality a lot of people in Georgian society, including the wealthy, were dealing with a myriad of issues, from syphilis, teeth decay and scandals to laudanum and gin addictions. All of this would have been rife and incredibly visible on the big city streets during the booming industrial revolution.
Kate uncovers what went on betwixt the Georgian sheets: who's doing what, where, how and with whom. Along the way she’ll explore extraordinary guides to s*x work in London and Edinburgh and unwrap the world of 18th century condoms, syphilis and even high profile and hidden sex clubs. All of this will help to unearth the real lives of the people stomping the streets, pubs and back alleys of these lavish Georgian cities. No stone is left unturned in the quest to reveal the real lives of Georgian society!
Watch Part Two here: access.history...
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#bridgerton #georgianhistory #harlots
Hi everyone! So glad you enjoyed this. The rainbow scarf is from Hari and the Gang. It’s £24 and you can still get it. X
@@katelister2564 Dr. Kate, where did you get your iconic necklace? The one that you're wearing in the thumbnail with the big glass (?) beads
@@revinaque1342 I've been searching for something like it and finally asked a friend to make me one!
youtube treating people like stupid. So infantile.
Kate lister , you are hot as f ❤
1) How do you compare the Georgian period to the Restoration? I don't see any 18th cent. English writer outdoing Rochester in literary quality or debauchery (assuming he really wrote Sodom). 2) What do you make of the wider picture where real Georgian society as you describe it coexisted with theatrical censorship (edict of Queen Mary) ,as well as the curious rationalist Enlightenment advocacy of moral repression in the pages of The Spectator and Richardson's Pamela (which was so bad it made Johnson wish to hang himself). I am only half way through your vid, so you may answer these questions in it - I will now return to watching.
Please give Dr Lister a show! Love to listen to her podcast and to watch her documentaries! She needs a bigger platform!❤
Yes!!!! Please
mainstream media sensationalise though and would make it sordid
@alessiadangelo9517 she has one! A podcast called Betwixt the sheets: the history of sex, scandal and society! It's amazing, has some great guests, make sure to give it a listen! ❤
Love her book too!
The only thing I'm upset about is that TH-cam requires the censoring of pictures that are shown for purposes of history eduction.
It’s out of control
Twitch is stupid like that too, I have an artist friend who sketches and paints nudes covered in black bars and STILL gets shut down constantly.
It is indeed out of control prudish and protecting no one
TH-cam won't even let you spell things because of censors, reducing people to type out pew pew, for bang bang etc. Sic.
@@Ocylasad so sad
"a night time with Venus, a life time with Mercury"
The bones of the poor people with Syphilis - I can’t even IMAGINE the pain 😣 Great documentary!
Kate Lister betwit the sheets podcast is so informative, humorous and so darn good.
it’s my new addiction fr
betwixt the sheets
Agreed! Kate Lister has such an ease about her which make all the interviews easy to listen to on the pod. Betwixt the Sheets is brilliant!
The Napoleon and Josephine episode had me laughing for a week - it was awesome
Do you mean betwit or betwixt? If you Google the definition of betwit it doesn't make a lot of sense
There's a story from the 1930s that ex PM Stanley Baldwin & his wife Margot went to a party. The actress Jean Harlow was also in attendance, & kept pronouncing the 't' in Margot when speaking to her. Eventually Margot had had enough & curtly said "No dear. The 't' is silent, as in Harlow."
Oof, that's definetely a burn
Margot probably French. Margot sounds like Winston Churchill.
Instead of just nicely saying how to pronounce her name she insults her- sounds about right 😂
😂
That's cold and awesome
Our legend is back!
I was listening to this whilst doing things and it was bugging me her voice sounded so familiar, and then she introduced herself and realised it’s one of my fav podcasters! If you don’t listen to Betwixt the Sheets, I suggest you do so immediately, it’s excellent 🎉
They found bones of a child who had congenital syphilis (born with it from his mother) in Pompeii 79AD. They said from his bones he would have been disabled and in alot of pain and would have needed a lot of care. So sad 🥺
Are you sure of that? Remember how syphilis is called "the great imitator"? There is some possibility that there were some diseases that may have displayed symptoms that seemed similar, but were actually not syphilis, leprosy, for instance. The thing is, most historians agree that the first outbreaks of syphilis in Europe started in 1495. I'd be interested in learning where you learned this, though. The best I could find (with an admittedly rather cursory Google search) was on Reddit, and in it a person mentioned that the information came from either a German or Dutch television show. The Reddit, by the way mentions that there seem to have been no peer reviewed papers on the subject, so that is a factor to consider.
@@leeviajero2716 Syphilis did exist back then, but it wasn't a sexually transmitted kind. The later versions were. Similar disease (same genus, if you like), different morphologies. The latter was more specific in its transmission but also more virulent.
@@Bethgael Ok, where did you get that information? Because, as I said, I searched that particular claim about the bones in Pompeii, and I can only say it was impossible to find a peer reviewed paper that corroborated the claim. If you have some additional information, I would be glad to review it.
@@leeviajero2716 I really wish I could provide a citation, but it was one of those things I heard from a microbiologist in a documentary that I'd watched during my Classics (incl Repub & Roman Empire) studies. It stuck in my head because it was interesting, and not something often cited by _historians._ If I find it again, I will return to this comment.
I must admit, I generally figured microbiologists know more about this topic than I do, so I took their word for it.
@@Bethgael Fair enough.
I live in the USA. I know things haven’t changed that much, especially for women one step from or in poverty. Before I became too disabled to do so, I used to work in a nearby women’s prison, talking about, among other things, how bigotry prevents women, working people, and people of different ethnic groups from joining together to,improve their/our circumstances. Most of the women were in for so called victim free crimes, like stealing, prostitution, etc. One of the most intelligent women I have ever known responded to a discussion of recidivism with this comment “we are safer in here than on the street.” Everyone, including myself agreed with her. I’ve never forgotten that comment. My education and income makes me far more privileged than those women, but only by the luck of being burn middle class and with help and support from others. Even so, my own experience tells me I am not all that safe either. I saw women of all ages whose pimps, upon acquiring them, had knocked out all their teeth for obvious purposes, women with scars, both physical and emotional, and all of them survivors of a society in which they had no value. The only “violent” offender was a white, elderly, farm woman who had finally shot and killed her incredibly abusive husband, who had beaten her one time too many. Had she not been from the deeply religious, rural part of this state, she most likely would not have been convicted. She was quite racist, yet many of the women of color put up with it and were very protective of her. In other words, don’t believe what you see about women’s prisons in the media. Is it safe? No, it can be very dangerous but it’s safer than where these women came from…a sad comment on our culture.
How is stealing a victimless crime? If you steal from a person, that person is a victim. If you steal from a store, all the other people who shop there are victims.
@@stephanie06-9 it’s considered that by the law…I agree it’s nit victimless. I’ve been burgled several times…not amused.
Thank you for your comment, I've just stumbled across this video and so its some weeks since it was posted and your response. If you should see my reply I just wanted to say I was struck by the observation that you mentioned of the women of colour being protective towards the older white lady despite her opinion/comments of them based on skin colour. Quite humbling when you consider the hardships they have most likely already suffered in life themselves which you could imagine would harden a person yet they literally turn the other cheek even to the extent of offering her protection! Seems to me there are many far more privileged who could learn a thing or two from them!
I used to have a client who was a doctor. She worked regularly as a side hustle at a local women's prison. Everything you say tracks with what she told me. She was a sweet, adorable woman who I'm sure was well loved wherever she worked. (I was a massage therapist at the time. Some clients were chatty and some were not. She was one of the chatty ones.)
Stealing is NOT a victimless crime. I've been burgled and robbed enough times to know that.
People condemn prostitutes but not the men who visit them. Without demand there would be no sex workers.
Exactly, not to mention the fact that women had very minimal choices for survival outside of sex in one way or another!
Don't think that is true. I've never heard a man say "I visit prostitutes". That's for a reason. The main focus in this documentary lies on the (female) sex workers as victims of circumstance - which many of course were. This results in a view that is rather one sided and not complete. The bit about the Molly houses being an exemption. Men are portrait as either customers or chroniclers.
!!! yep
Women are still worse off, even now. If you think about married men cheating, people normally blame the other woman for it. Men can sleep around and they are seen as macho but if women do the same? We should be saving ourselves for men's pleasure, etc.
@@AislingReathat’s right. Many women were regularly raped by their own husbands, and forced to trade sex for grocery money. Still are.
I loved the show Harlots and can’t recommend it enough. Many of us women would be stuck doing the same things they did if we lived in those times. It was often the only way to survive!
My mother was a history teacher for 33 years. She took a sabbatical year and did her thesis on Eros in a
Antiquity. Including Asia - Japan has a HUGE history of ancient erotica!. She would have been fascinated with these videos!
She passed the history bug onto me as well, and I have tried to pass it onto my children by taking them to Italy and Greece to light their flame for history as well!
And while I didn't focus on erotica with them on our trips, when in Pompeii at the famous brothel, my youngest looked around (not really understanding the "pictures" on the walls) and said "Oh, these were like their offices, right?" She was around 10 years old, lol!
When my mom died a few years ago, I had to clean out her house and found all of her crazy but wonderful souvenirs from all of her trips (she went to Europe or Asia every summer). Things like sets of shot glasses with different sexual positions at the bottom, or coasters that look like the photos are from a party thrown by Caligula, etc. I haven't shown that to my kids yet, lol! Some of it is a bit shocking! 😲 😅 The Song of Soloman is about as racy as they get!
As they are now all out of the house, maybe I will bring it all out of the attic when they come home for Thanksgiving.... 🤔
Great story! They'll probably get a kick out of finding out what grandma was up to!
Your mom sounds awesome! Those shot glasses remind me of that scene in The Birdcage with plates. 😂
Thanks for sharing such a beautiful story.
I adore your story. I have many books on the old west brothels/prostitution and LIVE in an old west town where prostitution did not end until 1981! It's fascinating and fun! The real lives of the mining camp, back room dance halls or "hog ranch" types were the saddest and shortest of lives and worthy of our attention too. I think you and your mother ROCK 🤗😎
@@krn2683 Ohhhh, I loved that movie! I adore Hank Azaria and miss Robin Williams so much. I think it is free here on TH-cam. Thanks for reminding me. The coasters and glasses were just like that! I must find them in the attic! Once an adult, they were all lot of fun!!
I really like this channel in that I learn things I never knew about the past. Dr. Lister and Dr. Janega are two of the best hosts I have seen so far and watch all I can find from them.
She is so amazing. I would’ve loved to have her as my professor. So so so good! Love every time she is featured!
Been waiting for this one!!! Harlots is one of my favorite shows! Bridgerton can’t hold a candle to Harlots.
Nicola is in both!
When Samantha Morton blows in bellowing "EMILY LACEY!!!", I was hooked already!
I loved that show up until they offed a certain character rather unceremoniously... I stopped watching after that episode and don't know how the show ended 🥲
@@emilyb.8219 they killed Charlotte because the actor got a lead role in Brave New World.
@@Aerie925 well I still was unhappy about it 🙃 send her off to France or something, rather than dying because of theon frickin greyjoy
Thank you Kate for another wonderful video but also bringing these women to the fore with compassion and empathy 😊
I love that we still get a fair dues warning, even on a video 😄 I'm a huge fan of Dr. Kate's podcast, Betwixt the Sheets, and her fair dues warnings at the beginning of each episode are always a delight
What is a fair dues warning, I am from the U.S.
@@jessicacanfield5058 It took me a while to figure that out too! It's basically a content warning, like a disclaimer about what may be offensive within the episode (cussing, discussions of sex, graphic descriptions of violence, stuff like that). It always ends with, "Fair dues, you have been warned"
I would absolutely watch the two Kates (Lister and Stephenson) nattering away for hours over tea :D
Fantastic run through fascinating topics!
So happy to find this today. I diligently listen to your podcast and love everything you do. The honesty and candor about historical activities is awesome. Keep getting out there. We love you.
I've heard, BTW, that women upon hearing about their husbands having syphilis would "fake" illnesses to avoid trying to get it. I read a historical article about it. They would try to force separations, etc.
To avoid trying? Or trying to avoid?
Understandable. Syphilis is no joke, it's horrifying
And JD Vance would like to end no-fault divorces. It's nothing more than unadulterated American patriarchy that's looming.
@@luthermclain2959 how is ending no fault divorce patriarchal?
@@Padraigp Well, if a woman is in an abusive marriage, it is much harder to get out of such a situation. Basically, requiring a lengthier, much more problematic escape from an abuser is all about continued patriarchal control of women. Hopefully that clarifies things.
Well done! A subject that is very hard to be truthful about with TH-cam being the way it is on what we are "allowed " to see and hear.
Well done.
I'm obsessed with Betwixt the Sheets - I love you Dr. Lister!!
I love Dr Kate, she is a force of Historical nature. More of this amazing lady please!
Actually, when I think of Georgian sex, I'm thinking more along the lines of "Harlots" than Bridgeton
Same! I was surprised that they never mentioned it.
That part 😂 did it ever get a second season 😮😂
Especially as Charlotte Hayes (as featured in Harris' list) is a main character!
Queen Charlotte?!
Me too! They are even on the thumbnail!
I have no idea why this was recommended to me but i am glad. It was very interesting and also presented with very much empathy for the sex workers and also gave a very nice understanding in how things have not changed that much. Sex work was a thing for ever...it is a reason it is called the oldest profession but the condition sex workers operate in are still just dreadful.
Apart from the brilliant content and reportage skills I am amazed by the variety of beautiful scarves ;)
I love Kate Lister, and most definitely, her podcast Betwixt the Sheets is so informative and entertaining!
As a guy I find it hilarious how ridiculous my own gender often is, I mean, that Scottish guy who wrote the sex worker book, how snotty he is about the women, even knowing this is these women’s income, his ego is still making him believe the story of it all, I mean, that lord/chimney sweep comment is such a male way of looking at a sex worker, missing the reality of it. Most of us will fool even ourselves rather than think these professionals would see us as a customer rather than the love of their lives.
The silly stories are also how the sex workers marketed themselves.
😂 I still want this book!
You make the usual mistake, you are looking at it from a modern point of view.
But even today there are high class hookers so I suspect he seen it as her being non judgmental and going with anyone as money doesn't have a class.
Since the whole program is about attitudes you ham to try to put your own ideas aside.
Its also interesting this program is 100% a woman's point of view, and a modern woman's point of view.
I love Kate Lister, such a delight to watch :)
Same! I’d love to see more videos with her and Eleanor Janega on here.
@@katierader8176 I like Eleanor as well :)
❤
Kate's pod cast is brilliant
Love Dr. Kate Kate Lister and the Georgian Era!
Ohhh I really needed some Kate Lister today 💕
took the words out of my mouth there, really sad that I won't get to hear about these women in their own words, would be wonderful to hear from them or even speak to them, very sad.
moralists always seem to go after the victims rather than the men causing those issues too 😕
This was absolutely fascinating. Loved the history lesson, and I listened intently instead of zoning out. Great host, great info.
I follow your Betwixt the sheets podcast so I’m thrilled I’ve found these videos. Great to see you rather than just hearing you. I like loved this video ❤
This is so interesting, thank you. So often we only get women's history through the male lens, but it's great that we at least have that.
It's a shame to give a content warning at the start of the video, only to be required to censor parts of imagery or whole images because of YouYube's censorship rules!
Loved the sense of humor and the awesome explanation ❤❤
this was great. i'm also very glad that those final points were made about how little things have moved on since those attitudes and avenues of access.
Oh....that's where the hawk tuah came in handy! 👌🏻🤣 Love Kate Lister! ❤️❤️
Great comment 😂
oh my god hahhahaa
Very interesting. The amount of rape, grooming and paedophilia was horrific though. Still is.
I agree
Mercury treatment might explain why "has her teeth" was mentioned in the listings.
Harris’s List is an open view book, I’ve spent the last couple of hours checking out the list and the buildings the ladies worked out of, when still standing via google.
Agree 1000%….the YT censorship of the historical illustrations is ludicrous! Completely blurring the actual historical erotic illustrations totally takes away from the point of the show-that people throughout history have been, to varying degrees, just as “horny”, debauched, fetishistic &/or sex-positive as they are today. History Hit is a fully legitimate historically educational YT and podcast channel; all hosted & researched by qualified, legitimate, and charismatic academics (esp. Dr. Lister!…LOVE Betwixt).
This video gets 19th Century sexy drawings totally blocked out, yet there is a current TH-camr who’s videos of him demonstrating-fully naked, Very up-close & in HD-how he rids his anus and genitals of hair are completely untouched by YT censors. Of course, he claims they are instructional & for “educational” purposes. WTF?!?
The censoring of History makes me livid. At least the folks of YT could’ve black-barred/blurred the “naughty parts” portion of the illustrations, not the entire image. YT was just being lazy!
I love her! She's such a good presenter!
Fascinating. But it’s so easy to see the past through the lense of the present. And that invites judgement. Let’s not forget that 13 year old girls are forced to marry men old enough to be their grandfathers in Afghanistan and many countries in the Middle East.
I love Kate! This is such a great topic and so important because we still have so many disparities with sec education and health. I wish we could teach kids about sex Ed through historical videos like this. I might have paid a bit more attention! Love the podcast as well!
Oh my God I loved the show Harlots wish there was more seasons...
In a video about attitudes to sex, there was nothing about male prostitution in that part.
You would expect a large part about how they saw homosexuality or the rich females who used gigolos. That's quite a big part of how we judge historical values.
Yes I know they mentioned Molly houses, in the part about debauchery and very brief.
@@davidsoulsby1102Thought you'd see Dan Ankroyd as Fred Garvin - male prostitute?
There was also nothing about women who weren't prostitutes. Gay men got a lot more time then non-sex worker women.
YEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSS tried finding some info on my own and it was a palava, so excited to watch this
I remember reading a 1980s novel called "Fanny" by feminist author Erica Jong. It touched on almost every subject in this video.
This was SO interesting, thank you! I will never forget that syphilis can turn your eyelids inside out 😐
Jeez, are we so repressed as a society that we can't handle the word 'CONDOM' 😱
We apparently can't handle 300 year old engravings that show nipples, either
No, but WAP is OK and Hollywood ok for pedos
Is there a place to watch this uncensored? It is annoying to have such an interesting documentary blurred out.
Doesn't history hit have its own streaming site?
Dear ms lister many happy returns and best wishes for your birthday
🎶"Who's gonna match my 😜"🎶 The ship euphemisms cracked me up!
24:14 I will never get over the fancy little ribbon 🎀 😂
What a shame that the prudish TH-cam blurs any sexy bits in a programme about historic sexual activity!
Oh my god when she says the condom was generous I spit out my drink that was hysterical. 😂
So interesting! I loooove this! Thank you for this fascinating topic ❤ I don't understand why the topic of sex views through the ages, is excluded from history lessons. Sex history is the history of humanity.
Asian silk condoms had the silk sealed with glue they were slightly inflated like a balloon to test for leaks.. I have read that Cassanova used a leather condom made from the finest lamb skin. The fine seam was to the outside for extra stimulus.
Absolutely love this!
Absolutely adore Kate Lister!
I know that you do these as tie-ins to popular shows/movies, but I would reaaally love to see the Restoration given this documentary treatment, especially because there's so much interesting whiplash from the Interregnum before and then the Society for the Reformation of Manners springing up afterwards.
This made my drive home from work a lot more bearable 😊
Nicely done Kate Lister...😊
Hey Kate, have you reviewed the show Harlots? It starts with the publication of the Covent garden list.
Women especially lost a lot of teeth to pregnancy and childbirth.
I don't know why some people are *shocked* our ancestors were having and enjoying sex (we wouldn't be here right now if they weren't we would've died off)-sex has been a thing since the beginning of time it's something that's vital to every living things survival 🤷🏻♀️
Great documentary tho love this historian ❤️
Wonderful insight of historical life..did answer to someone who was horrified but was blocked???
Thank you for your resurch on historical subjects not easy to do...as i seen from comments some a bit prudish!?? Loved it
Very educational but the highlight is actually Kate's fashion.
Yes! I can't wait for summer to over, winter fashion 😍
I never imagined an 18th century condom factory worker. That's hilarious!
I watched Harlots before I saw Bridgerton. I like how they are polar opposites. Those Condoms seem more like torture than pleasurable. Oh my gracious! It's ridiculous that men could dilly dally all they wanted and it was fine, but a woman being made to partake, so she could be able to have a roof over her head and food in her stomach is unclean and indecent is ridiculous.
Loved this episode!
This was really interesting
Thanks for posting
Looking forward to the next part...if there's a next part!
No one is surprised that Benjamin Franklin was invited to the Hell Fire Club. He used to write to Thomas Jefferson and tell him about the women in France.
He also brought back to America a concoction that the French ladies used for abortions. Oh my the church!lol!
I loved *The Covent Garden Ladies* by Hallie Rubenhold
What is wrong with TH-cam?? All this fiddling with the images!!! Really!! All this censorship is maddening!
They have to censor it because TH-cam will penalise them or take it down. It is indeed maddening. The full, unedited video is available on the history hit channel.
@@katelister2564 Kate, you have got to do some more collabs with Dan on here, you two are brilliant.
😂😂😂😂😂
Kate, where did you get that gorgeous multi color scarf?
Great show, btw!! ❤
Hello! It’s gorgeous isn’t it? It’s from Hari and the Gang and costs £24. It’s still in stock. Enjoy.
@@katelister2564 I found it on Etsy! Snatched it right up!!
So excited to see your fair dues warning on video I'm used to following your podcast
Kate is a bloody legend 😁
All the blurred images in a historical documentary is garbage.
Why talk about it if you're just going to blur it.
@@gregedmand9939 My thoughts exactly.
Something something TH-cam community standards 😂
@@Hillbilly001Aha! HISTORY HITS has the uncensored version!
@@gregedmand9939 I'm sure if you pay for it, but putting it out for public consumption with censored images is asinine.
I appreciate you so much! ❤❤❤
Very good video 😊
Love Dr Kate! More, more!
The fabulous Dr Lister!
Loved this
Our Sabbath is ending n I came over to the computer n find you here again. And this song scares Me so strong like lightning from head to toes n into Mother earth
direct as a ground. Think it be work? Guessing with electricity can be danger-forming, Yet every time I see You smile it hurts pretty good. N other things not
in place in this vid but the fact you have yet to throw em out. Touches Us lots so funny doncha think for a guy to settle for so little?HugsB
Seriously is there somewhere to watch this without the censorship?
Love Dr Kate Lister!
Betwixt the Sheets, now with video!
New Orleans had their own book too, but from the 1800's
Shame about the pointless censorship!
I don't know why Bridgerton was even given a look in here. It's just typical Netflix bs that is about historically accurate as Koreans living in Scotland in the 15h century.
That aside very interesting doc! Ty Dr. Lister
I am so not surprised that Ben Franklin was likely part of the Hellfire Club. hahaha
I would like to know where one can view the uncensored version of this video please
It's fascinating