Episode 536: Was The Bridgerton Era As Sexy As We Think?

Shows like Bridgerton invite us to imagine the past as a time of elaborate courtship, forbidden desire, and passionate romance. But was the past really as sexy as we like to think it was? In today’s show, we’re going to separate fact from fantasy when it comes to sex in the Bridgerton era and discuss what dating, courtship, marriage, and sexual relationships actually looked like at the time.

My guest is Dr. Kate Lister, a historian specializing in the history of sex and sexuality. She is host of the award-winning History Hit podcast Betwixt the Sheets: The History of Sex, Scandal & Society. Kate is also author of A Curious History of Sex, Harlots, Whores & Hackabouts: A History of Sex for Sale, and the new book, FLICK: The Story of Female Pleasure.

Some of the specific topics we cover include:

• How different was the sexual reality of the Bridgerton era from the fantasy we’ve created around it?
• What was sex actually like back then, and what were the risks?
• Why do we have a tendency to romanticize the past? Does this say something about what’s missing from modern dating?

You can check out Kate’s website to explore more of her work and follow her on social media @drkatelister.

Got a sex question? Send me a podcast voicemail to have it answered on a future episode at speakpipe.com/sexandpsychology.

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If you’re looking to gain a broad understanding of human sexuality or refresh your knowledge, check out the upcoming Human Sexuality Intensive courses at the Kinsey Institute: https://kinseyinstitute.org/learning/human-sexuality-intensive.html 

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Credits: Precision Podcasting (Podcast editing) and Shutterstock/Florian (Music). Image created with Canva; photos used with permission of guest.