State of 'The Union': Marriage and Free Love in the Late 1800s (Studies in American Popular History and Culture)

This study of the Free Love Movement in the mid-to-late 1800s examines the situated knowledge of women and men who participated in the movement, how they articulated the platform, and contributed to its exposure by writing and publishing their ideas, arguments and concerns. While all Free Love participants claimed benefits and freedoms from the practice, this book is the first to compare the benefits and political agendas experienced by the male participants with those experienced by the females. The importance of this work lies in its potential to inform current political resistance against the inequality inherent in legislation that strives to restrict sexual freedom in the United States, and its potential to contribute to the overall well-being of women, men and the society they live in.