The term free love has been used since at least the nineteenth century to describe a social movement that rejects marriage, which is seen as a form of social bondage, especially for women. Social movements are a type of group action. They are large informal groupings of Individuals and/or Organizations focused on specific NOTICE TO WOULD-BE ROMEOS ************** Much of the free-love tradition has a civil libertarian philosophy that seeks freedom from State regulation and Church interference in personal relationships. Civil libertarianism is a strain of political thought that supports Civil liberties, or who emphasizes the supremacy of Individual rights and Personal freedoms Political freedom is the absence of interference with the sovereignty of an individual by the use of coercion or aggression A state is a political association with effective Sovereignty over a geographic Area and representing a Population. An interpersonal relationship is a relatively long-term association between two or more people In addition, some free-love writing has argued that both men and women have the right to sexual pleasure. In the Victorian era, this was a radical notion. Culture The Victorian fascination with novelty resulted in a deep interest in the relationship between modernity and cultural continuities

While the phrase free love is often associated with promiscuity in the popular imagination, especially in reference to the counterculture of the 1960s and 1970s, historically the free-love movement has not advocated multiple sexual partners or short-term sexual relationships. Promiscuity refers to sexual behavior of a man or woman who casually has sex with many partners The Counterculture of the 1960s and early 1970s refers to a period between 1960 and 1973 that began in the United States as a reaction against Rather, it has argued that love relations that are freely entered into should not be regulated by law. Thus, free-love practice may include long-term monogamous relationships or even celibacy, but would not include institutional forms of polygamy, such as a king and his wives and concubines. Monogamy is the custom or condition of having only one mate in a Relationship, thus forming a Couple. The term polygamy (a Greek word meaning "the practice of multiple marriage" is used in related ways in Social anthropology, Sociobiology, and

Laws of particular concern to free love movements have included those that prevent an unmarried couple from living together, and those that regulate adultery and divorce, as well as age of consent, birth control, homosexuality, abortion, and prostitution; although not all free lovers agree on these issues. Adultery is the voluntary Sexual intercourse between a married person and another person who is not his or her Spouse, though in many places it is Divorce or dissolution of marriage is the termination of a Marriage. While the phrase age of consent typically does not appear in legal Statutes when used with in relation to sexual activity, the age of consent is the minimum age at Birth control, sometimes synonymous with contraception, is a regimen of one or more actions devices or Medications followed in order to deliberately prevent Homosexuality refers to sexual behavior with or attraction to people of the same sex or to a Homosexual orientation. An Prostitution is the act of performing Sexual activity in exchange for Money. The abrogation of individual rights in marriage is also a concern—for example, some jurisdictions do not recognise spousal rape or treat it less seriously than non-spousal rape. Spousal rape is non-consensual sexual assault in which the perpetrator is the victim's spouse. Free-love movements since the 19th century have also defended the right to publicly discuss sexuality and have battled obscenity laws. Obscenity (in Latin obscenus, meaning "foul repulsive detestable" is a term that is most often used in a legal context to

In the twentieth century, some free-love proponents extended the critique of marriage to argue that marriage as a social institution encourages emotional possessiveness and psychological enslavement.

Free love and the women's movement

The history of free love is entwined with the history of feminism. Feminism is a discourse that involves various movements theories, and Philosophies which are concerned with the issue of Gender difference, advocate From the late 18th century, leading feminists, such as Mary Wollstonecraft, have challenged the institution of marriage, and many have advocated its abolition. Mary Wollstonecraft (ˈwʊlstənkrɑːft 27 April 1759 – 10 September A married woman was solely a wife and mother, denying her the opportunity to pursue other occupations; sometimes this was legislated, as with bans on married women and mothers in the teaching profession. In Education, a teacher is one who helps Students or pupils often in a School, as well as in a Family, religious or In 1855, free lover Mary Gove Nichols described marriage as the "annihilation of women," explaining that women were considered to be men's property in law and public sentiment, making it possible for tyrannical men to deprive their wives of all freedom. Freedom, or the idea of being free is a broad concept that ^[1] For example, the law allowed a husband to physically discipline his wife. In response, free love feminists stressed the anarchist concept of self-ownership in the context of sexual self-determination. Self-ownership (or sovereignty of the individual, individual sovereignty or individual autonomy) is the moral or natural right (aka Freedom of a person Free lovers like Nichols argued that many children are born into unloving marriages out of compulsion, but should instead be the result of choice and affection—yet children born out of wedlock did not have the same rights as children with married parents.

Sex, to proponents of free love, was not only about reproduction. Access to birth control was considered a means to women's independence, and leading birth-control activists like Margaret Sanger also embraced free love. Birth control, sometimes synonymous with contraception, is a regimen of one or more actions devices or Medications followed in order to deliberately prevent Margaret Higgins Sanger ( September 14, 1879 &ndash September 6, 1966) was an American Birth control activist an advocate

However, many of the leaders of first-wave feminism attacked free love. First-wave feminism refers to a period of Feminist activity during the nineteenth and early Twentieth century in the United Kingdom and To them, women's suffering could be traced to the moral degradation of men, and by contrast, women were portrayed as virtuous and in control of their passions, and they should serve as a model for men's behaviour. Some feminists of the late 20th century would interpret the free-love ethic of the 1960s and 1970s as a manipulative strategy against a woman's ability to say no to sex.

History of free love movements

Historical precedents

The Garden of Earthly Delights, by Hieronymus Bosch (c. The Garden of Earthly Delights (or The Millennium) is a Triptych painted by the early Netherlandish master Hieronymus Bosch Hieronymus Bosch ( Dutch, born Jeroen Anthonissen van Aken c 1450 &ndash August 9, 1516) was an Early Netherlandish 1504). Art historian Wilhelm Fraenger speculates that Bosch was a sympathiser or member of the free-love sect known as the Brethren of the Free Spirit. The Brothers or Brethren of the Free Spirit (Brüder und Schwestern des Freien Geistes was a lay Christian movement which flourished in northern Europe in

A number of utopian social movements throughout history have shared a vision of free love. The Essenes, who lived in the Middle East from the 1st century BC to the 1st century AD apparently shunned both marriage and slavery. The Essenes were strictly speaking a Jewish religious group that flourished from the 2nd century BC to the 1st century AD The Middle East is a Subcontinent with no clear boundaries often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East. The 1st century BC started the first day of 100 BC and ended the last day of 1 BC. The 1st century was the Century that lasted from 1 to 100 according the Julian calendar. ^[2] They also renounced wealth, lived communally, and were pacifist^[3] vegetarians. An early Christian sect known as the Adamites—which flourished in North Africa in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th centuries—also rejected marriage. The Adamites, or Adamians, were adherents of an early Christian Sect (considered heretical by the orthodox church that flourished in North They practised nudism while engaging in worship and considered themselves free of original sin. Naturism or nudism is a cultural and Political movement advocating and defending social Nudity in private and in public. Original sin is according to a doctrine in Catholic theology, humanity's state of Sin resulting from the Fall of Man.

In the 6th century AD, adherents of Mazdakism in pre-Muslim Persia apparently supported a kind of free love in the place of marriage,^[4] and like many other free-love movements, also favored vegetarianism, pacificism, and communalism. Mazdak (in Persian مزدک (died c 524 or 528 was a proto- socialist Persian reformer who gained influence under the reign of the Sassanian The Persian Empire was a series of Iranian empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the original Persian homeland and beyond in Western Asia Vegetarianism is the practice of a diet that excludes Meat (including game and slaughter by-products Fish (including Shellfish and other sea Pacificism is the general Ethical opposition to War or Violence, except in cases where force is deemed absolutely necessary to advance the cause of See also Communalism (South Asia. In many parts of the world communalism is a modern term that describes a broad range of Social movements Some writers have posited a conceptual link between the rejection of private property and the rejection of marriage as a form of ownership. Property is any physical or virtual entity that is owned by an individual One folk story from the period that contains a mention of a free-love (and nudist) community under the sea is "The Tale of Abdullah the Fisherman and Abdullah the Merman" from The Book of One Thousand and One Nights (c. 8th century). ^[5]

Karl Kautsky, writing in 1895, noted that a number of "communistic" movements throughout the Middle Ages also rejected marriage. Karl Kautsky ( October 16 1854 - October 17 1938) was a leading theoretician of Social democracy. ^[6] Typical of such movements, the Cathars of 10th to 14th century Western Europe freed followers from all moral prohibition and religious obligation, but respected those who lived simply, avoided the taking of human or animal life, and were celibate. Western Europe at its most general meaning means 'all the countries in the West of Europe ' Celibacy refers to the lack of participation in Sexual intercourse. Women had an uncommon equality and autonomy, even as religious leaders. The Cathars and similar groups (the Waldenses, Apostle brothers, Beghards and Beguines, Lollards, and Hussites) were branded as heretics by the Roman Catholic Church and were brutally suppressed. General description The earliest Waldensians believed in poverty and austerity promoting true poverty public preaching and the personal study of the scriptures Beghards and Beguines were Roman Catholic lay religious communities active in the 13th and 14th century living in a loose semi- Monastic community Beghards and Beguines were Roman Catholic lay religious communities active in the 13th and 14th century living in a loose semi- Monastic community Lollardy was the political and religious movement of the Lollards from the mid- 14th century to the English Reformation. The Hussites were a Christian movement following the teachings of Czech reformer Jan Hus or John Huss (c Heresy is an introduced change to some system of belief especially a religion that conflicts with the previously established canon of that belief Other movements shared their critique of marriage but advocated free sexual relations rather than celibacy, such as the Brothers and Sisters of the Free Spirit, Taborites, and Picards. The Brothers or Brethren of the Free Spirit (Brüder und Schwestern des Freien Geistes was a lay Christian movement which flourished in northern Europe in The Taborites (Czech Táborité, singular Táborita) were members of a religious community considered heretical by the Catholic Church The Picards were a Sect of Neo- Adamites in the sixteenth century and earlier in the Flemish Netherlands and in Bohemia.

18th and 19th century Europe

Frontispiece to William Blake's Visions of the Daughters of Albion (1793), which contains Blake's critique of Judeo-Christian values of marriage. William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827 was an English poet, painter, and Printmaker. Oothoon (centre) and Bromion (left), are chained together, as Bromion has raped Oothoon and she now carries his baby. Theotormon (right) and Oothoon are in love, but Theotormon is unable to act, considering her polluted, and ties himself into knots of indecision.

In 1789, radical Swedenborgians August Nordenskjöld and C. The New Church Swedenborgianism is the belief system developed from the writings of the Swedish theologian Emanuel Swedenborg (1688 – 1772 B. Wadström published the Plan for a Free Community,^[7] in which they proposed the establishment of a society of sexual liberty, where slavery was abolished and the "European" and the "Negro" lived together in harmony. White People is the second album by Handsome Boy Modeling School. Negro is a term referring to people of Black African ancestry In the treatise, marriage is criticised as a form of political repression. The challenges to traditional morality and religion brought by the Age of Enlightenment and the emancipatory politics of the French Revolution created an environment where such ideas could flourish. The Age of Enlightenment or The Enlightenment is a term used to describe a phase in Western philosophy and cultural life centered upon the eighteenth century The French Revolution (1789–1799 was a period of political and social upheaval in the History of France, during which the French governmental structure previously an A group of radical intellectuals in England (sometimes known as the English Jacobins) supported the French Revolution, abolitionism, feminism, and free love. This page describes the political term "Jacobin" For discussion of the political organization of the French Revolution era see Jacobin Club. Abolitionism was a political movement of the 18th and 19th century which sought to make Slavery illegal particularly in the United States and British West Indies Among them was William Blake, who explicitly compares the sexual oppression of marriage to slavery in works such as Visions of the Daughters of Albion (1793). William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827 was an English poet, painter, and Printmaker. As a social-economic system slavery is a legal institution under which a Person (called "a slave" is compelled to work for another

Another member of the circle was pioneering English feminist Mary Wollstonecraft. Mary Wollstonecraft (ˈwʊlstənkrɑːft 27 April 1759 – 10 September Wollstonecraft felt that women should not give up freedom and control of their sexuality, and thus didn't marry her partner, Gilbert Imlay, despite the two having a child together. Though the relationship ended badly, due in part to the discovery of Imlay's infidelity, Wollstonecraft's belief in free love survived. She developed a relationship with early English anarchist William Godwin, who shared her free love ideals, and published on the subject throughout his life. Anarchism is a Political philosophy encompassing theories and attitudes which support the elimination of all compulsory Government, i William Godwin ( 3 March 1756 &ndash 7 April 1836) was an English journalist political philosopher and Novelist However, the two did decide to marry. Their child, Mary, took up with the English romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley at a young age. Mary Shelley ( Née Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin; 30 August Percy Bysshe Shelley (August 4 1792 – July 8 1822 ˈpɝːsɪ ˈbɪʃ ˈʃɛlɪ was one of the major English Romantic poets and is widely considered to be among Percy also wrote in defence of free love (and vegetarianism) in the prose notes of Queen Mab (1813), in his essay On Love (c1815) and in the poem Epipsychidion (1821):

I never was attached to that great sect,
Whose doctrine is, that each one should select
Out of the crowd a mistress or a friend,
And all the rest, though fair and wise, commend
To cold oblivion. Queen Mab is a Fairy referred to in Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. . .

Free love has this, different from gold and clay,
That to divide is not to take away.

Sharing the free-love ideals of the earlier social movements—as well as their feminism, pacifism, and simple communal life—were the utopian socialist communities of early-19th-century France and Britain, associated with writers and thinkers such as Henri de Saint-Simon and Charles Fourier in France and Robert Owen in England. Utopian socialism is a term used to define the first currents of modern socialist thought Claude Henri de Rouvroy comte de Saint-Simon, often referred to as Henri de Saint-Simon ( October 17, 1760 &ndash May 19, 1825) was François Marie Charles Fourier ( April 7, 1772 - October 10, 1837) was a French Utopian Robert Owen (14 May 1771 – 17 Nov 1858 born in Newtown, Montgomeryshire, Wales was a social reformer and one of the founders of Socialism Fourier, who coined the term feminism, argued that true freedom could only occur without masters, without the ethos of work, and without suppressing passions: the suppression of passions is not only destructive to the individual, but to society as a whole. He argued that all sexual expressions should be enjoyed as long as people are not abused, and that "affirming one's difference" can actually enhance social integration. The Saint-Simonian feminist Pauline Roland took a free-love stance against marriage, having four children in the 1830s, all of whom bore her name. Pauline Roland (1805— 15 December 1852) was a French Feminist and Socialist.

19th century United States

1872 cartoon by Thomas Nast, lampooning the free-love movement. Thomas Nast ( September 27, 1840 – December 7, 1902) was a famous German-American Caricaturist and Editorial cartoonist A caricature of Victoria Woodhull holds a parchment reading "Be saved by Free Love. Victoria Claflin Woodhull ( September 23, 1838 &ndash June 9, 1927) was an American suffragist who was publicized " The woman in the background, burdened with her drunken husband and three children, replies, "Get thee behind me, (Mrs. ) Satan! I had rather travel the hardest path of matrimony than follow your footsteps!"

Christian socialist writer John Humphrey Noyes has been credited with coining the term 'free love' in the mid-nineteenth century, although he preferred to use the term 'complex marriage'. John Humphrey Noyes ( September 3, 1811 &ndash April 13, 1886) was an American utopian socialist. Group marriage is a form of polyamory in which more than one man and more than one woman form a Family unit with all the members of the group marriage being considered Noyes founded the Oneida Society in 1848, a utopian community that "[rejected] conventional marriage both as a form of legalism from which Christians should be free and as a selfish institution in which men exerted rights of ownership over women". The Oneida Community was a Utopian commune founded by John Humphrey Noyes in 1848 in Oneida New York. He found scriptural justification: "In the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like the angels in heaven" (Matt. 22:30). ^[8] Noyes also supported eugenics; and only certain people were allowed to become parents. Eugenics is a social Philosophy which advocates the improvement of Human Hereditary traits through various forms of intervention

A number of individualist anarchists and feminists in the U. Individualist anarchism refers to any of several traditions that hold that "individual conscience and the pursuit of self-interest should not be constrained by any collective Feminism is a discourse that involves various movements theories, and Philosophies which are concerned with the issue of Gender difference, advocate S. embraced free love from the late 19th century, such as Josiah Warren, Lois Waisbrooker, Lillian Harman, Moses Harman, Angela Heywood, Ezra Heywood, and Benjamin Tucker. Josiah Warren (1798-1874 was an Individualist anarchist, inventor musician and author in the United States. Moses Harman ( October 12, 1830 January 30, 1910) was an American Schoolteacher and publisher notable for his staunch support Ezra Heywood (1829-1893 was a 19th century North American individualist anarchist, slavery Abolitionist, and Feminist Benjamin Ricketson Tucker ( April 17, 1854 &ndash June 22, 1939) was a leading proponent of American Individualist anarchism They viewed sexual freedom as a clear, direct expression of an individual's self-ownership, stressing women's rights since most sexual laws discriminated against women. Self-ownership (or sovereignty of the individual, individual sovereignty or individual autonomy) is the moral or natural right (aka Freedom of a person A number of communities from a range of class backgrounds adopted free-love ideas, which sought to separate the state from sexual matters, such as marriage, adultery, divorce, age of consent, and birth control.

Elements of the free-love movement also had links to abolitionist movements, drawing parallels between slavery and "sexual slavery" (marriage), and forming alliances with black activists. Abolitionism was a political movement of the 18th and 19th century which sought to make Slavery illegal particularly in the United States and British West Indies Sexual slavery refers to the organised coercion of persons into various different sexual practices forced Prostitution single-owner sexual slavery They also had many opponents, and Moses Harman spent two years in jail after a court determined that a journal he published was "obscene" under the notorious Comstock Law. The Comstock Act, (ch 258 enacted March 3, 1873) is a United States federal law which made it illegal to send any "obscene lewd and/or lascivious" In particular, the court objected to three letters to the editor, one of which described the plight of a woman who had been raped by her husband, tearing stitches from a recent operation after a difficult childbirth and causing severe hemorrhaging. The letter lamented the woman's lack of legal recourse. A legal recourse is an action that can be taken by an individual or a corporation to attempt to remedy a legal difficulty Ezra Heywood, who had already been prosecuted under the Comstock Law for a pamphlet attacking marriage, reprinted the letter in solidarity with Harman and was also arrested and sentenced to two years in prison.

Victorian feminist Victoria Woodhull (1838–1927), the first woman to run for presidency in the U. Victoria Claflin Woodhull ( September 23, 1838 &ndash June 9, 1927) was an American suffragist who was publicized S. in 1872, was also called "the high priestess of free love". In 1871, Woodhall wrote:

"Yes, I am a Free Lover. I have an inalienable, constitutional and natural right to love whom I may, to love as long or as short a period as I can; to change that love every day if I please, and with that right neither you nor any law you can frame have any right to interfere. And I have the further right to demand a free and unrestricted exercise of that right, and it is your duty not only to accord it, but, as a community, to see that I am protected in it. I trust that I am fully understood, for I mean just that, and nothing less!" And the Truth Shall Make You Free (November 20, 1871)

The women's movement, free love and Spiritualism were three strongly linked movements at the time, and Woodhull was also a spiritualist leader. Spiritualism is a Religion founded in part on the writings of the Swedish mystic Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772 Like Noyes, she also supported eugenics. Eugenics is a social Philosophy which advocates the improvement of Human Hereditary traits through various forms of intervention Fellow social reformer and educator Mary Gove Nichols (1810-1884) was happily married (to her second husband), and together they published a newspaper and wrote medical books and articles, a novel, and a treatise on marriage, in which they argued the case for free love. Both Woodhull and Nichols eventually repudiated free love.

Publications of the movement in the second half of the nineteenth century included Nichols' Monthly, The Social Revolutionist, Woodhull & Claflin's Weekly (ed. Victoria Woodhull and her sister Tennessee Clafin), The Word (ed. Ezra Heywood), Lucifer, the Light-Bearer (ed. Lucifer the Lightbearer was an Individualist-anarchist Journal published by Moses Harman in the late nineteenth and early Moses Harman) and the German-language Detroit newspaper Der Arme Teufel (ed. Robert Reitzel). Organisations included the New England Free Love League, founded with the assistance of Benjamin Tucker as a spin off from the New England Labor Reform League (NELRL). A minority of freethinkers also supported free love. Freethought is a philosophical viewpoint that holds that Beliefs should be formed on the basis of Science and Logic and should not be influenced ^[9]

Turn of the 20th century

United Kingdom

Toward the end of the 19th century in the United Kingdom, free love was a topic of discussion among a minority of freethinkers, socialists, and feminists. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Many of them were associated with The Fellowship of the New Life, such as Olive Schreiner and Edward Carpenter. The Fellowship of the New Life was an organization in the 19th century most famous for a splinter group the Fabian Society. Olive Schreiner ( 24 March 1855 - December 11 1920) was a South African author pacifist and political activist Also see Ed Carpenter. Edward Carpenter ( 29 August 1844 – 28 June 1929) was an English Carpenter was one of the first writers to defend homosexuality in the English language. Like many of the movements before them who were associated with free love, the group also favored a simple communal life, pacifism, and vegetarianism.

Australia

There was also an interest in free love among the late 19th-century Left in Australia. In 1886, the Melbourne Anarchist Club led a debate on the topic, and a couple of years later released an anonymous pamphlet on the subject: 'Free Love—Explained and Defended' (possibly written by David Andrade or Chummy Fleming). John William 'Chummy' Fleming (1863 – 25 January 1950) was a pioneer unionist, agitator for the unemployed, and anarchist in David Andrade (1859-1928 was an Australian Anarchist. In May 1886 David Andrade his brother Will and half a dozen others formed the Melbourne Anarchist John William 'Chummy' Fleming (1863 – 25 January 1950) was a pioneer unionist, agitator for the unemployed, and anarchist in Newcastle libertarian Alice Winspear, the wife of pioneer socialist William Robert Winspear, wrote: "Let us have freedom—freedom for both man and woman—freedom to earn our bread in whatever vocation is best suited to us, and freedom to love where we like, and to live only with those whom we love, and by whom we are loved in return. The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie " A couple of decades later, the Melbourne anarchist feminist poet Lesbia Harford also championed free love. Melbourne ( is the second most populous city in Australia, with a Metropolitan area population of approximately 3 Lesbia Harford ( 9 April 1891 &ndash 5 July 1927) was an Australian poet

United States

Anarchist free-love movements continued into early 1900s in bohemian circles in New York's Greenwich Village. The term bohemian, of French origin was first used in the English language in the nineteenth century to describe the untraditional lifestyles of marginalized and impoverished Artists Greenwich Village (ˌgrɛnɪtʃ ˈvɪlɪdʒ often simply called the Village, is a largely residential area on the west side of downtown (southern Manhattan A group of Villagers lived free-love ideals and promoted them in the political journal The Masses and its sister publication The Little Review, a literary journal. The Masses was a graphically innovative magazine of Socialist politics published monthly in the U The Little Review was an American Literary magazine founded by Margaret Caroline Anderson which published modernist American and English writers Incorporating influences from the writings of English homosexual socialist Edward Carpenter and international sexologist Havelock Ellis, women such as Emma Goldman campaigned for a range of sexual freedoms, including homosexuality and access to contraception. Also see Ed Carpenter. Edward Carpenter ( 29 August 1844 – 28 June 1929) was an English Henry Havelock Ellis ( February 2, 1859 - July 8, 1939) was a British sexologist, physician and social reformer Emma Goldman (June 27 1869 – May 14 1940 was an anarchist known for her political activism writing and speeches Other notable figures among the Greenwich-Village scene who have been associated with free love include Edna St. Vincent Millay, Max Eastman, Crystal Eastman, Floyd Dell, Mabel Dodge Luhan, Ida Rauh, Hutchins Hapgood, and Neith Boyce. Edna St Vincent Millay ( February 22, 1892 &ndash October 19, 1950) was an American lyrical poet and playwright and the first Max Forrester Eastman ( January 4, 1883 &ndash March 25, 1969) was a Socialist and (late in his life Libertarian American Crystal Catherine Eastman ( June 25, 1881 - July 8, 1928) was a Lawyer, antimilitarist, feminist, socialist Floyd Dell (1887-1969 was an American author and critic Biography Floyd Dell was born in Barry Illinois in 1887 Mabel Dodge Sterne Luhan (pronounced LOO-hahn née Ganson ( February 26, 1879 - August 13, 1962) was a wealthy American patron of the arts Hutchins Hapgood (Chicago May 21, 1869 - Provincetown MA, November 19, 1944) was an U Neith Boyce (1872 - 1951 was a US novelist and playwrightShe married Hutchins Hapgood on June 22 1899 Dorothy Day also wrote passionately in defence of free love, women's rights, and contraception—but later, after converting to Catholicism, she criticised the sexual revolution of the sixties. Dorothy Day ( November 8, 1897 – November 29, 1980) was an American Journalist turned anarchist, social activist

Japan

The anarchist feminist Noe Ito (1895-1923) and her lover, fellow anarchist Sakae Osugi (1885-1923), promoted free love in Japan. was an anarchist, social critic author and feminist. She graduated from Ueno Girls' High School in Ueno, Tokyo, and joined the Bluestocking was a radical Japanese anarchist. He published numerous anarchist periodicals helped translate various western anarchist essays into Japanese for the first time and created For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. They were murdered by a squad of military police. Military police ( MPs) are normally the Police of a Military Organization. Their story is told in the 1969 movie Erosu purasu Gyakusatsu (Eros Plus Massacre). is a Japanese black and white film released in 1969. It was directed by Yoshishige Yoshida, who wrote it in cooperation with Masahiro Yamada.

USSR

After the October Revolution in Russia, Alexandra Kollontai became the most prominent woman in the Soviet administration. The October Revolution (Октябрьская революция Oktyabrskaya revolyutsiya) also known as the Soviet Revolution Alexandra Mikhailovna Kollontai (Алекса́ндра Миха́йловна Коллонта́й &mdash born Domontovich, Домонто́вич ( - March 9, Kollontai was also a champion of free love. In what may be an apocryphal conversation, she defended free love to Lenin, saying "Love should be free, like drinking water from a glass. " Lenin is supposed to have replied, "but who wants to drink from a soiled glass?" Clara Zetkin recorded that Lenin opposed free love as "completely un-Marxist, and moreover, anti-social". Clara Zetkin, maiden name Eissner ( 5 July 1857 - 20 June 1933) was an influential socialist German politician ^[10] Zetkin also recounted Lenin's denouncement of plans to organise Hamburg’s women prostitutes into a “special revolutionary militant section”: he saw this as “corrupt and degenerate. ”

Despite the traditional marital lives of Lenin and most Bolsheviks, they believed that sexual relations were outside the jurisdiction of the state. The Soviet government abolished centuries-old Czarist regulations on personal life, which had prohibited homosexuality and made it difficult for women to obtain divorce permits or to live singly. Homosexuality refers to sexual behavior with or attraction to people of the same sex or to a Homosexual orientation. There is evidence that this caused a small-scale renaissance in non-traditional love, not only among intellectuals but also the working class. However, by the end of the 1920s, Stalin's centrist faction had taken over the Communist Party and begun to implement socially conservative policies. Joseph Stalin ( ნამდვილი გვარი ჯუღაშვილი|Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili; March 5 1953 was General Secretary of the Communist Party Homosexuality was classified as a mental disorder, and free love was further demonized. Homosexuality refers to sexual behavior with or attraction to people of the same sex or to a Homosexual orientation.

France

Benoît Broutchoux

In the bohemian districts of Montmartre and Montparnasse, many were determined to shock the "bourgeois" sensibilities of the society they grew up in; many, such as the anarchist Benoît Broutchoux, favored free love. Benedict Broutchoux (November 7 1879 - June 2 1944 was a French anarchist opposed to the reformist Emile Basly during a strike in the north of France in 1902 Montmartre is a hill (the butte Montmartre) which is 130 metres high giving its name to the surrounding district in the north of Paris in the 18th Montparnasse is an area of Paris, France, on the left bank of the river Seine, centred on the intersection of the Boulevard du Montparnasse Benedict Broutchoux (November 7 1879 - June 2 1944 was a French anarchist opposed to the reformist Emile Basly during a strike in the north of France in 1902 At the same time, the cross-dressing radical activist Madeleine Pelletier practised celibacy, distributed birth-control devices and information, and performed abortions. Cross-dressing is the act of wearing clothing commonly associated with another gender within a particular Society. Madeleine Pelletier ( May 18, 1874 &ndash December 19, 1939) was a French Physician, Psychiatrist,

Germany

In Germany, from 1891 to 1919, the Verband Fortschrittlicher Frauenvereine (League of Progressive Women's Associations) called for a boycott of marriage and for the enjoyment of sexuality. Founded by Lily Braun and Minna Cauer, the league also aimed to organise prostitutes into labor unions, taught contraception, and supported the right to abortion and the abolition of criminal penalties against homosexuality, as well as running child-care programs for single mothers. Lily Braun ( 2 July 1865 &ndash 8 August 1916) born Amalie von Kretschmann, was a German Feminist writer A trade union or labour union is an organization of workers who have banded together to achieve common goals in key areas such as wages hours and working conditions forming In 1897, teacher and writer Emma Trosse published a brochure titled Ist freie Liebe Sittenlosigkeit? ("Is free love immoral?"). The worldwide homosexual emancipation movement also began in Germany in the late 19th century, and many of the thinkers whose work inspired sexual liberation in the 20th century were also from the German-speaking world, such as Sigmund Freud, Otto Gross, Herbert Marcuse, and Wilhelm Reich. Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender social movements share related goals of social acceptance of Homosexuality, Bisexuality and Transgenderism Lesbian Sigmund Freud (ˈziːkmʊnt ˈfʁɔʏt born Sigismund Shlomo Freud (May 6 1856 &ndash September 23 1939 was an Austrian Psychiatrist who founded Otto Gross (1877–1920 was an Austrian Psychoanalyst. A maverick early disciple of Sigmund Freud, he later became an Anarchist and joined the utopian Herbert Marcuse ( July 19, 1898 &ndash July 29, 1979) was a German philosopher and sociologist, and a member of Wilhelm Reich ( March 24, 1897 – November 3, 1957) was an Austrian-American psychiatrist and psychoanalyst.

1940s - 1960s

From the late 1940s to the 1960s, the bohemian free-love tradition of Greenwich Village was carried on by the beat generation, although differing with their predecessors by being an apparently male-dominated movement. The Beats also produced the first appearance of male homosexual champions of free love in the U. S. , with writers such as Allen Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs. Irwin Allen Ginsberg (ˈgɪnzbɝg (June 3 1926 &ndash April 5 1997 was an American Poet. William Seward Burroughs II ( – ˈbʌroʊz was an American Novelist, Essayist, Social critic, painter and Spoken word Like some of those before, the beats challenged a range of social conventions, and they found inspiration in such aspects of black culture as jazz music. Jazz is an American Musical art form which originated in the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States The study of sexology continued to gain prominence throughout the era, with the works of researchers like Alfred Kinsey lending a new legitimacy to challenges to traditional values regarding sex and marriage. Sexology is the study of sexual interests behavior and function Alfred Charles Kinsey (June 23 1894 &ndash August 25 1956 was an American Biologist and professor of Entomology and Zoology, who in 1947

The sexual revolution and beyond

Main article: sexual revolution

Free love became a prominent phrase used by and about the new social movements and counterculture of the 1960s and 1970s, typified by the Summer of Love in 1967 and the slogan "make love not war". The sexual revolution refers to the well-documented changes in social thought and codes of behaviour related to sexuality throughout the Western world that continues to evolve The term new social movements (NSMs is a theory of Social movements that attempts to explain the plethora of new movements that have come up in various western societies The Counterculture of the 1960s and early 1970s refers to a period between 1960 and 1973 that began in the United States as a reaction against This article is about the Decade 1970-1979 For the Year 1970 see 1970. This article refers to the summer of 1967 For the film of a similar name please go to My Summer of Love. Year 1967 ( MCMLXVII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the 1967 Gregorian calendar. Make love not war was a phrase/slogan commonly associated with the American Counterculture of the 1960s. Unrestrained sexuality became a new norm in some of these youth movements, leading certain feminists to critique the 60s/70s "free love" as a way for men to pressure women into sex; women who said "no" could be characterized as prudish and uptight. Social norms have been defined as "the rules that a group uses for appropriate and inappropriate values beliefs attitudes and behaviors

In the 1980s, concerns over AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases tempered the promiscuity of the 1970s, but many of the sexual reforms advocated by earlier free-love movements had become mainstream: legalisation of adultery, birth control, and homosexuality; freedom in choosing love, sex, or both; and women's rights in general. The 1980s was the decade spanning from January 1 1980 to December 31 1989. Legalization is the process of removing a legal prohibition against something which is currently not legal Adultery is the voluntary Sexual intercourse between a married person and another person who is not his or her Spouse, though in many places it is Birth control, sometimes synonymous with contraception, is a regimen of one or more actions devices or Medications followed in order to deliberately prevent Homosexuality refers to sexual behavior with or attraction to people of the same sex or to a Homosexual orientation. Chastity, virginity, and subservience in marriage had much less power as social ideals for women. Chastity is Sexual behavior of a man or woman acceptable to the ethical norms and guidelines of a culture civilization or Religion. NOTICE TO WOULD-BE ROMEOS **************

Modern descendants of free love could be seen to include the polyamory and queer movements of the 1990s and contemporary sex radicals like Susie Bright, Patrick Califia, and Annie Sprinkle. Polyamory (from Greek el πολυ meaning many or several and Latin la amor “love” is the desire practice or acceptance of having more than one Queer has traditionally meant odd or unusual but is now also used to refer to anyone who is not heteronormative. Sex-positive feminism, also known as pro-sex feminism, sex-radical feminism, or sexually liberal feminism, is a movement that began in the early 1980s Susannah "Susie" Bright (also known as Susie Sexpert) (born March 25, 1958, Arlington, Virginia) is a writer speaker teacher Patrick Califia (formerly known as Pat Califia) born 1954 near Corpus Christi Texas) is a Writer about sexuality and of Erotic Annie M Sprinkle (born Ellen F Steinberg on July 23, 1954 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States) is a former Though they don't often identify as free lovers, modern movements around the world against arranged marriage and forced marriage in South Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Eastern Europe share many of the same goals as the free-love movement. Arranged marriage (also called prearranged marriage) is a Marriage arranged by someone other than the persons getting married curtailing or avoiding the process Forced marriage is a term used to describe a marriage in which one or more of the parties is married without his or her consent or against his or her will The Middle East is a Subcontinent with no clear boundaries often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East. Eastern Europe is a general term that refers to the Geopolitical region encompassing the easternmost part of the European continent.

Free love in the arts

Books:

• H. C. M. Watson, Erchomenon; or the Republic of Materialism (1879): A free love utopia.
• Robert A. Heinlein explored the concept of free love throughout his writing career, starting with his first novel For Us, The Living: A Comedy of Customs in 1939. Robert Anson Heinlein (July 7 1907 – May 8 1988 was an American Novelist and Science fiction Writer. For Us The Living A Comedy of Customs is a Science fiction Novel by Robert A In Stranger in a Strange Land (1961), Protagonist Valentine Michael Smith founds his own church preaching free love. Stranger in a Strange Land is a best-selling 1961 Hugo Award -winning Science fiction Novel by Robert A Lazarus Long's family, in multiple books including Time Enough for Love believe in free love. Lazarus Long is a fictional character featured in a number of Science fiction Novels by Robert A Time Enough for Love is a Science fiction Novel by Robert A Heinlein, first published in 1973.
• Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover series (1960s and 70s): Some of the cultures and individuals of Darkover reject marriage. Marion Eleanor Zimmer Bradley ( June 3, 1930 – September 25, 1999) was an American author of Fantasy novels such The Darkover series consists of several Novels and short stories set in the fictional world of Darkover as created by Science fiction author Darkover is the focus of the Darkover series of Science fiction Novels and short stories by Marion Zimmer Bradley and others published A freely chosen partner is known as a freemate.

Comic Books:

• Elfquest, by Wendy and Richard Pini, follows the adventures of a tribe of elves who, among other things, consider free love completely natural. Elfquest (or ElfQuest) is a cult hit Comic book property created by Wendy and Richard Pini in The tribe in question freely lets its members decide their number of sexual partners, even allowing them to choose none or establish a monogamous relationship if that is what the elf/elves in question desire.

Films:

• "Free Love": 1930 film starring Conrad Nagel, directed by Hobart Henley, written by Winifred Dunn, Sidney Howard and Edwin Knopf. Conrad Nagel (16 March &ndash24 February) was an American screen Actor and matinee idol of the Silent film era and beyond Hobart Henley ( November 23 1887, Louisville Kentucky - May 22 1964, Beverley Hills, California) was an Sidney Howard ( June 26, 1891 &ndash August 23, 1939) was an American Playwright and Screenwriter who became the first
• "Amor libre": 1978 film directed by Jaime Humberto Hermosillo, written by Francisco Sánchez. Jaime Humberto Hermosillo (b January 22, 1942) is a Mexican Film director, often compared to Spain's Pedro Almodóvar. Francisco Demetrio Sánchez Betancourt (born September 6, 1976 in Cumaná) is a former butterfly and freestyle Swimmer
• "The Harrad Experiment": 1973 film directed by Ted Post, based on a novel by Robert H. Rimmer, starring James Whitmore and Tippi Hedren. The Harrad Experiment is a 1973 movie about a fictional Harrad College where the students learn about sexuality and experiment with each other Ted Post (born March 31, 1918) is an American TV and film director. Robert Henry Rimmer ( March 14, 1917 &ndash Quincy Massachusetts, August 1, 2001) was the Author of several books most James Allen Whitmore Jr (born October 1, 1921) is an American two-time Academy Award -nominated Emmy - and Golden Globe Nathalie Kay 'Tippi' Hedren (born January 19, 1930) is an American actress with a career spanning six decades

Songs:

• "Free Love Freeway" Written and sung by Ricky Gervais, who starred as David Brent in the highly acclaimed British comedy The Office
• "Freelove": Written by Martin Gore. Episode Four is the fourth episode of the first series of The Office. " Freelove " is Depeche Mode 's thirty-eighth UK single released on November 5, 2001 in the UK and December 11th in the Martin Gore (born Martin Lee Gore, 23 July 1961, Basildon, Essex, England) is an English Songwriter, Lyricist From Depeche Mode's 2001 album Exciter
• "Unsheathed" from Live's 1997 album Secret Samadhi contains the chorus "Free love is a world I can't linger too long in/Free love was just another party for the hippies to ruin", although any specific objections are very unclear. Depeche Mode (dəˌpɛʃˈmoʊd are an English Electronic music band formed in 1980 in Basildon, Essex. Live (ˈlaɪv rhymes with "five" (also typeset as LIVE) is an American Alternative rock / Post-grunge band from York, Secret Samadhi is Live 's follow-up to their multi-platinum Throwing Copper release
• "The Concept Of Love" by Hideki Naganuma (as featured in both the Jet Set Radio Future and Ollie King original soundtracks) contains a strong theme of free love, including a number of recurring sampled audio clips concerning the topic. is a Japanese music composer who primarily does work for video game soundtracks Jet Set Radio Future (often abbreviated JSRF) is a Video game developed by Smilebit and published by Sega.

See also

• Sexual norm
• New Woman
• Open marriage
• Polyamory
• Free union

References

Further reading

• Victoria Woodhull, Free Lover: Sex, Marriage And Eugenics in the Early Speeches of Victoria Woodhull (Seattle: Inkling, 2005) ISBN 1-58742-050-3
• Stoehr, Taylor, ed. Free Love in America: A Documentary History (New York: AMS Press, 1977).
• Sears, Hal, The Sex Radicals: Free Love in High Victorian America (Lawrence, KS: The Regents Press of Kansas, 1977
• Joanne E. Passet, Sex Radicals and the Quest for Women’s Equality. Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 2003. ISBN 0-252-02804-X.
• Martin Blatt, Free Love and Anarchism: The Biography of Ezra Heywood (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1989)
• Barbara Goldsmith, Other Powers: The Age of Suffrage, Spiritualism, and the Scandalous Victoria Woodhull, 1999, ISBN 0-06-095332-2
• Françoise Basch, Rebelles américaines au XIXe siècle : mariage, amour libre et politique (Paris : Méridiens Klincksieck, 1990).