BICYCLE

The bicycle is perceived as an even more serious threat to women’s virtue. Morality watchdogs believe that women who ride on bicycles could get sexuality aroused through the friction with the seat. Also, they are concerned that these women could sustain internal organ damage by riding bicycles.

MOVIES

The first movies are made, capturing sex and romance on film. One of these movies is The Kiss (1901) by Thomas Edison Films in which a man and a woman exchange a kiss. Since public affection is frowned upon, these movies create controversy.

MARGARET SANGER

Some individuals like Margaret Sanger have a very different view of sexuality. Sanger is a nurse who is a birth control pioneer for women. She is very concerned by the negative effects of multiple pregnancies on women’s health, and their inability to reach their full potential.

In 1914, Sanger is arrested by Comstock for violation of the Comstock Law. She manages to flee to England only to return two years later to the United States and open the first birth control clinic.