'free love' was a victorianism
(TONYW@siucvmb.siu.edu)
Thu, 16 May 1996 14:45:44 -0400
Dear sixties subscribers,
In response to Nancy's mailing, the "free love" movement was also an
important part of pre-World War I American Bohemianism centered around
New York's Greenwich Village in particular. As well as Victorian antecedents
for this supposedly exclusive 60's feature, the New Woman movement of the
1890s onwards was also another strand. For some interesting comments onthe
Greenwich Village scenario, Joseph Newman's AN AMERICAN TESTAMENT (1936) is
an interesting source. It is written by an American Jewish Socialist born in
Eastern Europe who lived through this era and became committed to the
American Communist Party along with other figures such as Mike Gold. The
free sexuality among female comrades is also insightfully treated in a work
which forms an interesting comparison with 60s movements.
Tony Williams