Episode Details

Beguines, Boston Marriage, and Bed Death: Historic Archetypes of Asexual Lesbianism The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 16 with Heather Rose Jones

This show takes a tour through a variety of social models in European history that recognized committed romantic partnerships between women that did not focus on sexual desire.

In this episode we talk about:

• Emotional partnerships between women dedicated to religious chastity
• The rise of Neo-Platonic friendship as a model for women’s relationships
• The divergence between models of erotic and platonic female partnerships
• The rise of the Romantic Friendship over the 17th to 19th centuries and how economic changes made it an achievable ideal
• The origin of the term Boston Marriage
• The concept of “political lesbianism”
• The myth of “lesbian bed death” and how it can speak to some couples

This topic is discussed in one or more entries of the Lesbian Historic Motif Project here:

• Monastic communities
• Romantic friendship
• Boston marriage

A transcript of this podcast is available here.

Links to the Lesbian Historic Motif Project Online

• Website: http://alpennia.com/lhmp
• Blog: http://alpennia.com/blog
• RSS: http://alpennia.com/blog/feed/
• Twitter: @LesbianMotif
• Discord: Contact Heather for an invitation to the Alpennia/LHMP Discord server
• The Lesbian Historic Motif Project Patreon

Links to Heather Online

• Website: http://alpennia.com
• Email: Heather Rose Jones
• Twitter: @heatherosejones
• Facebook: Heather Rose Jones (author page)