Christa Schwarz's writing was a transition from the 1800's to the early 1920's and 1930's. Throughout this time period there was a shift from the Victorian to the modern way of life. There were many changes however, Schwarz focus is on the "new" hetero/homosexuals. Specifically she looks at Harlem because it was a hot spot for the sex industry and night life that was rarely policed. Harlem was an African American community which is a significant point. Schwarz explains how Harlem was a good location for whites because the "African Americans lived 'too far away to be dangerous yet close enough to be exciting'"(8). This meaning Harlem was the perfect place for a white person if they wanted to experiment with prostitution with the same or opposite sex. Harlem was considered a safe zone for same sex relations since anywhere else in New York a person could receive a 50 dollar ticket for homosexual activity or be sentenced to six months in prison. It was a wild time for sex in Harlem back in the 1920's.
For some reason most of society still looked down on homosexuality, specifically lesbians. On the plus side sexologists had finally "discovered" that females had sexual desires and were not only sex objects to men. However, men became intimidated by this new women. Schwarz says, "Many men feared gender category that traditionally assigned them to the space of the household and the task of motherhood, thereby threatening male dominance" (16). But interesting enough was to think of African American women, since they had always worked along side African American men. Unfortunately, lesbians were considered unnatural since they did not take place in childbearing. In addition, many people associated lesbianism with violence and disease. It doesn't make sense to me how homosexual females were targeted far more than homosexual males.
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