Nachtvrijerij. Seksuele moraal en machtsverhoudingen in Oostenrijk

Samenvatting

Bundling, a form of courting involving premarital sex, was practiced in many Ru societies of Europe. It has been interpreted in terms of sexual freedom characterizing societies where women derive power from contributing essentially to the household production. In an Austrian peasant society characterized by social differences between landowners & landless laborers, bundling was a strategy to find a suitable partner. Being confined to the village youth & being strictly regulated along SC lines, bundling assured a high degree of village & SC endogamy. For landowning peasants, practicing impartible inheritance & being primarily concerned about their property, it was of crucial importance that the heir contracted a fertile marriage with a partner of equal social standing. Women were made subservient to this central interest. As the church objected to the consolidation of patrimonia & the premarital proof of fertility, bundling was a means of evading the clerical prohibitions. 19 References. HA