Fatal Secrets and the French Fertility Transition

Sixteenth- to eighteenth-century literary descriptions of French contraceptive behavior are examined for what they tell us about the means through which that country's fertility decline was achieved. A well-known 1778 text by Moheau on "fatal secrets," and strikingly similar texts fro...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Population and development review 1995-06, Vol.21 (2), p.261-279
Main Authors: van de Walle, Etienne, Muhsam, Helmut V.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Birth Control
Children
Coitus interruptus
Condoms
Contraception
Decline
Extramarital Sexuality
Fertility
Fertility Decline
France
History
Libertine lifestyle
Love relationships
Pleasure
Relationship
Sexual behavior
Sexual self stimulation
Sixteenth-Eighteenth centuries
Social aspects
Transition
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Summary:Sixteenth- to eighteenth-century literary descriptions of French contraceptive behavior are examined for what they tell us about the means through which that country's fertility decline was achieved. A well-known 1778 text by Moheau on "fatal secrets," and strikingly similar texts from the period, shed little light on the subject. Unambiguous evidence comes from libertine writers who address extramarital situations. They point to a variety of techniques, including mutual masturbation, sodomy, and coitus interruptus. The last does not seem to be the preferred contraceptive method out of wedlock. Withdrawal is usually presented as a learned technique rather than as one that can be reinvented by every couple, and it is reputedly unreliable. Few sources document the spread of withdrawal to marital situations.
ISSN:0098-7921
1728-4457
DOI:10.2307/2137494