In 1894, Ruth Smythers, 'Beloved wife of The Reverend L. D. Smythers', wrote: 'While sex is at best revolting and at worse rather painful, it has to be endured...One cardinal rule of marriage should never be forgotten: give little, give seldom and, above all, give grudgingly! Most men are by nature rather perverted, and if given half a chance, would engage in quite a variety of the most revolting practices.' The Methodist wife didn't intend to be amusing, but this brief treatise written for young brides is side-splitting today and an eye-opener to how mores have changed in just over a century. It includes essential advice on: how to discourage your spouse's amorous advances; appropriate night-wear for the wedded couple; and the acceptable length and frequency of unavoidable sexual encounters.
Author description
Ruth Smythers was beloved wife of the Reverend L.D. Smythers, Pastor of the Arcadian Methodist Church of the Eastern Regional Conference.