Calling men "closeted" in this period is very inappropriate. The concept closeted can only exist in modern terms; there is an option now to live openly whereas back then there was not. The history of Molly houses are intrinsically tied to LGBTQ historyso there's nothing in this video that's misleading. Regardless of what class you were from, Molly houses were the only relative safe places to be openly homosexual.
I remember as a kid being totally confused by the line in the song Yankee Doodle, “...stuck a feather in his hat and called him Macaroni.” No matter how many adults I ask, none of them could explain it to me. I was in my 30’s before I discovered what that really meant.
For those still confused, macaroni was a term for flamboyant accessories, such as stick on moles, objects in hair/hat (as in "...feather in his hat") and other fashion trends.
No, no it would not at all! “Drag queens“ back during those times were men dressed up as women because women were not allowed to be in theatre. Had there ever been such a breakdown in society in the 18th century, there would’ve been a lot of heads rolling down Tower hill, and the better the world would have been for it.
@@laurasmith14 you need to google princess Seraphina from the 1700’s. The drag you’re referring too was in 1500’s during Shakespeare’s time. By then 1600’s women were permitted in theater. Also, gay men’s heads didn’t “roll” they were hanged after psycho king Henry 8th banned men being together. Tf you talking about the world being a better place for it, the first recorded homosexual was 2400 bc. They’ve always been around. The world would be better if your head rolled down Tower Hill.
The title is misleading. It should be called "what it was like to be labeled as a sex worker when you're just a gay man in the 18th century". The molly houses weren't brothels, they were "safe places". I heard no money exchange in this video. Another thing: you show Thomas Wright the astronomer who would have been only 15 years old in 1726, and who also died in 1786, so you got the wrong Thomas Wright up there. This one you're talking about was hanged in May 1726, shortly after the trial in April. Probably should correct that for historical accuracy.
I like Weird History, but kind of disingenuous to call the men who frequented 'Molly Houses" LGBTQ. They were men. Are we not allowed to say gay men anymore?
@@bradrose15 Cuz they weren't acknowledged at the time...& it wasn't as easily prosecutable crime...."buggery" was on the books (in-law/illegal) while "L", as such, was not....i.e. less threatening to men...but yeah, still a difficult life, just not deemed as "worthy of death" by men & their weird fear of other penises...the irony....cuz, well, anyways...✋😂
Believe it or not, there are plenty of living history events focused around representing Molly houses in the greater anglosphere! Not only does it include lgbtq, drag, and sex worker history, but typically other counterculture history such as underground fighting rings, gambling, subversive art and theater etc.
THIS honestly. I do Victorian/Old West, Edwardian, and Onnagata/Oyama drag. I really want to see this as a popular thing. Kept classy, historical, and realistic of course.
Man, that's something. It's like what happened at Stonewall Inn. People snitched, went to jail, and sentenced to death. Except Stonewall, no one was sentenced to death. First time hearing about something like this.
@Gisele Matthews not surprised that you would misunderstand stand completely and then get mad at the commenter. It’s the norm nowadays for certain people.
As a history professor, I love this channel and subscribe, but please find images that relate to the period in the script. Having a banner say 1720s on top of a series of images from the late 19th and even 20th centuries is pretty jarring. There are great images in the public domain that better correlate to the content.
I am no history professor, but I wonder that u haven’t stumbled over the many many inaccuracies, that occur again and again in ,,Weird History’s“ videos… especially as a fan of this channel…
Professor, most pictures are subject to copyright laws. I suspect they are using pictures available on public domain, or otherwise free of charge, or for a nominal fee. If they had a phenomenal or bloated budget, I feel certain they would upload the finest and most accurate pictures they could find. The banners are used to 'indicate' the era they are speaking of while the pictures are used to 'represent' that era. Generally speaking, this channel is made for children. I believe the viewers understand the story. The inquisitive mind would conduct their own research to verify anything published on UA-cam, particularly college students. I hope this information will help to ease your mind. PS But then again, since you already know the aforementioned, maybe you should download the pictures you spoke of and send them to WH. Wouldn't they be delighted! Everybody's a critic.
seeing Aziraphale and Crowley fanart in this made me laugh cause the moment molly houses were mentioned I immediately thought of Azira doing the gavotte.
I'd also love to learn more about indigenous peoples from all over! Australian Aboriginal people especially, there's so little understanding about their culture
I love this channel. Although, I think the title of this video should be changed. Molly houses were only 1/100th of the sex work in London during this period. Why not call the video what is is? It is a video about the lgbtq community in London, not just sex work.
Don’t u mean the LBG community... the T and Q etc have nothing what’s so ever to do with the homosexually ... as a gay man I am sick to the back teeth of being associated with the T and Q...
Loved this video, but the title is totally inaccurate. This has almost nothing to do with sex workers, and everything to do with gay men, most of whom - it sounds like - were not sex workers.
@@alexiscaldera3793 Yeah, but it didn't sound like THESE men were sex workers though. Kind of sounded like they just wanted a safe space to hang out and were falsely labeled as sex workers. At least, that's what this video makes it sound like
Dude after learning what "macaroni" meant back in those days... I started thinking of how during the Revolutionary War, the new Americans would sing "Yankee Doodle" at the Brits (usually after a battle that the British lost at), and I realized "Dude, the founding fathers were talking MAD sht at those guys" 😂 Also the dude in the video that got caught perusing one of those "cruising" alleys (got sentenced to the pillary and then two months in jail) and got caught and used the ol "I was just peeing" excuse 😂 anyone remember that movie "There's Something About Mary"? There's a part where Ben Stiller is driving on the interstate at night and sees a trucker rest stop and he pulls over to get down bc he has to pee, but it's dark out and there's no city lights, so he trips while walking to the restroom and realizes he tripped on a man on the ground and one other random man says something like "watch where you're going" or whatever, and then Stiller tries to get up and walk and he like accidentally finds another guy on the ground, and then these bright ass police lights come on, and there's TONS of dudes out there on the ground having a secret orgy and the cops arrest Stiller bc they assume he's one of them, and he ends up on the news and people he knows see his face on the scene and the reporters say it's a secret meeting place where men do strange stuff, and the whole time the cops are detaining Ben Stiller, he's shouting "I JUST HAD TO PEE!" And all the other boys out there start stealing his (real) excuse saying "Oh right! Yeah! Uh, I was just peeing too!" 😂 1698, 1998, sonethings never change lol
When I clicked on this video I didn’t expect it to be about LGBT history but I’m so pleasantly surprised. It makes sense though, gay people have existed everywhere for a very long time, it’s just not usually talked about. Our history has been erased and covered up for hundreds of years. It’s so refreshing to actually be seen. This is a very important and very interesting video. I love history, especially queer history. Thank you.
Society has certainly changed a lot but not enough, as evident in some of these comments. Plus gay men are generally more accepted than transgender people.
@@dinosaurasher because weirdos don’t use the concept of homosexuality to pretend to be women to beat them at sports competitions or enter women’s bathrooms and than get protected by any criticism because “muh Transphobia!!!”
@@Hiphop618 you straight up comment nothing but rude and arguably sexist things on this channel. get a life other than commenting on videos you evidently don’t enjoy watching 🤦🏼♀️
That would be ahistorical. "Gay" is a modern concept. Particular acts were described, and people committed those acts--but were not categorized as being . Except maybe Sodomites--though engaging in sodomitical behavior was not seen as an intrinsic status.
You mentioned "certain areas/streets of London that were popular for 'cruising'" and my brain spontaneously kicked up a chorus of "West End Girls" by the Pet Shop Boys. This was a stellar upload (as most Weird History videos are!)--thanks for bringing such quality and education to our 'entertainment.' :)
How did a boy or a man know about molly houses in the first place? Coming outs are difficult today but I can't imagine how it was for a young person to realise that they were "different" from society, have nobody to talk to out of fear of punishment and than eventually find out about the molly houses and underground LGBTQ community.
Open secrets, I wager. Also, you may have confessed to "that weird guy down the block, who is a total molly!" Likely, there was also a bit of grooming going on...
What I'm about to mention is mostly based on how these things were in the Victorian Era, but I'm sure plenty of it was more or less the same a century prior since Molly Houses were still a thing in Victorian times, and homosexuality was still punished by the law (even after the death penalty for this type of "crime" was abolished) Back then, gay men had "secret gay codes" they implemented to their everyday life. You see how the average male fashion tended to be mostly sober and sometimes "dull" in colors and whatnot? Well, gay men (those who were more open or were looking for a partner or for more people "like them") used that to their advantage and would usually add some colorful accessories to their outfits. Think of adding a colorful feather on their hats, a bright tie, or even a colorful flower pinned to their lapels, and so on. Gay men would also use other forms of "secret communication", such as growing their hair long and keeping their faces as cleanly shaven as possible, as these two things were considered "feminine" by the standards of the time and thus were unacceptable for a man to sport (and, basically, an "open secret" to everyone, taking advantage of the fact that speaking openly about homosexuality was taboo and pretty much no one wanted to get caught even talking about such a "indecent" thing). Green color was also associated with homosexuality as, reportedly, it was deemed to be an "unnatural" color and, thus, the gay men of the time adopted it in a tongue in cheek way since they were also labelled as "unnatural" by society due to their orientation. In addition, they also used their own "coded language": Polari, which was slang/cant that was most commonly used by specific groups, most largely used by gay men. Using Polari, they could even exchange words between them in public without most people knowing what they were actually saying, with the advantage of pretending they were speaking some foreign language if they got caught. And, like someone else pointed out, open secrets, too! Most of the people who knew about Molly Houses learned about them from other gay men who already knew the place or the owner of said place. The same thing happened with gay men themselves, as all the "codes" I mentioned above were meant for them to easily spot each other out from unsuspecting "regular people" without putting them or their safety at risk.
This reminds me of the show Harlots. They mention molly boys & there's a house with them too. It would be cool if the producers of Harlots could make a male version of their show. Harlots is super entertaining & i think a Molly house spinoff would be just as entertaining.
Thank you so much for examining our gay history. I would love to see a tv series made out of this. 3 years later we are not far off our 17th wedding anniversary. How things have changed (here in New Zealand anyway).
It's not a whole series but alit of the clips in this video was used from Tom Hardy's Taboo. Very good and super weird show. That's where I learned about Molly Houses.
Not only is Weird History some of the *best researched* and *most accurate* history content on UA-cam, it's *wildly entertaining AND incredibly respectful* to boot!! I was honestly overflowing with joy and pride when the narrator spoke about "Princess Seraphina" (who specifically presented as a woman even in her life outside the Molly houses) by using feminine pronouns! It's brave people like her who paved the way for the rights of the LGBT+ community today-- I can't even imagine her struggle to simply exist in 18th century England-- and I *love* Weird History for talking about her with the respect and dignity she deserves ❤️
This video is poorly done. The picture they use for Thomas Newton is in fact a man of that name, but not the one they are talking about. They used a Bishop's picture.
4 minutes in and not ONE single bit of background on "Sex Workers". This video was mis-titled. It should be called "What it was like to be LGBT+ in 18th Century London" or instead of LGBT+ use Molly Boys. Since it is only about cross dressing and gay men. Not even about them being sex workers. Just that they had trouble being a gay man or a cross dresser or cross dressing gay man. Nothing about Sex Workers
@Jon Well, first of all: ancient Greek, Roman, and Spartan societies weren't widely accepting of homosexuality. However, since you think the Roman Legions would still be marching today if not for those "darn dirty gehys", then it's obvious you have never opened a book in your life.
I’m not sure if you already did the event, but you could do one about the “dance of the 42” this was a gay ball in Mexico during Diaz times and it included high ranking officials
The title of the video doesn’t really match the content here. Early on in the video it’s stated that these houses were much less about sex work and more for LGBTQ men to congregate.
It makes me terribly sad that people could be hanged just for being themselves. It's as awful as being hanged for the color of your skin or religious practices. And we have made progress, but not enough. People should be just that....People. Not black people or gay people...just people. I so enjoy meeting and hearing the stories from every person I am lucky enough to interact with....what's inside is the only factor that really matters.
Interesting history but I'm confused by the heading. This wasn't about sexworkers it was about homosexuality and the consequences of such lifestyle in the past. But very informative. Thanks👍
Hi Weird History Team, I have 2 Question. "What it was like living in Sengoku Period real condition?" And "What it was like life during World War 2 for Japanese people?" Thanks :)
My grandmother never says anything in depth about that. She was a nurse in Naruto, JP during WWII. Didn't immigrate to Hawaii until 1958. My grandfather is a nisei(2nd gen Japanese American). They weren't sent to an internment camp since they lived in Hawaii and weren't prominent community leaders.
The Japanese people were well indoctrinated. They didn’t have food shortages as Somme comments suggest, but their lives were far from easy. At the end, the authorities handed out what weapons they could (including sharpened bamboo sticks) and told the civilians that if the Americans invaded, it was better to die defending your country than to live, because you would be raped and murdered by the savage GI’s. They trained people to dive under tanks with explosives 🧨. Things like that. And it was a totalitarian state at that time. Not to mention that virtually every city had been hombre to ruins. So life was prob not that great.
I find it interesting that most history lessons and channels gloss over amab people in some form of prostitution, and lgbt+ in general, this video was very informative, thank you Edit: spelling
its so important to remember that lgbt people have always been around, and to let the kind of suffering and secrecy those poor people lived through never happen again
It's so strange to me that some cultures throughout history and even today don't care about sexuality or gender identity and some cultures even encourage it! But then other, so-called civilized Christian cultures would sentence those same people to death.
Let it go, it's not that serious! How is it that other people haven't gotten the same appreciation and attention like LGBTQ? You know people that actually deserve it, like the ones who BUILT the so comfortable world around you and made all the cool gadgets you play with and complain on about how oppressed you are? You see, you have absolutely way too much, you have it too good. You want to feel like a victim bc you crave individuality, something that's been lost through the rise of the internet. It's truly sad but the end is near and it's necessary. So throw out all the trash, God, and create the planet anew.
@@observerobserver2240 yeah but to decriminalize something it first has to be criminalized which they did while claiming to be civilized and Christians. I'm not putting all the blame on Christians, I'm Christian myself. I just find it absurd that a government says, "You're a man who likes men, you must be executed immediately."
I wonder if during the 18th Century, there were "molly houses" in Colonial America and then in the new United States of America, in such cities as Boston, Philadelphia, New York City, and other American cities?
This video was very interesting to me. I appreciate you offering history topics that most other channels wouldn’t touch. Not only that,but you referred to Serafina (not sure if that’s the correct spelling) by what would’ve been her preferred pronouns. Thank you for putting out such awesome content.
Being a sex worker is VERY lucrative but oh so mentally hard and exhausting. If you’re a sex worker and you’re reading this, please be safe. Please look after yourself. Please find the strength within yourself to leave the lifestyle. It’s not something we can do forever, it’s a means to an end. End it as soon as you can lest it consume you entirely. 🙏🏼❤️
I mean it CAN be lucrative but actually rarely is. Most well known and recognized pornstars have to do hundreds of films and still make just about 6 figures. The average person who tries porn does a couple of videos and can't continue or get thrown away by the industry if they're not willing to do severely more intense scenes. And realistically this money goes to their "managers" which is more often than not just an abusive boyfriend or husband. There actual money comes from appearances and secret escorting and even that requires tact organizing. No matter how glamorous people may present it or how some people think it's easy or even fun work😂🤣, it's grimy, hard and there's definitely a psychological toll no one is ready to fess up to. Because the number of sex workers that are sexually abused or raped as teens and then in a twisted way try to reclaim their bodies through this means is telling as well as suicides of female pornstars
@@Artliker1234 oh no, definitely NOT porn. I’m talking about escorting. Like high number escorting. Not street work or video work. It’s lucrative but mentally and emotionally exhausting and you can’t live a normal life and takes a psychological toll similar to what you’re speaking. It’s nice to make a thousand or 2 a day but in the end…is it worth it? I’m not so sure 😪
William Brown, the Argentine Admiral (who had been born in Ireland) was born in 1777. Argentina didn't even exist in 1726. I guess William Brown is a pretty common name.
The title is all wrong. This is not about sex workers at all. It's about closeted gay men.
Right? It's misleading.
Yeah its misleading this should be what are molly house's
@@Thenoobestgirl right.. i wanted to hear and learn about your genders life as working as a sex worker... lol
Yep and the comments were immediately filled with trolls mocking female sex workers as a result
Calling men "closeted" in this period is very inappropriate. The concept closeted can only exist in modern terms; there is an option now to live openly whereas back then there was not. The history of Molly houses are intrinsically tied to LGBTQ historyso there's nothing in this video that's misleading. Regardless of what class you were from, Molly houses were the only relative safe places to be openly homosexual.
Love the very subtle Good Omens fan art at 3:31. To be fair, Aziraphale and Crowley definitely would’ve visited a Molly house.
i didn’t even notice until i read this!!!
I saw that art!! Lol they definitely would!
I saw that and started wheezing so hard I couldn’t breathe I love it so much
@@Terzos-olive-oil same!! I did a double take!
@@QueenCole89 same!!!!
I remember as a kid being totally confused by the line in the song Yankee Doodle, “...stuck a feather in his hat and called him Macaroni.” No matter how many adults I ask, none of them could explain it to me. I was in my 30’s before I discovered what that really meant.
I was today years old when I read this comment and found that out. 🤯
I'm confused but want to know the truth, tell me. Please 🙏. Edit : my comment makes me giggle 🤭 I could have just waited but I didn't
it just hit me watching this video and i’m 44
For those still confused, macaroni was a term for flamboyant accessories, such as stick on moles, objects in hair/hat (as in "...feather in his hat") and other fashion trends.
@@paulawendelken2714 Me too! And I had also asked as a child & no one seemed to know.
Came here for the Good Omens reference but stayed for the history
Considering what women’s fashions were like during the 1700s it would be interesting to see a drag show from that time period
No, no it would not at all! “Drag queens“ back during those times were men dressed up as women because women were not allowed to be in theatre. Had there ever been such a breakdown in society in the 18th century, there would’ve been a lot of heads rolling down Tower hill, and the better the world would have been for it.
@@laurasmith14 you need to google princess Seraphina from the 1700’s. The drag you’re referring too was in 1500’s during Shakespeare’s time. By then 1600’s women were permitted in theater. Also, gay men’s heads didn’t “roll” they were hanged after psycho king Henry 8th banned men being together. Tf you talking about the world being a better place for it, the first recorded homosexual was 2400 bc. They’ve always been around. The world would be better if your head rolled down Tower Hill.
This idea never occurred to me...now it's on my bucket list. 🥰
Watch Versailles
📷 📷 sus
The title is misleading. It should be called "what it was like to be labeled as a sex worker when you're just a gay man in the 18th century". The molly houses weren't brothels, they were "safe places". I heard no money exchange in this video.
Another thing: you show Thomas Wright the astronomer who would have been only 15 years old in 1726, and who also died in 1786, so you got the wrong Thomas Wright up there. This one you're talking about was hanged in May 1726, shortly after the trial in April. Probably should correct that for historical accuracy.
I like Weird History, but kind of disingenuous to call the men who frequented 'Molly Houses" LGBTQ. They were men. Are we not allowed to say gay men anymore?
@@zenabby1 specifically I noted that the L and Q of LGBTQ weren’t alluded to very much
Places where men could socialize... Lol
They were fucking too.... Don't be fooled..... Lol
@@zenabby1 I was thinking the exact same thing
@@bradrose15 Cuz they weren't acknowledged at the time...& it wasn't as easily prosecutable crime...."buggery" was on the books (in-law/illegal) while "L", as such, was not....i.e. less threatening to men...but yeah, still a difficult life, just not deemed as "worthy of death" by men & their weird fear of other penises...the irony....cuz, well, anyways...✋😂
I love how at 3:34 you just casually included Good Omens fan art 😂
I KNEW it looked familiar. Thats it!
I would love to see an 18th century themed drag show now.
Lol same
Believe it or not, there are plenty of living history events focused around representing Molly houses in the greater anglosphere! Not only does it include lgbtq, drag, and sex worker history, but typically other counterculture history such as underground fighting rings, gambling, subversive art and theater etc.
Me too!! I bet the costumes would be awesome!!!!❤️❤️❤️❤️
THIS honestly. I do Victorian/Old West, Edwardian, and Onnagata/Oyama drag. I really want to see this as a popular thing. Kept classy, historical, and realistic of course.
🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮
Man, that's something. It's like what happened at Stonewall Inn. People snitched, went to jail, and sentenced to death. Except Stonewall, no one was sentenced to death. First time hearing about something like this.
You have to frigin kidding me! Same sex sexually has been going on FOREVER!
@@giselematthews7949 I think he meant it’s the first time he’s heard of molly houses.
@Gisele Matthews not surprised that you would misunderstand stand completely and then get mad at the commenter. It’s the norm nowadays for certain people.
@@giselematthews7949 so has bestiality and pedophiles so I don’t know what your point is here.
They’re all wrong and should be completely outlawed
@@NotFckingBen so has curbstomping bigots in front of their children so they grow up to know better. not in favor of outlawing that, though.
The Macaroni dressing style... now Yankee Doodle sticking a feather in his cap suddenly makes sense.
I was just thinking of that song when he said it! LoL!! 😄
Yes.
Actaully.
🤯
There is a whole video about it on one of the history channels on UA-cam.
As a history professor, I love this channel and subscribe, but please find images that relate to the period in the script. Having a banner say 1720s on top of a series of images from the late 19th and even 20th centuries is pretty jarring. There are great images in the public domain that better correlate to the content.
I mean he just using examples for what hes talking about
Get over yourself they obviously use images that are available, acceptable or what ever on UA-cam. Stuffed shirt or what.
I am no history professor, but I wonder that u haven’t stumbled over the many many inaccuracies, that occur again and again in ,,Weird History’s“ videos… especially as a fan of this channel…
Professor, most pictures are subject to copyright laws. I suspect they are using pictures available on public domain, or otherwise free of charge, or for a nominal fee. If they had a phenomenal or bloated budget, I feel certain they would upload the finest and most accurate pictures they could find.
The banners are used to 'indicate' the era they are speaking of while the pictures are used to 'represent' that era.
Generally speaking, this channel is made for children. I believe the viewers understand the story. The inquisitive mind would conduct their own research to verify anything published on UA-cam, particularly college students.
I hope this information will help to ease your mind.
PS But then again, since you already know the aforementioned, maybe you should download the pictures you spoke of and send them to WH. Wouldn't they be delighted! Everybody's a critic.
Agreed. Might as well be a podcast with glaringly inaccurate photos.
Would love to see a video about life as a Japanese Geisha
Yes! And one on wakashu too.
@@FourbooFourboo-sy6oj omg yesss
Just casually including Good Omens fanart to this, love it🤭
seeing Aziraphale and Crowley fanart in this made me laugh cause the moment molly houses were mentioned I immediately thought of Azira doing the gavotte.
I saw it too and I had to pause and laugh for a sec.
Yes, in his "gentlemen's club" heehee
I dont even watch the show and I recognized it right away.
I thought of Harlots
HDHSJSYHSBS YES!
Interesting video, but is it just me or is the title a bit on the confusingly inaccurate side?
Yep
Should be more like „how it was being LGBTQ in the 18th century“
yeah this is clickbait.
The title is still in the closet!!
The title of the video needs to be changed, it's misleading and not at all what the content of this video is about.
Weird History, please do more about African history both post and pre colonialism.
I'd also love to learn more about indigenous peoples from all over! Australian Aboriginal people especially, there's so little understanding about their culture
Funny how they liked so many other comment suggestions except this one 🤔🥴
I wouldn't mind some weird history about Shaka Zulu.
@@tatum635 HAHA
well then that would be too weird for white people UGH
I love this channel. Although, I think the title of this video should be changed. Molly houses were only 1/100th of the sex work in London during this period. Why not call the video what is is? It is a video about the lgbtq community in London, not just sex work.
Don’t u mean the LBG community... the T and Q etc have nothing what’s so ever to do with the homosexually ... as a gay man I am sick to the back teeth of being associated with the T and Q...
This was amazingly well researched! Thank you for taking a fare and even hand at the history!
NO FUCMING WAY THEY PUT AZIRACROW FANART IN THIS IM DYINF
Who the fuck is he? Why should I care?
Loved this video, but the title is totally inaccurate. This has almost nothing to do with sex workers, and everything to do with gay men, most of whom - it sounds like - were not sex workers.
Sex workers aren’t just women, but people of all genders. Sex work history and lgbt+ history have been intertwined for hundreds of years.
@@alexiscaldera3793 Yeah, but it didn't sound like THESE men were sex workers though. Kind of sounded like they just wanted a safe space to hang out and were falsely labeled as sex workers. At least, that's what this video makes it sound like
Dude after learning what "macaroni" meant back in those days... I started thinking of how during the Revolutionary War, the new Americans would sing "Yankee Doodle" at the Brits (usually after a battle that the British lost at), and I realized
"Dude, the founding fathers were talking MAD sht at those guys" 😂
Also the dude in the video that got caught perusing one of those "cruising" alleys (got sentenced to the pillary and then two months in jail) and got caught and used the ol "I was just peeing" excuse 😂 anyone remember that movie
"There's Something About Mary"? There's a part where Ben Stiller is driving on the interstate at night and sees a trucker rest stop and he pulls over to get down bc he has to pee, but it's dark out and there's no city lights, so he trips while walking to the restroom and realizes he tripped on a man on the ground and one other random man says something like "watch where you're going" or whatever, and then Stiller tries to get up and walk and he like accidentally finds another guy on the ground, and then these bright ass police lights come on, and there's TONS of dudes out there on the ground having a secret orgy and the cops arrest Stiller bc they assume he's one of them, and he ends up on the news and people he knows see his face on the scene and the reporters say it's a secret meeting place where men do strange stuff, and the whole time the cops are detaining Ben Stiller, he's shouting
"I JUST HAD TO PEE!"
And all the other boys out there start stealing his (real) excuse saying
"Oh right! Yeah! Uh, I was just peeing too!"
😂 1698, 1998, sonethings never change lol
It was actually the opposite. The song was written to mock Americans as crude bimbos/himbos.
I just asked this! I’m glad I found your comment!
You almost got it right, but A for enthusiasm!
I loved that "Something About Mary" movie! Wish I could find it to watch again.
😂😂
When I clicked on this video I didn’t expect it to be about LGBT history but I’m so pleasantly surprised. It makes sense though, gay people have existed everywhere for a very long time, it’s just not usually talked about. Our history has been erased and covered up for hundreds of years. It’s so refreshing to actually be seen. This is a very important and very interesting video. I love history, especially queer history. Thank you.
Society has certainly changed a lot but not enough, as evident in some of these comments. Plus gay men are generally more accepted than transgender people.
@@dinosaurasher because weirdos don’t use the concept of homosexuality to pretend to be women to beat them at sports competitions or enter women’s bathrooms and than get protected by any criticism because “muh Transphobia!!!”
@@Hiphop618 you straight up comment nothing but rude and arguably sexist things on this channel. get a life other than commenting on videos you evidently don’t enjoy watching 🤦🏼♀️
@@Hiphop618 Trans people have also existed for hundreds of years, and gender identity is separate from sexuality. You’re part of the problem.
I totally agree
3:30 just casually slipping in Good Omens shipping art into this history video
I think this should have been titled what it was like to be gay in the 17th century
That would be ahistorical. "Gay" is a modern concept. Particular acts were described, and people committed those acts--but were not categorized as being . Except maybe Sodomites--though engaging in sodomitical behavior was not seen as an intrinsic status.
You mentioned "certain areas/streets of London that were popular for 'cruising'" and my brain spontaneously kicked up a chorus of "West End Girls" by the Pet Shop Boys.
This was a stellar upload (as most Weird History videos are!)--thanks for bringing such quality and education to our 'entertainment.' :)
Aziracrow? In a video about being a sex worker in 18th century London? We need that minisode now
i hope that the artist of Crowley and Aziraphale's fanart at 3:31 is doing well and the rest of the Good Omens fandom watching this dheuyhbrbgbrfhb
No need to keep copy pasting the same dumbshit comment. You're not special.
i hope they got credited
THE AZIRACROW FANART IM FUCKING DYING AHHAHAHA
ASKHSFHAJDJ BLUD DID NOT KNOW THAT WAS A FANART AT ALL😭😭😭
THE GOOD OMENS FANART OH MY GOD
How did a boy or a man know about molly houses in the first place? Coming outs are difficult today but I can't imagine how it was for a young person to realise that they were "different" from society, have nobody to talk to out of fear of punishment and than eventually find out about the molly houses and underground LGBTQ community.
probably took some serious gaydar
Open secrets, I wager. Also, you may have confessed to "that weird guy down the block, who is a total molly!" Likely, there was also a bit of grooming going on...
What I'm about to mention is mostly based on how these things were in the Victorian Era, but I'm sure plenty of it was more or less the same a century prior since Molly Houses were still a thing in Victorian times, and homosexuality was still punished by the law (even after the death penalty for this type of "crime" was abolished)
Back then, gay men had "secret gay codes" they implemented to their everyday life. You see how the average male fashion tended to be mostly sober and sometimes "dull" in colors and whatnot? Well, gay men (those who were more open or were looking for a partner or for more people "like them") used that to their advantage and would usually add some colorful accessories to their outfits. Think of adding a colorful feather on their hats, a bright tie, or even a colorful flower pinned to their lapels, and so on. Gay men would also use other forms of "secret communication", such as growing their hair long and keeping their faces as cleanly shaven as possible, as these two things were considered "feminine" by the standards of the time and thus were unacceptable for a man to sport (and, basically, an "open secret" to everyone, taking advantage of the fact that speaking openly about homosexuality was taboo and pretty much no one wanted to get caught even talking about such a "indecent" thing).
Green color was also associated with homosexuality as, reportedly, it was deemed to be an "unnatural" color and, thus, the gay men of the time adopted it in a tongue in cheek way since they were also labelled as "unnatural" by society due to their orientation.
In addition, they also used their own "coded language": Polari, which was slang/cant that was most commonly used by specific groups, most largely used by gay men. Using Polari, they could even exchange words between them in public without most people knowing what they were actually saying, with the advantage of pretending they were speaking some foreign language if they got caught.
And, like someone else pointed out, open secrets, too! Most of the people who knew about Molly Houses learned about them from other gay men who already knew the place or the owner of said place. The same thing happened with gay men themselves, as all the "codes" I mentioned above were meant for them to easily spot each other out from unsuspecting "regular people" without putting them or their safety at risk.
This reminds me of the show Harlots. They mention molly boys & there's a house with them too. It would be cool if the producers of Harlots could make a male version of their show. Harlots is super entertaining & i think a Molly house spinoff would be just as entertaining.
Mind sharing a blurb? "Harlots" sounds interesting.
Love that show!
@@Atm0111 I love that show as well to bad it was canceled
@@ashleyprice9487 oh no didn't know that, thought they were on on long break due to the pandemic (｡•́︿•̀｡)
@@Atm0111
I thought that as well till I read article along time stating it was cancel
NOT CROWLEY AND AZIRAPHALE [ 3:34 ] LMAOOO
“Good golly, Miss Molly, we sure had a ball!”
Hmm, not so subtle.
First thing I thought too
🤔😯😬🚶🏾♀️
Thank you so much for examining our gay history. I would love to see a tv series made out of this. 3 years later we are not far off our 17th wedding anniversary. How things have changed (here in New Zealand anyway).
It's not a whole series but alit of the clips in this video was used from Tom Hardy's Taboo. Very good and super weird show. That's where I learned about Molly Houses.
💖💖💖
You might enjoy Harlots on Hulu then. The last season has a Molly 🏠 house
@@Vaalie505 I would love to watch Harlots, unfortunately the original commenter and I live in New Zealand, Hulu doesn’t exist here.
¡congrats on 17, and many more!
Lots of gay people in coffee houses?
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
LOL! Nice One!
Not only is Weird History some of the *best researched* and *most accurate* history content on UA-cam, it's *wildly entertaining AND incredibly respectful* to boot!!
I was honestly overflowing with joy and pride when the narrator spoke about "Princess Seraphina" (who specifically presented as a woman even in her life outside the Molly houses) by using feminine pronouns!
It's brave people like her who paved the way for the rights of the LGBT+ community today-- I can't even imagine her struggle to simply exist in 18th century England-- and I *love* Weird History for talking about her with the respect and dignity she deserves ❤️
This video is poorly done. The picture they use for Thomas Newton is in fact a man of that name, but not the one they are talking about. They used a Bishop's picture.
Congrats buddy, you summoned the good omens Fandom lmao
Cool video btw ✨✨
4 minutes in and not ONE single bit of background on "Sex Workers". This video was mis-titled. It should be called "What it was like to be LGBT+ in 18th Century London" or instead of LGBT+ use Molly Boys. Since it is only about cross dressing and gay men. Not even about them being sex workers. Just that they had trouble being a gay man or a cross dresser or cross dressing gay man.
Nothing about Sex Workers
Fascinating and so tragic. Just let people live as they wish if they don't harm anyone.
@Jon agreed!
@Jon I'm just going to use the Socratic method and ask: How does it harm society?
@Jon Why do they matter?
@Jon Well, first of all: ancient Greek, Roman, and Spartan societies weren't widely accepting of homosexuality. However, since you think the Roman Legions would still be marching today if not for those "darn dirty gehys", then it's obvious you have never opened a book in your life.
@Jon Okay grandpa go back to bed this isn't the 1800s
Bruh the notification was so bizarre i had to click😂😂😂
@ 3:30 it's Aziraphale and Crowley from Good Omens i 😭😭
Who the fuck is he? Why should I care?
I’m not sure if you already did the event, but you could do one about the “dance of the 42” this was a gay ball in Mexico during Diaz times and it included high ranking officials
It’s the Crowley and Aziraphale fanart at 3:32 for me 😍😍😍
I can't believe a good omens fan art made it into this video 💀
Same lmfao I had to rewind just to make sure my eyes weren't making it up 💀
Time stamp?
@@littledudefromacrossthestr5755 Probably late, but 3:31
@@amiable_monster lol... Thank you!
I can't belive you've copy pasted another comment.
These vids are great. Learn so much and the content is fascinating. Love the Wild West ones.
Wait, Princess Seraphina? Today I learned I share a name with an 18th century drag queen. I've never felt so seen in all my life.
Title is kinda misleading, but really informative and insightful either way
maybe it was an attempt to straight-bait the people who would otherwise have not clicked on this vid
I’m loving the historical fanart depicting a show that aired in 2017 🤣🤣🤣
😇😈
This was really heartbreaking, honestly… 🥺
I agree
Did you just include Crowley/good omens fan art as an illustration of homosexuality?!
The title of the video doesn’t really match the content here. Early on in the video it’s stated that these houses were much less about sex work and more for LGBTQ men to congregate.
It makes me terribly sad that people could be hanged just for being themselves. It's as awful as being hanged for the color of your skin or religious practices. And we have made progress, but not enough. People should be just that....People. Not black people or gay people...just people. I so enjoy meeting and hearing the stories from every person I am lucky enough to interact with....what's inside is the only factor that really matters.
This was not how I expected to start my morning but let’s gooooooo!
Very interesting topic ! I love how many different things this channel covers ☺️
I feel like the video title doesn't match the content.
Love the channel as always great video
Aziracrow easteregg lol
the good omens fanart LMAO
3:30 That looks like Good Omens fanart
I knew someone was going to beat me to it! That absolutely has to be an Easter egg.
We just gonna ignore the good omens fan art😂
Yes brony, it's shit.
Hi all! CT, USA here. This is the best channel out of all my youtubers i watch!!! 💗
3:30 you actually included an aziraphale and crowley Fanart in there 😭
anybody else spot the Good Omens fan art at 3:34?
I’m sorry but PLEASE tell me you guys saw the Good Omens drawing-
Time stamp?
@@twinqt578 3:32
You know what they say though: even if a sex worker sucks and is fucking lousy at it, she still did her job. 🤷♀️
Youre a girl tho why would you say that about your own kind? 😔😑
I’m just trying to figure out how you used the F word in comments? Mine get deleted almost instantly when I use it.
Well, sucking is in the job description. 😁
@@h0rriphic 👍♥️
@@Jason.cbr1000rr She's joking, but still giving unflinching facts though.
this is a fantastic video but i need you to know that the illustration at 3:35 is azriaphale and crowley fanart from good omens
Loved this video! So much, I'd like a Weird History on Burlesque, please.
Interesting history but I'm confused by the heading. This wasn't about sexworkers it was about homosexuality and the consequences of such lifestyle in the past. But very informative. Thanks👍
HELP NOT THE GOOD OMENS FANART
Why is this channel so amazing ?
Did anyone else spot the Good Omens fan art at 3:34?
i learned something today, i didn’t know crowley was one of them 3:30
"Molly-coddling" makes sense now
Hi Weird History Team, I have 2 Question.
"What it was like living in Sengoku Period real condition?"
And "What it was like life during World War 2 for Japanese people?"
Thanks :)
I’d imagine in both cases; hungry and scared.
I’ll meet you in the middle and also ask about daily life during the Bakumatsu period!
My grandmother never says anything in depth about that. She was a nurse in Naruto, JP during WWII. Didn't immigrate to Hawaii until 1958.
My grandfather is a nisei(2nd gen Japanese American). They weren't sent to an internment camp since they lived in Hawaii and weren't prominent community leaders.
The Japanese people were well indoctrinated. They didn’t have food shortages as Somme comments suggest, but their lives were far from easy. At the end, the authorities handed out what weapons they could (including sharpened bamboo sticks) and told the civilians that if the Americans invaded, it was better to die defending your country than to live, because you would be raped and murdered by the savage GI’s. They trained people to dive under tanks with explosives 🧨. Things like that. And it was a totalitarian state at that time. Not to mention that virtually every city had been hombre to ruins. So life was prob not that great.
I think I need to have a talk with my parents about their name choice for me… 😂
Aziraphale and crowley from the Good Omens series at 3:30 😂
Shout to the Weird History editor for putting Good Omens fanart in a video talking about LGBTQ history. Happy pride everyone
I find it interesting that most history lessons and channels gloss over amab people in some form of prostitution, and lgbt+ in general, this video was very informative, thank you
Edit: spelling
Amab people? Eh, you mean men?
Science matters
its so important to remember that lgbt people have always been around, and to let the kind of suffering and secrecy those poor people lived through never happen again
It's so strange to me that some cultures throughout history and even today don't care about sexuality or gender identity and some cultures even encourage it! But then other, so-called civilized Christian cultures would sentence those same people to death.
Let it go, it's not that serious! How is it that other people haven't gotten the same appreciation and attention like LGBTQ? You know people that actually deserve it, like the ones who BUILT the so comfortable world around you and made all the cool gadgets you play with and complain on about how oppressed you are? You see, you have absolutely way too much, you have it too good. You want to feel like a victim bc you crave individuality, something that's been lost through the rise of the internet. It's truly sad but the end is near and it's necessary. So throw out all the trash, God, and create the planet anew.
@@observerobserver2240 yeah but to decriminalize something it first has to be criminalized which they did while claiming to be civilized and Christians. I'm not putting all the blame on Christians, I'm Christian myself. I just find it absurd that a government says, "You're a man who likes men, you must be executed immediately."
@@tarynmosakowski3512 nice tantrum. and you people call us the snowflakes lmao
@@tarynmosakowski3512 you could have just said, “I don’t want to admit I’m gay.” Much less pointless rambling.
I think if you did a comparison of attending college in say 1922 as opposed to 2022 it would put a lot of things into perspective :)
YESS!! It’s sponsor szn you you guys deserve it!
3:33 I'M SORRY IS THAT CROWLEY AND AZIRAPHALE FANART BEING PRESENTED AS A HISTORICAL IMAGE
I wonder if during the 18th Century, there were "molly houses" in Colonial America and then in the new United States of America, in such cities as Boston, Philadelphia, New York City, and other American cities?
IS ANYONE GOING TO POINT OUT THE GOOD OMENS FAN ART IN THIS VIDEO
The title of this video has me so confused? Did I miss the part about the lives of sex workers? Or is my video glitched? Or…?
This video was very interesting to me. I appreciate you offering history topics that most other channels wouldn’t touch. Not only that,but you referred to Serafina (not sure if that’s the correct spelling) by what would’ve been her preferred pronouns. Thank you for putting out such awesome content.
My new fav youtube channel 😍 Thank you so much for all the research and dedication you put into these videos. I'm binge watching all of your videos!!
Ok, this will be VERY interesting 🤔🧐😉😉
LOL I said that out loud when I saw the notification.
*please what is aziracrow doing there😭*
What was feminine hygiene like in 17 & 1800's 😰🧐
There's a video on this subject on yt but it also includes the hygiene of men during that time period. I was grossed out watching it.
3:33 THE AZIRAPHALE AND CROWLEY FANART
this is really interesting. never heard of molly houses until now
You’re my favorite history channel , thanks for your service
Are we all just going to ignore the Good Omens art of Crowley and Aziraphale popping up in this as if it's some sort of historical depiction?
Being a sex worker is VERY lucrative but oh so mentally hard and exhausting. If you’re a sex worker and you’re reading this, please be safe. Please look after yourself. Please find the strength within yourself to leave the lifestyle. It’s not something we can do forever, it’s a means to an end. End it as soon as you can lest it consume you entirely. 🙏🏼❤️
I mean it CAN be lucrative but actually rarely is. Most well known and recognized pornstars have to do hundreds of films and still make just about 6 figures. The average person who tries porn does a couple of videos and can't continue or get thrown away by the industry if they're not willing to do severely more intense scenes. And realistically this money goes to their "managers" which is more often than not just an abusive boyfriend or husband. There actual money comes from appearances and secret escorting and even that requires tact organizing. No matter how glamorous people may present it or how some people think it's easy or even fun work😂🤣, it's grimy, hard and there's definitely a psychological toll no one is ready to fess up to. Because the number of sex workers that are sexually abused or raped as teens and then in a twisted way try to reclaim their bodies through this means is telling as well as suicides of female pornstars
@@Artliker1234 oh no, definitely NOT porn. I’m talking about escorting. Like high number escorting. Not street work or video work. It’s lucrative but mentally and emotionally exhausting and you can’t live a normal life and takes a psychological toll similar to what you’re speaking. It’s nice to make a thousand or 2 a day but in the end…is it worth it? I’m not so sure 😪
William Brown, the Argentine Admiral (who had been born in Ireland) was born in 1777. Argentina didn't even exist in 1726. I guess William Brown is a pretty common name.
It gives a whole new meaning to Good Golly Miss Molly
Two great minds!
3 great minds. Instantly i thought of little Richard
03:30 LMAO GOOD OMENS?!
Snitches go back as far as time sadly, they are truly a disgusting type of person betraying their own people.