During the Victorian era, the nineteenth century, sexuality was being repressed in European countries such as in Britain under Queen Victoria's direct rule. This repression could be seen in matters such as self-pleasure. "Masturbation was deemed an unacceptable outlet," for a man's sexual urges (Oakes 545). The way that the Victorian male would manage his urges was by participating in physical tasks instead of in the bedroom.

American culture, as a result, in the second half of the nineteenth century rebelled against these traditional rules of the Victorian era. One example of this eroticism being expressed is in a poem called "Leaves of Grass" by Walt Whitman. "The glory and sweet of a man is the token of manhood," is an example of eroticism