Why befor the 1800s is the idea of a “lifestyle” chosen by individuals highly unlikely, at least for
the mass of the population of Europe?
Before the 1800, many people lived in the countryside, lived in villages, rural setting with many
boundaries. Rural areas have limitations, for once everyone is in a way involved in similar
economic activities, the people are part of a collective group. Second, a rural environment brings
about a tribal mentality. Third, the economic freedom of urban cities in a way freed people of the
norms of the countryside.
People in rural areas are involved in agriculture or an activity inside the home. The family and
individual are not separate. Similar economic activities didn’t allowed people to be expressive
outside or inside the home. Being involved in a similar economic activity manifests the tribal
mentality of the community. No one is different from the others. Everyone abides by the norms of
the “tribe”.
Once people began to move to the city they became individuals. The lifestyle choices were their
own not part of a collective group. People began labeling what they did, which was unlikely for
the mass population before the 1800s because people kept everything to themselves. Almost
everyone prior to the 1800s had the same “lifestyle.” Different social classes produced different
lifestyles, once people began moving to the city. The economic change of the person or a group
of people create an individual who is how allowed to participate in different activities out in the
open.
The tribal mentality of the countryside didn’t allow for people to become individuals or make
lifestyle choices. If people did participate in same-sex relationships, it wasn’t out in the open. It
was kept secret, there was no label attached to it, but which doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. There
was no name to people’s urges outside of the countryside. Only the idea of a lifestyle manifested
when people moved to the city, alone, became individuals, through economic independence, and
thus began to make a choice to act on the urges they felt back home. People no longer felt the
oppression of the countryside to abide by the norms. They could live out in the open, be an
individual with no restrictions or limitations on personal choices, like they did in their rural
communities.