Puritanism

From Encyclopedia of Sex and Sexuality

In the context of a sexual discussion, puritanism means sexually repressive and inhibited behavior inherited from past times. Puritan religion and ethics combined to teach that sexual and related pleasures such as the decorative and entertaining arts, dancing, theater, and non-sacred music, were no more than temptations offered to men and women by the devil in his effort to lead them away from the path of decency and heaven. Carryovers of these attitudes are labeled “puritanism.”