Let’s Have The Talk – What Does “The Birds and The Bees” Actually Mean: By Zoe Carlin

Recently, I have thought about a common idiom that has been used to refer to sexual reproduction, the birds and the bees. I became curious why animals that appear in most gardens were used as an example to explain where babies come from, until I did some research. It turns out that since the birds lay eggs, that is their representation of the female body and the bees represent the sperm due to pollination. It is a very subtle, overlooked message that can be disguised as being more age-appropriate to young children. However, I decided to dig a bit deeper. Ed Finegan, a USC professor of linguistics and law, has stated that this phrase has existed a lot longer than one might think. There is evidence of it being used in a somewhat sexual context going back to at least two authors, Samuel Coleridge Taylor (1825) and an entry from John Evelyn’s The Evelyn Diary (1644). 

In Work Without Hope, Samuel Coleridge Taylor quotes, “All nature seems at work . . . The bees are stirring, birds are on the wing . . . and I the while, the sole unbusy thing, not honey make, nor pair, nor build, nor sing.” This separation of the birds and bees is indicating the loneliness and sadness of missing out on a potential romantic connection. When going even further back in time to 1644, it was noticed in the Evelyn Diary that there was an entry discussing the interior design of St. Peter’s in Rome: “That stupendous canopy of Corinthian brasse; it consists of 4 wreath’d columns, incircl’d with vines, on which hang little putti [cherubs], birds and bees.” This description is illustrating that there is a possible sensual or sexual meaning of the architecture in St. Peters.

In 1644, England was in the middle of the English Civil War. This conflict arose because of religious differences, and there was a political division between Royalists + Parliamentarians, and Anglicans + Puritans. The Evelyn Diary is a record of the experiences of John Evelyn from this time period. It was seen during this era that the goal of the English who were siding with the Church was to cleanse England to make it more godly, and this meant getting rid of sin. So, their thought process was that the witches had to be removed in order for this to work. The East Anglian witchcraft trials took place during 1645 to 1647, and this was one of the most fierce witch hunts to ever take place in England. Over one hundred women, most over the age of fifty, were executed. Their tactics were to brutally torture these women until they gave a confession, and then when they received it, they used it as legal evidence against them. 

Let’s circle back to the lilacs for a moment. Get it? The bees? Pollination? Anyway, Puritan society at this time in England had a very strong religious influence, which considered certain sexual behaviors sinful and a threat. It was said by Scott Eaton that “motherhood and sexual deviance were often entangled with diabolical elements in the narratives extracted by the witch finders. Many 1640’s confessions were highly sexualised, describing intercourse with demons…The demonic witch figure came to represent repressed sexual desires.” So, it is interesting to see how these men committing these horrible acts might not just have a fear of these women acting out of order in a religious context, they could have also been fearful of the women themselves. And, this actually could be a reason why the symbolism shown in the quote seen in the Evelyn Diary, and many other pieces of work, had a more hidden and secretive description of sexuality. There could have been fear of punishment or fear of sinning. This all could have been a possible result of projection and extreme amounts of guilt for unfulfilled sexual desires. 

Alternatively, Samuel Coleridge Taylor’s poem was written during the Romantic era, which happened around 1798 through 1837 in Western Europe. It was seen that sexuality was beginning to evolve during this time period, and sexual activities were slowly moving away from focusing on only reproduction. Sexual exploration, sensibility, and liberation had begun. It is also interesting to see that there were multiple religious perspectives that were being considered during the Romantic Era, like those who were in favor of staying a Christian or who decided to explore pantheism, deism, and even atheism. There were many well known figures during this time, Samuel Coleridge Taylor included, who discussed their personal thoughts, feelings, ideas, and experiences in their work. 

So, the poem that Samuel Coleridge Taylor wrote and the quote from the Evelyn Diary differ greatly. It’s not just because of the stories & messages that they are sharing, but it is also because of the different time periods of when they were written. But it seems like there is solid evidence that the depiction of the birds and the bees is used the same way in both texts, which is the same way we still use it today. We can still observe through the history of the phrase the stigma of women, the fear of women acting out, and the fear of women’s sexuality being expressed that continues to this day.

Sources:

–https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-sep-04-cl-15141-story.html

–https://digitalcommons.spu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1176&context=honorsprojects

–https://notchesblog.com/2016/12/01/witchcraft-in-the-english-civil-war/

–https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/670306

–https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/english/documents/innervate/11-12/1112cooperromanticism.pdf

–https://www.easternct.edu/speichera/understanding-literary-history-all/the-romantic-period.html