and interaction between generations: in this context, male and female roles evolved into more static forms. Men were associated with an active, assertive role both in sexual behaviour and in managing the household, while women were "defined in terms of their maternal functions", contrarily to a tradition common at the start of the century, attributing them features related to lustfulness and aggressiveness in sexual matters. It is possible to see that the notion of molly-house was rooted in the emergence of a distinctive identity according to gender and sexual orientation, a peculiar social phenomenon considered crucial by some critics in gender studies. As stated by Robert Shoemaker, "... any activity (such as homosexual intercourse), in which [men] could be seen as acting passively was further marginalised". Some of the activities popular among the homosexual community, that were seemingly taking place in molly-houses (by nature, marginalised meeting places), were often associated both to female roles and to a family environment (e.g. cross-dressing, "marriage" and "mock birth" rituals, as described in a satire work of the time, Edward Ward's Satyrical Reflections on Clubs, Chapter XXV "Of the Mollies Club"). Molly-houses and the homosexual subculture in London As sodomy was a capital offence, the organisation of homosexual men and their activities had to be a crucial point, in order to keep the community as safe as possible from prosecution. As a consequence, molly districts seemed to appear, and eventually grow, in areas in which their business could be acknowledged and tolerated at the same time: such connivance could be often found in areas with a high rate of criminal acts such as theft and prostitution. An editorial in The London Journal singled out a number of areas: The arcades of Covent Garden and the Royal Exchange; Moorfields (the path crossing the middle of these fields was known as the Sodomites' Walk); Lincoln's Inn and its bog-house, as recorded in trials. The south side of St James's Park, a popular cruising ground frequented by soldiers from the nearby barracks and homosexual habitués. The presence of pillories punishing sodomitical offences, ironically, identified the sites where such acts frequently took place. Pillories were often organised near the crime locations attributed to the accused. Molly-houses could be considered the most organised phenomenon of London 18th-century homosexual subculture. They were enclosed, private spaces gathering individuals with a common purpose ie socializing and seeking pleasure with partners of the