Buttons from the Sexual revolution
“The sexual revolution, also known as a time of sexual liberation, was a social movement that challenged traditional codes of behavior related to sexuality and interpersonal relationships throughout the United States and subsequently, the wider world, from the 1960s to the 1980s. Sexual liberation included increased acceptance of sex outside of traditional heterosexual, monogamous relationships (primarily marriage). The normalization of contraception and the pill, public nudity, pornography, premarital sex, homosexuality, masturbation, alternative forms of sexuality, and the legalization of abortion all followed. Several other periods in Western culture have been called the ‘first sexual revolution’, to which the 1960s revolution would be the second (or later). The term ‘sexual revolution’ itself has been used since at least the late 1920s. When speaking of sexual revolution, historians make a distinction between the first and the second sexual revolution. In the first sexual revolution (1870–1910), Victorian morality lost its universal appeal. However, it did not lead to the rise of a ‘permissive society’. Exemplary for this period is the rise and differentiation in forms of regulating sexuality. … Romans accepted and legalized prostitution, bisexuality, and pederasty. Male promiscuity was considered normal and healthy as long as masculinity was maintained, associated with being the penetrating partner. On the other hand, female chastity was required for respectable women, to ensure integrity of family bloodlines. These attitudes were replaced by Christian prohibitions on homosexual acts and any sex outside marriage (including with slaves and prostitutes). History professor Faramerz Dabhoiwala cites the Age of Enlightenment—approximately the 18th century— as a major period of transition in the United Kingdom. … Sexual misconduct in the Catholic Church (called the ‘Whore of Babylon’ by some Protestant critics) undermined credibility of religious authorities, and the rise of urban police forces helped distinguish crime from sin. Overall, toleration increased for heterosexual sex outside marriage, including prostitution, mistresses, and pre-marital sex. Though these acts were still condemned by many as libertine, infidelity became more often a civil matter than a criminal offense receiving capital punishment. …”
Wikipedia
W – Sexual revolution in 1960s United States
PBS: The Pill and the Sexual Revolution
TIME: What Every Generation Gets Wrong About Sex
1960s: Days of Rage
1960s: Days of Rage 