Sexual revolution: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 19:39, 28 April 2007

Revision as of 01:49, 8 May 2007

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One suggested trigger for the modern revolution was the development of the [[The Pill|birth control pill]] in 1960, which gave women access to easy and reliable contraception. Other data suggest the "revolution" was more directly influenced by the financial independence gained by many women who entered the workforce during and after [[World War II]], making the revolution more about individual equality rather than biological independence. Many people, however, feel that one specific cause cannot be selected for this large phenomenon.<ref> Alan Petigny, "Illegitimacy, Postwar Psychology, and the Reperiodization of the Sexual Revolution" Journal of Social History, fall 2004</ref>

Some historians argue that sexual revolution was not a complete break from earlier Western sexual attitudes but rather a liberalization after a conservative period that only existed between the 1930s and 1950s. They note that the [[Cold War]] sparked a socially conformist identity which tended to be self-conscious of its appearance to the outside world. Within the United States, this conformity took on [[puritanism|puritanical]] overtones which contradicted natural or even, ironically, culturally-established human sexual behaviors. It was this period of ''Cold War puritanism'', some say, which logically led to a cultural rebellion in the form of the "sexual revolution". Despite this, however, before the 1920s the Victorian era was much more conservative than even the 1930s and 1950s. Due to the invention of TV and the increasingly wide use of it in the 50s, by the 1960s a vast majority of Americans had it. This mass communication device, along with other media outlets such as radio and magazines, could broadcast information in a matter of seconds to millions of people, while only a few wealthy people would control what millions of people would watch. Some have now theorized that perhaps that these media outlets helped spread new ideas among the masses. A prime example of this occurred during the early 1960s when the Beatles (virtually unknown at the time) came to America and was introduced on the Ed Sullivan show. Once the show was over they were a instant hit. FourtyForty million Americans had watched it that night and thus morals in one perspective changed instantly; although obviously it would take longer for this to occur. The mass media's broadcasting of new ideas to the population was radical, and during the late 1960s the counterculture was becoming well known on radio, newspapers, TV and other media outlets.

The extent to which the ''sexual revolution'' involved major changes in sexual behavior, however, is questionable. Many observers have suggested that the main change was not that people had more sex or different types of sex, it was simply that they talked about it more openly than previous generations had done. Historian [[David Allyn]] argues it was a time of "coming-out": about premarital sex, [[masturbation]], erotic fantasies, pornography use, and homosexuality.<ref> David Allyn, "Make Love, Not War: The Sexual Revolution, An Unfettered History" Routledge, 2002</ref> Although this may be true, some historians have doubts on this due to the lack of contraceptives en masse before the common era. This would have made it extremely difficult to cover up pre-martial relations due to extremely high risk of pregnancy.

It is clear that sexual behaviourbehavior ''did'' change radically for the vast majority of women, but only a generation after the "revolution" had begun. Women reaching sexual maturity after about [[1984]] have behavioursbehaviors much more in common with the men of a generation earlier. Some had more partners (two to three times), starting at an earlier age (by three to five years), than women of the generation of the [[1970s]]. Nevertheless this rather radical change in ''actual'' behaviourbehavior is rarely reported on, being regarded as no longer newsworthy.

==Historical development==

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==Explicit sex on screen==

Swedish filmakersfilmmakers like [[Ingmar Bergman]] and [[Vilgot Sjöman]] contributed to sexual liberation with sexually themed films that challenged conservative international stardardsstandards. The 1951 film ''[[Hon dansade en sommar]]'' (''She Danced a Summer AKA One Summer of Happiness'') starring [[Ulla Jacobsson]] and [[Folke Sundquist]] depicted scenes that were at the time considered too sexual, but by today's standards would be fairly mild. This film, as well as Bergman's ''[[Sommaren med Monika]]'' (''The Summer with Monika''), caused an international uproar, not least in the US where the films were charged with violating standards of decency. Vilgot Sjöman's film ''[[I Am Curious (Yellow)]]'', also created an international uproar, but it was very popular in the United States. Another of his films, ''491'', highlighted homosexuality among other things. ''[[Kärlekens språk]]'', (''The Language of Love''), was an informative documentary about sex and sexual techniques that featured the first real act of sex in a mainstream film, and inevitably it caused intense debate around the world, including in the US. From these films the concept of "the Swedish sin", (licentiousness) developed, even though Swedish society was at the time still fairly conservative regarding sex, and the international concept of Swedish sexuality was and is largely exaggerated. The films caused debate there as well. The films eventually helped the public'spublics attitudes toward sex progress, especially in Sweden and other northern European countries, which today tend to be more sexually liberal than others.

Explicit sex on screen and acceptance of [[frontal nudity]] by men and women on stage became the norm in many American and European countries, as the twentieth century ended. Special places of entertainment offering [[striptease]] and [[lap dancing]] proliferated. The famous [[Playboy Bunny|Playboy Bunnies]] set a trend. Men came to be entertained by [[topless]] women at night-clubs which also hosted "[[peep show]]s."