Joanna L. Grossman and Lawrence M. Friedman
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691149820
- eISBN:
- 9781400839773
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691149820.003.0006
- Subject:
- Law, Family Law
This chapter discusses some of the dramatic changes in the law relating to sexual behavior since the middle of the twentieth century. The ultimate cause, of course, was changing sexual mores. But at ...
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This chapter discusses some of the dramatic changes in the law relating to sexual behavior since the middle of the twentieth century. The ultimate cause, of course, was changing sexual mores. But at several points, the Supreme Court, by recognizing a constitutional right to privacy, acted in ways that gave these changing mores a solid foundation in law. This right of privacy was expanded over time to include contraception, abortion, and even same-sex behavior. Through these cases, the Court authorized marriage without sex (by prisoners, for example) and sex without marriage (between gay people, who were forbidden to marry). It also authorized marital sex without reproduction (through contraception and abortion) and reproduction without marriage (through rights of illegitimate children and unwed fathers).Less
This chapter discusses some of the dramatic changes in the law relating to sexual behavior since the middle of the twentieth century. The ultimate cause, of course, was changing sexual mores. But at several points, the Supreme Court, by recognizing a constitutional right to privacy, acted in ways that gave these changing mores a solid foundation in law. This right of privacy was expanded over time to include contraception, abortion, and even same-sex behavior. Through these cases, the Court authorized marriage without sex (by prisoners, for example) and sex without marriage (between gay people, who were forbidden to marry). It also authorized marital sex without reproduction (through contraception and abortion) and reproduction without marriage (through rights of illegitimate children and unwed fathers).
Hugh McLeod
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199298259
- eISBN:
- 9780191711619
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199298259.003.0009
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter discusses the sexual revolution, gay liberation movement, ‘second wave feminism’, and changes in family life that had a significant impact on religion. The 1960s and early 1970s were a ...
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This chapter discusses the sexual revolution, gay liberation movement, ‘second wave feminism’, and changes in family life that had a significant impact on religion. The 1960s and early 1970s were a time of crisis for the churches in most Western countries. Of the changes in this period in the field of sex, gender, and the family, those that had an impact on the largest numbers of people were the increasing focus of life on the home and the nuclear family, the influence of the ‘companionate marriage’ ideal, and the declining importance of the neighbourhood and of customs enforced by pressure from neighbours and extended families. The Women's Liberation and Gay Liberation Movements exercised a powerful influence, but on much smaller numbers of people, revolutionizing the thinking of those who joined, becoming for many of them a complete way of life, and often placing attachments to religion or the churches under severe strain.Less
This chapter discusses the sexual revolution, gay liberation movement, ‘second wave feminism’, and changes in family life that had a significant impact on religion. The 1960s and early 1970s were a time of crisis for the churches in most Western countries. Of the changes in this period in the field of sex, gender, and the family, those that had an impact on the largest numbers of people were the increasing focus of life on the home and the nuclear family, the influence of the ‘companionate marriage’ ideal, and the declining importance of the neighbourhood and of customs enforced by pressure from neighbours and extended families. The Women's Liberation and Gay Liberation Movements exercised a powerful influence, but on much smaller numbers of people, revolutionizing the thinking of those who joined, becoming for many of them a complete way of life, and often placing attachments to religion or the churches under severe strain.
Hera Cook
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199252183
- eISBN:
- 9780191719240
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199252183.003.0014
- Subject:
- History, Social History
The availability of the Pill precipitated a transformation in sexual mores. It involved three innovations: reliability, widespread publicity, and large-scale modern distribution. Rising rates of ...
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The availability of the Pill precipitated a transformation in sexual mores. It involved three innovations: reliability, widespread publicity, and large-scale modern distribution. Rising rates of pre-marital sexual activity were leading to sharply increasing illegitimacy. Unmarried mothers were highly stigmatized. The advent of the pill created a new practical alternative and gave rise to debate about the need for a new sexual morality which increased intellectual support for change. The media encouraged comments on sexuality from the likes of J. A. T. Robinson, Bishop of Woolwich, Alex Comfort, Martin Cole, and Helen Brook. The pace of change was astonishing and by the 1970s the debate had narrowed to concerns about ‘school girl’ sex.Less
The availability of the Pill precipitated a transformation in sexual mores. It involved three innovations: reliability, widespread publicity, and large-scale modern distribution. Rising rates of pre-marital sexual activity were leading to sharply increasing illegitimacy. Unmarried mothers were highly stigmatized. The advent of the pill created a new practical alternative and gave rise to debate about the need for a new sexual morality which increased intellectual support for change. The media encouraged comments on sexuality from the likes of J. A. T. Robinson, Bishop of Woolwich, Alex Comfort, Martin Cole, and Helen Brook. The pace of change was astonishing and by the 1970s the debate had narrowed to concerns about ‘school girl’ sex.
Hera Cook
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199252183
- eISBN:
- 9780191719240
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199252183.003.0016
- Subject:
- History, Social History
This chapter re-analyses existing statistical sources to explain the underlying transformation and disruption of existing ways of living that occurred as a result of the astonishing reduction in risk ...
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This chapter re-analyses existing statistical sources to explain the underlying transformation and disruption of existing ways of living that occurred as a result of the astonishing reduction in risk of pregnancy brought about by the Pill and legal abortion, and the accompanying collapse of restraints on young women's sexual behaviour. It shows that the greater autonomy that female controlled contraception made possible reached directly into the lives of the vast majority of English women. Over 80% of British women of reproductive age since the early 1960s have taken the Pill.Less
This chapter re-analyses existing statistical sources to explain the underlying transformation and disruption of existing ways of living that occurred as a result of the astonishing reduction in risk of pregnancy brought about by the Pill and legal abortion, and the accompanying collapse of restraints on young women's sexual behaviour. It shows that the greater autonomy that female controlled contraception made possible reached directly into the lives of the vast majority of English women. Over 80% of British women of reproductive age since the early 1960s have taken the Pill.
Joanna L. Grossman and Lawrence M. Friedman
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691149820
- eISBN:
- 9781400839773
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691149820.001.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Family Law
This book is a comprehensive social history of twentieth-century family law in the United States. The book shows how vast, oceanic changes in society have reshaped and reconstituted the American ...
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This book is a comprehensive social history of twentieth-century family law in the United States. The book shows how vast, oceanic changes in society have reshaped and reconstituted the American family. Women and children have gained rights and powers, and novel forms of family life have emerged. The family has more or less dissolved into a collection of independent individuals with their own wants, desires, and goals. Modern family law, as always, reflects the brute social and cultural facts of family life. The story of family law in the twentieth century is complex. This was the century that said goodbye to common-law marriage and breach-of-promise lawsuits. This was the century, too, of the sexual revolution and women's liberation, of gay rights and cohabitation. Marriage lost its powerful monopoly over legitimate sexual behavior. Couples who lived together without marriage now had certain rights. Gay marriage became legal in a handful of jurisdictions. By the end of the century, no state still prohibited same-sex behavior. Children in many states could legally have two mothers or two fathers. No-fault divorce became cheap and easy. And illegitimacy lost most of its social and legal stigma. These changes were not smooth or linear—all met with resistance and provoked a certain amount of backlash. Families took many forms, some of them new and different, and though buffeted by the winds of change, the family persisted as a central institution in society. This book tells the story of that institution, exploring the ways in which law tried to penetrate and control this most mysterious realm of personal life.Less
This book is a comprehensive social history of twentieth-century family law in the United States. The book shows how vast, oceanic changes in society have reshaped and reconstituted the American family. Women and children have gained rights and powers, and novel forms of family life have emerged. The family has more or less dissolved into a collection of independent individuals with their own wants, desires, and goals. Modern family law, as always, reflects the brute social and cultural facts of family life. The story of family law in the twentieth century is complex. This was the century that said goodbye to common-law marriage and breach-of-promise lawsuits. This was the century, too, of the sexual revolution and women's liberation, of gay rights and cohabitation. Marriage lost its powerful monopoly over legitimate sexual behavior. Couples who lived together without marriage now had certain rights. Gay marriage became legal in a handful of jurisdictions. By the end of the century, no state still prohibited same-sex behavior. Children in many states could legally have two mothers or two fathers. No-fault divorce became cheap and easy. And illegitimacy lost most of its social and legal stigma. These changes were not smooth or linear—all met with resistance and provoked a certain amount of backlash. Families took many forms, some of them new and different, and though buffeted by the winds of change, the family persisted as a central institution in society. This book tells the story of that institution, exploring the ways in which law tried to penetrate and control this most mysterious realm of personal life.
Joanna L. Grossman and Lawrence M. Friedman
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691149820
- eISBN:
- 9781400839773
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691149820.003.0005
- Subject:
- Law, Family Law
This chapter considers the decline and fall of a group of closely related causes of action: breach of promise of marriage, alienation of affections, criminal conversation, and perhaps even civil and ...
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This chapter considers the decline and fall of a group of closely related causes of action: breach of promise of marriage, alienation of affections, criminal conversation, and perhaps even civil and criminal actions for “seduction.” The story here is tangled and complex; no one factor explains why these causes of action lost ground. But they are connected with the social meaning of marriage, and very notably, with one striking twentieth-century development: the sexual revolution—specifically, the end of the idea that only married people were entitled, legitimately, to have sexual intercourse. These causes of action lived in the shadow of traditional marriage, and depended for their validity on traditional marriage. As it declined, they too receded into history, although not entirely.Less
This chapter considers the decline and fall of a group of closely related causes of action: breach of promise of marriage, alienation of affections, criminal conversation, and perhaps even civil and criminal actions for “seduction.” The story here is tangled and complex; no one factor explains why these causes of action lost ground. But they are connected with the social meaning of marriage, and very notably, with one striking twentieth-century development: the sexual revolution—specifically, the end of the idea that only married people were entitled, legitimately, to have sexual intercourse. These causes of action lived in the shadow of traditional marriage, and depended for their validity on traditional marriage. As it declined, they too receded into history, although not entirely.
Joanna L. Grossman and Lawrence M. Friedman
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691149820
- eISBN:
- 9781400839773
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691149820.003.0007
- Subject:
- Law, Family Law
This chapter looks at the rise of cohabitation, both as a prelude to marriage or as an outright substitute. This trend is one outcome of the sexual revolution, the new sexual freedom, referred to in ...
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This chapter looks at the rise of cohabitation, both as a prelude to marriage or as an outright substitute. This trend is one outcome of the sexual revolution, the new sexual freedom, referred to in the previous chapter. Here, courts and legislatures have had to grapple with a new social fact. Hence, this chapter considers how cohabitation has come to lose its criminal stigma; along with the growing ability of couples who live together to make claims against each other, or to demand some sort of family-like status. The trend, in short, has gone from legal and social disapproval to piecemeal civil protection. Legally speaking, cohabitation has become an accepted part of life, revealing new implications on marriage and on parentage.Less
This chapter looks at the rise of cohabitation, both as a prelude to marriage or as an outright substitute. This trend is one outcome of the sexual revolution, the new sexual freedom, referred to in the previous chapter. Here, courts and legislatures have had to grapple with a new social fact. Hence, this chapter considers how cohabitation has come to lose its criminal stigma; along with the growing ability of couples who live together to make claims against each other, or to demand some sort of family-like status. The trend, in short, has gone from legal and social disapproval to piecemeal civil protection. Legally speaking, cohabitation has become an accepted part of life, revealing new implications on marriage and on parentage.
Heather R. White
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781469624112
- eISBN:
- 9781469624792
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469624112.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Religious Studies
This chapter describes a series of theological skirmishes that took place in the late 1960s between mainline Protestant denominations. It traces the emergence of a heterosexual consensus, where ...
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This chapter describes a series of theological skirmishes that took place in the late 1960s between mainline Protestant denominations. It traces the emergence of a heterosexual consensus, where Protestants across the theological and political spectrum adopted modern paradigms for sexuality into both conservative and liberal theological frameworks. The battle pitted defenders of traditional morality against liberals accused of peddling a faithless “new morality.” One conflict emerged from a committee report written by Presbyterians. The debate over this document connected to larger concerns about religion and sex in the late 1960s and early 1970s, a moment at which the “sexual revolution” was at a breaking point. Additionally, a hot-button political issue at this time was sexuality education, and Presbyterians were hardly alone in navigating denomination-wide skirmishes over sexual morality. Similar debates roiled other mainline denominations, and they also surfaced in arguments over local public school sex education curricula.Less
This chapter describes a series of theological skirmishes that took place in the late 1960s between mainline Protestant denominations. It traces the emergence of a heterosexual consensus, where Protestants across the theological and political spectrum adopted modern paradigms for sexuality into both conservative and liberal theological frameworks. The battle pitted defenders of traditional morality against liberals accused of peddling a faithless “new morality.” One conflict emerged from a committee report written by Presbyterians. The debate over this document connected to larger concerns about religion and sex in the late 1960s and early 1970s, a moment at which the “sexual revolution” was at a breaking point. Additionally, a hot-button political issue at this time was sexuality education, and Presbyterians were hardly alone in navigating denomination-wide skirmishes over sexual morality. Similar debates roiled other mainline denominations, and they also surfaced in arguments over local public school sex education curricula.
Daniel K. Williams
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195340846
- eISBN:
- 9780199867141
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195340846.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Even without encouragement from Republican politicians, Christian activists in the mid-1970s launched campaigns against cultural liberalism, uniting evangelicals with conservative Catholics and ...
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Even without encouragement from Republican politicians, Christian activists in the mid-1970s launched campaigns against cultural liberalism, uniting evangelicals with conservative Catholics and reshaping the Republican Party. In the early 1970s, Phyllis Schlafly, a Catholic, led evangelical women in a successful campaign against the Equal Rights Amendment. Evangelicals’ opposition to feminism and the sexual revolution also prompted them to join Catholics in speaking out against abortion. During the presidential election of 1976, cultural conservatives forced Gerald Ford to move to the right on abortion and challenged Jimmy Carter after his controversial interview with Playboy. Though an organized Religious Right had not yet developed, evangelicals were discovering their power to influence national politics.Less
Even without encouragement from Republican politicians, Christian activists in the mid-1970s launched campaigns against cultural liberalism, uniting evangelicals with conservative Catholics and reshaping the Republican Party. In the early 1970s, Phyllis Schlafly, a Catholic, led evangelical women in a successful campaign against the Equal Rights Amendment. Evangelicals’ opposition to feminism and the sexual revolution also prompted them to join Catholics in speaking out against abortion. During the presidential election of 1976, cultural conservatives forced Gerald Ford to move to the right on abortion and challenged Jimmy Carter after his controversial interview with Playboy. Though an organized Religious Right had not yet developed, evangelicals were discovering their power to influence national politics.
Kate Fisher
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199267361
- eISBN:
- 9780191708299
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199267361.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, Social History
This epilogue discusses the challenges posed by this book's novel focus on the centrality of male roles in the fertility decline to our wider understanding of changes in contraceptive behaviour, ...
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This epilogue discusses the challenges posed by this book's novel focus on the centrality of male roles in the fertility decline to our wider understanding of changes in contraceptive behaviour, particularly during the era of ‘sexual revolution’. Rather than viewing the significant role played by women in determining contraceptive strategy in the 1960s as the culmination of their increasingly successful attempts to limit the size of their families over the previous half-century, these should be seen as novel developments representing a sharp break with previous contraceptive practice. New research is needed on how this previously male-dominated culture of contraception was transformed in the last half of the 20th century. It is suggested that intimate personal perspectives, which provide access to the ways in which sexual and contraceptive behaviour is negotiated in the context of real relationships, should be central to this work.Less
This epilogue discusses the challenges posed by this book's novel focus on the centrality of male roles in the fertility decline to our wider understanding of changes in contraceptive behaviour, particularly during the era of ‘sexual revolution’. Rather than viewing the significant role played by women in determining contraceptive strategy in the 1960s as the culmination of their increasingly successful attempts to limit the size of their families over the previous half-century, these should be seen as novel developments representing a sharp break with previous contraceptive practice. New research is needed on how this previously male-dominated culture of contraception was transformed in the last half of the 20th century. It is suggested that intimate personal perspectives, which provide access to the ways in which sexual and contraceptive behaviour is negotiated in the context of real relationships, should be central to this work.
Joanna L. Grossman and Lawrence M. Friedman
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691149820
- eISBN:
- 9781400839773
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691149820.003.0008
- Subject:
- Law, Family Law
This chapter describes what might be the last battleground over “traditional” marriage—same-sex marriage, and the social and legal revolution that brought us from an era in which it was never ...
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This chapter describes what might be the last battleground over “traditional” marriage—same-sex marriage, and the social and legal revolution that brought us from an era in which it was never contemplated to one in which, depending on the state, it is either expressly authorized or expressly prohibited. Same-sex marriage has posed—and continues to pose—a challenge to traditional definitions of marriage and family. But, more importantly, the issue implies broader changes in family law—the increasing role of constitutional analysis; limits on the right of government to regulate the family; and the clash between the traditional family form and a new and wider menu of intimate and household arrangements, and all this against the background of the rise of a stronger form of individualism.Less
This chapter describes what might be the last battleground over “traditional” marriage—same-sex marriage, and the social and legal revolution that brought us from an era in which it was never contemplated to one in which, depending on the state, it is either expressly authorized or expressly prohibited. Same-sex marriage has posed—and continues to pose—a challenge to traditional definitions of marriage and family. But, more importantly, the issue implies broader changes in family law—the increasing role of constitutional analysis; limits on the right of government to regulate the family; and the clash between the traditional family form and a new and wider menu of intimate and household arrangements, and all this against the background of the rise of a stronger form of individualism.
Peter Boag
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520236042
- eISBN:
- 9780520930698
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520236042.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This chapter explores the nature of Portland's middle-class gay community as revealed in the documentary evidence of the 1912 affair and of a smaller scandal that occurred in 1928. It also ...
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This chapter explores the nature of Portland's middle-class gay community as revealed in the documentary evidence of the 1912 affair and of a smaller scandal that occurred in 1928. It also investigates the formation of white middle-class gay subculture in the context of the national and even international development of corporate capitalism. The chapter then describes the sexual practices of these gay men and makes the argument that middle-class sexual forms contributed a great deal to America's first sexual revolution. In the 1912 scandal, the typical male who participated in Portland's early homosexual subculture was a young, white-collar worker who was single and lived on his own or with others like himself. Gay men referred to Lownsdale simply as “the park,” a name that denoted its centrality to their world. The emergence of the homosexual community, homosexual identity, and expanding homosexual activities is a significant part of America's first sexual revolution.Less
This chapter explores the nature of Portland's middle-class gay community as revealed in the documentary evidence of the 1912 affair and of a smaller scandal that occurred in 1928. It also investigates the formation of white middle-class gay subculture in the context of the national and even international development of corporate capitalism. The chapter then describes the sexual practices of these gay men and makes the argument that middle-class sexual forms contributed a great deal to America's first sexual revolution. In the 1912 scandal, the typical male who participated in Portland's early homosexual subculture was a young, white-collar worker who was single and lived on his own or with others like himself. Gay men referred to Lownsdale simply as “the park,” a name that denoted its centrality to their world. The emergence of the homosexual community, homosexual identity, and expanding homosexual activities is a significant part of America's first sexual revolution.
Amanda H. Littauer
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781469623788
- eISBN:
- 9781469625195
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469623788.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Gender Studies
This book looks at mid-century American sex and culture. It traces the origins of the “sexual revolution” of the 1960s. The book argues that sexual liberation was much more than a reaction to 1950s ...
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This book looks at mid-century American sex and culture. It traces the origins of the “sexual revolution” of the 1960s. The book argues that sexual liberation was much more than a reaction to 1950s repression because it largely involved the mainstreaming of a counterculture already on the rise among girls and young women decades earlier. From World War II-era “victory girls” to teen lesbians in the 1940s and 1950s, these nonconforming women and girls navigated and resisted intense social and interpersonal pressures to fit existing mores, using the upheavals of the era to pursue new sexual freedoms. Building on a new generation of research on postwar society, the text tells the history of diverse young women who stood at the center of major cultural change and helped transform a society bound by conservative sexual morality into one more open to individualism, plurality, and pleasure in modern sexual life.Less
This book looks at mid-century American sex and culture. It traces the origins of the “sexual revolution” of the 1960s. The book argues that sexual liberation was much more than a reaction to 1950s repression because it largely involved the mainstreaming of a counterculture already on the rise among girls and young women decades earlier. From World War II-era “victory girls” to teen lesbians in the 1940s and 1950s, these nonconforming women and girls navigated and resisted intense social and interpersonal pressures to fit existing mores, using the upheavals of the era to pursue new sexual freedoms. Building on a new generation of research on postwar society, the text tells the history of diverse young women who stood at the center of major cultural change and helped transform a society bound by conservative sexual morality into one more open to individualism, plurality, and pleasure in modern sexual life.
Jeffrey Merrick
- Published in print:
- 1996
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195093032
- eISBN:
- 9780199854493
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195093032.003.0010
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
This chapter examines the history of homosexuality, natalism, and the controversy surrounding André Gide's book Corydon in France during the early 1900s. It mentions studies indicating that a vast ...
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This chapter examines the history of homosexuality, natalism, and the controversy surrounding André Gide's book Corydon in France during the early 1900s. It mentions studies indicating that a vast homosexual culture thrived in Paris during the sexual revolution of the interwar years and suggests that this period constituted something of a golden age for French homosexuality. However, Gide's book has shown that tolerance of homosexuality was almost nonexistent outside of the capital and uncommon even within Paris. Many of the men and women who “came out” during this time experienced provincial intolerance, parental dismay, and public antipathy.Less
This chapter examines the history of homosexuality, natalism, and the controversy surrounding André Gide's book Corydon in France during the early 1900s. It mentions studies indicating that a vast homosexual culture thrived in Paris during the sexual revolution of the interwar years and suggests that this period constituted something of a golden age for French homosexuality. However, Gide's book has shown that tolerance of homosexuality was almost nonexistent outside of the capital and uncommon even within Paris. Many of the men and women who “came out” during this time experienced provincial intolerance, parental dismay, and public antipathy.
Benjamin A. Cowan
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781469627502
- eISBN:
- 9781469627526
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469627502.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, Latin American History
Chapter Two contextualizes the Cold War linkage of countersubversion and moralization exploring what, precisely, rightists reacted against, and in what circumstances. I analyze linked cultural ...
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Chapter Two contextualizes the Cold War linkage of countersubversion and moralization exploring what, precisely, rightists reacted against, and in what circumstances. I analyze linked cultural histories to uncover the ways in which emergent youth culture, sexual revolution, and radical politics were focal points for broad public debates in 1960s Brazil. Within those debates, right-wing reaction against changing gender and sexual norms represented only one of many publicly permissible viewpoints. The sheer diversity of these viewpoints makes clear several critical contextual factors. First, regardless of how extensively new gender and sexual patterns actually affected women, young people, students, or other demographics on which anxieties focused, moral panic was not the sole possible response to perceived changes in these realms. Second, though counterculture, political radicalism, and nonnormative sex each attracted considerable attention, narratives that conflated these categories did not monopolize public discourse—even those who denounced moral and sexual change did not always associate it with subversion. Lastly, for all of the Right’s insistence on this association, the regime’s fiercest and most visible opponents never embraced sexual liberalization. Many were the voices who constructed “youth,” “sexual revolution,” and “subversion”—and not everyone, least of all those on the political Left, saw direct articulation between the three.Less
Chapter Two contextualizes the Cold War linkage of countersubversion and moralization exploring what, precisely, rightists reacted against, and in what circumstances. I analyze linked cultural histories to uncover the ways in which emergent youth culture, sexual revolution, and radical politics were focal points for broad public debates in 1960s Brazil. Within those debates, right-wing reaction against changing gender and sexual norms represented only one of many publicly permissible viewpoints. The sheer diversity of these viewpoints makes clear several critical contextual factors. First, regardless of how extensively new gender and sexual patterns actually affected women, young people, students, or other demographics on which anxieties focused, moral panic was not the sole possible response to perceived changes in these realms. Second, though counterculture, political radicalism, and nonnormative sex each attracted considerable attention, narratives that conflated these categories did not monopolize public discourse—even those who denounced moral and sexual change did not always associate it with subversion. Lastly, for all of the Right’s insistence on this association, the regime’s fiercest and most visible opponents never embraced sexual liberalization. Many were the voices who constructed “youth,” “sexual revolution,” and “subversion”—and not everyone, least of all those on the political Left, saw direct articulation between the three.
Nona Willis Aronowitz
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- August 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780816681204
- eISBN:
- 9781452949048
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Minnesota Press
- DOI:
- 10.5749/minnesota/9780816681204.003.0020
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
This chapter examines sexual revolution from a feminist perspective, with particular emphasis on how sexual morality in a patriarchal culture becomes a primary instrument of social control. It ...
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This chapter examines sexual revolution from a feminist perspective, with particular emphasis on how sexual morality in a patriarchal culture becomes a primary instrument of social control. It considers the debate between feminist sexual radicals and conservatives concerning a wide range of sex-related issues, including pornography, the definition of sexual consent, the nature of women’s sexuality and whether it is intrinsically different from men’s, and the meaning of heterosexuality for women. Each of these issues, in turn, became a focus of deeply felt disagreement over the place of sexuality and sexual morality in a feminist analysis and program. In one way or another, they raise the question of whether sexual freedom, as such, is a feminist value, or whether feminism ought rather to aim at replacing male-defined social controls over sex with female-defined controls.Less
This chapter examines sexual revolution from a feminist perspective, with particular emphasis on how sexual morality in a patriarchal culture becomes a primary instrument of social control. It considers the debate between feminist sexual radicals and conservatives concerning a wide range of sex-related issues, including pornography, the definition of sexual consent, the nature of women’s sexuality and whether it is intrinsically different from men’s, and the meaning of heterosexuality for women. Each of these issues, in turn, became a focus of deeply felt disagreement over the place of sexuality and sexual morality in a feminist analysis and program. In one way or another, they raise the question of whether sexual freedom, as such, is a feminist value, or whether feminism ought rather to aim at replacing male-defined social controls over sex with female-defined controls.
Stephen Ellingson, Jenna Mahay, Anthony Paik, and Edward O. Laumann
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- February 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226470313
- eISBN:
- 9780226470337
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226470337.003.0012
- Subject:
- Sociology, Urban and Rural Studies
This chapter reviews the key findings about the cultural economy and the social structure of urban sexuality. It also places the study in conversation with larger, enduring themes in American ...
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This chapter reviews the key findings about the cultural economy and the social structure of urban sexuality. It also places the study in conversation with larger, enduring themes in American society, such as individualism and choice; the patterning of concomitant outcomes, particularly by race and ethnicity; the sexual revolution; and the institutional politics surrounding sexuality. Institutional control over sexuality is a common thread that unites the historical, policy, and sociological literatures on sexuality, marriage, and family. One perspective suggests that institutions exert a high degree of control over sexual identities and expressions. Perhaps the best example of this approach is the work of Michel Foucault. The early Chicago school and the more recent subcultural theory of urbanism imply strong institutional control over sexuality for the majority, but weak control over certain urban populations owing to the heterogeneity, size, and density of urban spaces.Less
This chapter reviews the key findings about the cultural economy and the social structure of urban sexuality. It also places the study in conversation with larger, enduring themes in American society, such as individualism and choice; the patterning of concomitant outcomes, particularly by race and ethnicity; the sexual revolution; and the institutional politics surrounding sexuality. Institutional control over sexuality is a common thread that unites the historical, policy, and sociological literatures on sexuality, marriage, and family. One perspective suggests that institutions exert a high degree of control over sexual identities and expressions. Perhaps the best example of this approach is the work of Michel Foucault. The early Chicago school and the more recent subcultural theory of urbanism imply strong institutional control over sexuality for the majority, but weak control over certain urban populations owing to the heterogeneity, size, and density of urban spaces.
Ellen Willis
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- August 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780816680795
- eISBN:
- 9781452949000
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Minnesota Press
- DOI:
- 10.5749/minnesota/9780816680795.003.0003
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Cultural Studies
This chapter examines sexual revolution from a feminist perspective, with particular emphasis on how sexual morality in a patriarchal culture becomes a primary instrument of social control. It ...
More
This chapter examines sexual revolution from a feminist perspective, with particular emphasis on how sexual morality in a patriarchal culture becomes a primary instrument of social control. It considers the debate between feminist sexual radicals and conservatives concerning a wide range of sex-related issues, including pornography, the definition of sexual consent, the nature of women’s sexuality and whether it is intrinsically different from men’s, and the meaning of heterosexuality for women. It also explores how each of these issues became a focus of deeply felt disagreement over the place of sexuality and sexual morality in a feminist analysis and program, arguing that they raise the question of whether sexual freedom is a feminist value, or whether feminism ought rather to aim at replacing male-defined social controls over sex with female-defined controls.Less
This chapter examines sexual revolution from a feminist perspective, with particular emphasis on how sexual morality in a patriarchal culture becomes a primary instrument of social control. It considers the debate between feminist sexual radicals and conservatives concerning a wide range of sex-related issues, including pornography, the definition of sexual consent, the nature of women’s sexuality and whether it is intrinsically different from men’s, and the meaning of heterosexuality for women. It also explores how each of these issues became a focus of deeply felt disagreement over the place of sexuality and sexual morality in a feminist analysis and program, arguing that they raise the question of whether sexual freedom is a feminist value, or whether feminism ought rather to aim at replacing male-defined social controls over sex with female-defined controls.
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199609543
- eISBN:
- 9780191747717
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199609543.003.0009
- Subject:
- Psychology, Evolutionary Psychology, Developmental Psychology
For evolutionary psychologists, culture means socially transmitted knowledge. Humans have evolved a remarkable capacity for learning from others, so that individual technological discoveries can be ...
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For evolutionary psychologists, culture means socially transmitted knowledge. Humans have evolved a remarkable capacity for learning from others, so that individual technological discoveries can be passed rapidly through the community and across the globe. Cultural learning involves paying attention to the majority (conformity) and the minority (the conspicuously successful). How strong are these forces? Can they overturn our evolved adaptations? This chapter describes how technological innovation and cultural norms have affected women’s lives in three areas: preferred family size, ideal body shape, and the sexual “revolution.”Less
For evolutionary psychologists, culture means socially transmitted knowledge. Humans have evolved a remarkable capacity for learning from others, so that individual technological discoveries can be passed rapidly through the community and across the globe. Cultural learning involves paying attention to the majority (conformity) and the minority (the conspicuously successful). How strong are these forces? Can they overturn our evolved adaptations? This chapter describes how technological innovation and cultural norms have affected women’s lives in three areas: preferred family size, ideal body shape, and the sexual “revolution.”
Ashbee Edward
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- July 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780719072765
- eISBN:
- 9781781701294
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719072765.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
This chapter traces the emergence of the moral agenda as a key issue in American public opinion and in U.S. politics. It explains that moral and cultural concerns became frontline political issues ...
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This chapter traces the emergence of the moral agenda as a key issue in American public opinion and in U.S. politics. It explains that moral and cultural concerns became frontline political issues from the late 1960s onwards, as a result of the sexual revolution and the loosening of established moral codes, particularly among the Woodstock generation. The chapter also highlights the role of the Christian right, which had established itself as an important constituency that could exert significant political leverage, in reshaping judicial politics, interest group activity and the character of the party system. It also investigates the variables that might account for the growing tolerance of premarital sexual relationships and homosexuality in the 1960s and 1970s, and discusses George W. Bush's electoral strategy and his handling of moral issues in his campaign.Less
This chapter traces the emergence of the moral agenda as a key issue in American public opinion and in U.S. politics. It explains that moral and cultural concerns became frontline political issues from the late 1960s onwards, as a result of the sexual revolution and the loosening of established moral codes, particularly among the Woodstock generation. The chapter also highlights the role of the Christian right, which had established itself as an important constituency that could exert significant political leverage, in reshaping judicial politics, interest group activity and the character of the party system. It also investigates the variables that might account for the growing tolerance of premarital sexual relationships and homosexuality in the 1960s and 1970s, and discusses George W. Bush's electoral strategy and his handling of moral issues in his campaign.
