Effects Of The Sexual Revolution

The first initial Sexual Revolution happened during the era of the Roaring Twenties. Women were becoming more promiscuous and they had become more comfortable in their own skin. They would start to wear clothes that they felt appealing rather than clothes that others felt appealing. During the Roaring Twenties sex became a topic that one could converse with ease rather than a topic that everyone would just not talk about, still during this time families would not talk about sex with their children. This all changed with the second Sexual Revolution, mothers were able to talk about it with their children. The ideology of sex has changed from the Baby Boomers to Generation Y because the Sexual Revolution made it a less taboo topic to talk about.

In the mid-1800s American women united to participate in social reforms movements more than ever before. This movement’s involved: struggle to abolish slavery, outlaw alcohol, and ban child labor among others (Rupp, 1987). Despite the failure of the women's movement to attain one among its primary goals, the passage of the ERA , the movement overall accomplished an excellent deal. For several women activists, management over their bodies was a central issue in the campaign. Women needed to be liberated to explore and control their gender, while not being judged by society. An oversized a part of management during this arena concerned having access to birth control, or contraception ways (Fishman, 1998). The contraception pill, associate inoculant,

We are accustomed to referring to a "sexual revolution" in the 1960s, but the actual consequences of that social shift were necessarily reflected in the law. To a

To the question “Why the Woman Rebel?” Sanger wrote “Because I believe that deep down in woman’s nature lies slumbering the spirit of revolt” and “Because I believe that through the efforts of individual revolution will woman’s freedom emerge”. Both highlight how birth control was not a mere technique to personal freedom, but an avenue to power. These quotes emphasize Sanger’s belief that the birth control pill would unleash the spirit of freedom amongst women. She did not argue for the open distribution of contraceptive to promote personal freedom. However, she believed that limitation on family size would free women from the dangers of childbearing and give them the opportunity to become active outside the home. In addition, Document 1 acknowledges birth control’s ability to bring about radical social class change. Sanger includes her belief that women are “enslaved by the world machine…middle-class morality”. Her idea of social change not only involved embracing the liberation of woman, but also the working class. It is believed that the birth control campaign succeeded as it became “a movement by and for the middle class”. Birth control provided middle-class women the opportunity to plan families without the stress of balancing growing expenses for a child that was not planned for. In The Woman Rebel Sanger introduces birth control’s larger mission of power and opportunity for women while incorporating the basis of social class.

Women from all over the world have been faced with many difficult problems since the beginning of time. Women in the past have had to fight for their rights of education, freedom, sexual choices, and their freedom to work. Women today still face problems because of their gender, but times are slowly but surely changing. Before the Revolution women had no say in any activities they participated in. Women had to obey their husbands, give them sex whenever they wanted, had no choice over reproductive patterns, were strictly in charge of taking care of the house and children, and were not allowed to leave the homestead. Joan R. Gundersen argues that the women of the American Revolution gained more than they had lost. She believed at that time the greatest changes appeared enhancing the lives of everyday women.

Life for women changed slightly after the Revolution. Women were able to receive an education. Her education would include learning how to read and spell. Women were able to “oversee” her husband’s property with that education (Voices of Freedom Chapter 6 pages 116-119).

During the Revolutionary War, women were helping the men to organize the house and business while the men went involved in the war. This gave the women a chance to prove they can do more than just doing housekeeping and inspired them to reject staying obedient in their marriage. After the American Independence, people started assigning women a new role - Republican Motherhoods, which said women had an indispensable role to shape society’s future citizens. Although women were still denied to gain any political rights, their status changed by having a freer choice in their own marriage and more active in reform

In the twentieth century, there was much debate on women’s public sexual relationship versus her private sexual relationship. The American society only believed in pure sex, and premarital sex was viewed as a sin. From a feminist’s point of view, there should be no pressure on the woman to reproduce according to the husband’s wishes. The feminists at the time “... were assured that they were sexual beings, but their sexuality was defined by male standards” (341-342). Also, certain situations did not provide the atmosphere necessary to raise a baby.

Premarital pregnancy rates were particularly high in rural and frontier areas, continuing throughout the nineteenth century. Courtship became much more popular in the nineteenth century as men and women began to leave their domestic spheres and interact with other members of their community. Southern people courted after church and western people courted after community events, such as holiday or harvest celebrations, and urban working class youth courted on the job as well. The act of courtship facilitated romantic love becoming a norm, as flirting became a norm wherever there was sexual integration. The idea of marrying for romance impacted sexuality, and having recreational sex. Many couples from the nineteenth century wrote in their diaries the intense urge they felt to have sex with their significant other, although not all of them acted on the urge. The idea that sex and reproduction didn’t have to go hand-in-hand was what caused people to actively control their sexuality with various methods of birth control. As these ideas spread throughout the country, different regions, races, and classes had different ways of controlling their sexuality. Fertility rates dropped throughout the country in rural and urban areas, but remained high in frontier communities. However, many southern states didn’t care for controlling sexuality, since there were many farmers making their living off the land. The larger the family was, the more land they could work on at a time,

Although societies with rigorous rules such as the ancient Greeks practiced the use of birth control and the invention of modern contraceptive methods---such as condoms, diaphragms, and douches---have been around since the early 1800’s, birth control still did not prevail in the twentieth century and was highly controversial. Margaret Sanger gave people a new and radical ideology stating how birth control helped women in many more ways than their sexuality. Sanger published many literature pieces about her opinions on options and freedom for women in society. Several other women and doctors acknowledged her argument by broadcasting it during the Progressive Era. When the 1920’s came around,

Women took a more active role in the revolutionary process and rendered themselves useful in society (Henretta, 2009). Women’s status in the family, society, and politics had long been a subject of argument. The rights women had during this time were an issue for years. Women were viewed as “subordinate to males’ and were subject to laws and regulations imposed by men. However, the role of women and their political, economic, and social rights shifted greatly because of the revolution. Because they were responsible for marrying, raising families, and performing the duties of diligent wives and mothers, they took action and pursued to support the revolution. Women resolved to contribute to the liberation of their

What did the Revolution mean for the women of America? Some scholars say the Revolution did little to change life for her at all, while others argue that the Revolution was the catalyst of change that paved the way for a more independent American woman. The argument of a woman’s property rights became a hot topic in the court systems of post-Revolution America. Women we key in raising productive members of society and the idea of Republican motherhood was born. In order to raise educated children, women had to be educated as well and post-Revolution America saw a boom in school specifically for women. The Revolution did more to improve the lives of unmarried women than those who were married. These now educated and financially independent

Women no longer wanted to have unwanted babies, or be “tied down”. They no longer felt that their only calling in life was to be a mother, and if it was they wanted to choose when they were going to be mothers. “Margaret Sanger, a New York nurse, led a movement to enable women to control their pregnancies with her American Birth Control League. This let women explore their sexuality without having to concern themselves with unwanted babies” (Bowles, 2011).

“A wider freedom is coming to the women in America” (Foner, Give Me Liberty, 677). An influential figure in the women’s movement was Charlotte Perkins Gilmen who wrote ‘Women and Economics’ in 1898 which set forth and challenged the ideas of gender roles that a women’s life was not to be bound to her husband and children in her home but is to be out in the workplace earning her own wages and be able to experience firsthand, true freedom. In her book, she stated “If that change is for the advantage of individual and the race, we need not fear it”, (Give Me Liberty, 710). Another shift in the women’s era was the idea and use of birth control for women. Social reformer Margaret Sanger advocated for the right for women to be able to enjoy sexual intercourse without the worry of falling pregnant and provided sex education to those in the urban poor communities. She also gave out contraceptives to poor immigrants but was later jailed for corrupting the minds of women with the birth-control movement. Having or not having children was an issue for all women regardless of social status, it brought together women part of the poor, middle and upper class economic society. Women could work but having a child made it more difficult for the women to do so, thus the birth control movement gave women so many more options than just being a wife and mother. They can now go pursue their careers, enjoy their

Born to a socialist father who was also an early advocate of women’s suffrage, from him Margaret Sanger inherited her political pluck. This woman spent her life helping women take control of their own bodies and be educated; she is responsible for the plight of women in being able to reversibly prevent pregnancy through the use of a drug she pushed to get created known as “The Pill”. Margaret Sanger was over 80 years old when the first pills became available and by the end of the 1960’s there were many millions of women using the new form of birth control even though the Catholic Church and some states considered it vulgar and obscene and outlawed the use in preventing pregnancy. Ultimately this progressive change in thought and culture to women being able to control their own fertility and therefore be able to work outside the home; this also created a counter culture “sexual revolution” where women felt freer to express their own sexuality without the fear of becoming pregnant – while others saw this a moral decay of individuals and family. Conclusively the majority of people are happy with the results of Margaret Sanger work to provide women with a safe and healthy choice in preventing pregnancy but other are happy that only part of her philosophies were adopted by