The Role Of The Sexual Revolution In The 1960's

During, the 1960s and 70s American Feminist Movement, women had begun to protest for the same human rights as men. The main areas of protest in The United States of America were Boston, Los Angeles, and New York City. There were many ways to protest, including writing, art, and organizations. There were many writers who wrote about feminism during this time, some include Betty Friedan, Robin Morgan, and Kate Millett. Art also encouraged feminism, specifically the paintings by Judy Chicago and Miriam Schapiro. There were many feminist groups that protested for equal rights, some of which were The National Black Feminist Organization, The National Organization For Women, Bread and Roses, and The Chicago Women's Liberation Union. In the 1960s and 70s,

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.

During the 1960s women were confined to one lifestyle, they were not acceptable in the public eye and were limited in their family lifestyle as well as the workplace. Women were expected to marry the traditional young marriage and then devote their time to raise the family and take care of their husband. Due to restriction women became activist and voiced their opinion to become equal in the workplace.

Unlike sex, the history of sexuality is dependant upon society and limited by its language in order to be defined and understood.

During the 1950’s- 1960’s men and women followed strict gender roles that complied with society’s expectation at the time. Women played domestic roles in which it was implied they were only useful in the kitchen and taking care of their husbands. Throughout this time period it was more important for women marry a man than it was to attend college and be educated. Some women had college degrees and still chose to be housewives. At the time even secondary schools prepared young girls for this type of role; lessons were given in cookery, household management, darning, sewing and even how to iron a shirt properly. Women were prepared to take on the housewife role both at school and at home; housewives did not have a career so they depended on their husband. Sexism was rampant during this era; the attitude carried over into advertising, which did little to advance gender roles and ran advertisements that implied women were idiots who cared mostly about pleasing their men.

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

Underlying the feminism movement of the 1960s and 1970s was the “white racist ideology.” The women’s movement of the 1960s was in fact the white women’s movement. It was an opportunity for white feminists to raise their voices, but they only spoke about the plight of the white woman and excluded themselves from the collective group of women across all races and social standings. White women assumed that their experience was the experience of all women. When black women proclaimed that the movement was focused on the oppression of white women, the white feminists asserted “common oppression” and retorted with “oppression cannot be measured.” Ironically, feminists in the 1960s compared their oppression to the oppression of African Americans as

Beginning in the mid eighteenth century, much of Europe underwent a sustained series of changes in the way goods are produced known as the industrial revolution. During this movement, technological advancements greatly impacted the coal, heavy metals and textile industries as machines replaced hands as the main mechanism of operation. Consequently, a worker’s level of skill soon lost value and factories that demanded individuals performing menial tasks at a fast rate dotted the landscape. Females became more prominent in the workplace, especially because their smaller hands were better suited for textile factories and their smaller bodies allowed for easier movement in coalmines. Middle class males viewed female workers as a threat to morality, family structure and gender roles while the women saw their employment as a necessary means to provide for themselves and their families. This difference can best be explained by a cultural worldview that increasingly emphasized science and inherent differences between the two sexes. Furthermore, the firsthand accounts depicted by the females stand as the most reliable illustrations of work in the nineteenth century because they take into account the needs of the working class.

Track is more complex than just running to see who has the fastest time, throwing the farthest, or jumping the highest. Track is about overcoming physical obstacles that challenge you, which mentally makes one stronger. The 1920’s was a time of rising sports popularity which ultimately resulted in sexual equality for women. Track contributed to these improvements by including women in sports, exposing positive physical features of women, and set higher expectations for females other than cooking and cleaning .

The sixties were a period of extreme change. Inside homes, families began to become accustomed to the new technology surrounding them, but outside a political war was taking over America. After a decade of conformity, the sixties were the consequences, people began to rebel against the rules of society. The sixties showed the shift towards individualism, civil rights, and feminism. After living through this cultural shift from the fifties to the sixties, Brenda Meng shares her opinion on how these concepts threatened society then, and how they continue to threaten society now. In her opinion, the decade had been an important one, but after it passed society had changed for the worst.

Sex in the 1920’s:The Ford, The Tango, and the Stars With the switch from Victorianism to Freudianism the era of the 1920’s is symbolized to be an era of rebirth. Rebirth for women’s rights, rebirth in fashion, rebirth in social classes and one of the most important, rebirth in sex. The 1920’s has been identified to be an era of glamorous parties, petting parties, and controversy. Many contributions are at fault for modern sexuality and these have been due to smoking, new industries, movie stars, and new behaviors in women as well as altered gender roles. In Meagan Kelly’s article, “A Woman's Changing Sexual Agency” she states, “Mass media is the focal point of this sexual revolution, and the idea of romance portrayed in movies sparks

Sexuality means moving into the adult world. The 1950’s America was recovering from the War. People wanted to celebrate everything. Not always in a proper manner.

Throughout history, definitions of sexuality within a culture are created and then changed time after time. During these changes, we have seen the impact and power one individual or group can have over others. In the Late Nineteenth Century into the Early Twentieth Century, we see multiple groups of people and or authorities taking control over the idea of sex and how they believe society is being impacted by sex. At this point in time, society had groups of people who believed they had the power to control how society as whole viewed and acted upon sex. Those particular groups and ideas changed many lives and the overall definition of sexuality within that culture.

Known as the Two Sex theory, devised by historian Thomas Laqueur, female sexuality would be characterized purely by a woman’s reproductive potential, where the concept of an innate maternal instinct would become the new prioritized ideal. The female orgasm was renounced by a new essence of masculine superiority. This notion can be asserted with the Phallocentric inclination of the late 18th century, examined by historian Tim Hitchcock, as period characterized by penetration and precedence of the phallus. This “both encouraged and made possible the denigration of female sexuality and perceived passivity.” Consequently this caused the de-emphasis of female sexual pleasure and desire. However, female sexual identity would reemerge with potency, attributed to social flux, the emerging field of sexology and disposition of the interwar years.

Thirdly, the sexual revolution has cracked the nuclear family ideology. Because the “erotic” is now the foundation of "personal well-being" and "fulfillment" in marital relationship with some people rather than the “romantic love” foundation of the traditional nuclear family. That saw too many teenagers becoming unmarried females in the United States at the early age. Because the ways society has valued sexual ideology, people and things are