The Sexual Revolution of the 1960s by

Causes

guyerali — 2014-05-31 21:57:20 UTC

The name, “Sexual Revolution” is a bit of an overstatement because in the 1960s women didn’t suddenly take major actions toward more women’s rights. Instead the entire issue of women’s rights is a gradual process. The First Sexual Revolution of the 1920s was only the beginning. During the 1920s, the rebellious women called the Flappers demonstrated looser attitudes and attire that previous generation held. The Sexual Revolution of the 1960s beginnings occurred in the 1950s. The Great Depression following WII, led people to embrace the idea of living in the moment. The U.S. Public Health Report states, “Those turning 15 between 1954 and 1963, 82% had had premarital sex by age 30.” The women were inspired by the civil rights movement’s success and the idea of challenging the government. Women believed hat it was time to push for equal rights. The media portrayed women who were happy also fit a certain mold of beautiful and subservient to men. In politics the New Left preached the idea of personal politics or self-expression. Also, the Hippies promoted “free love” and to abandon the social norms. The increase of birth control methods have become more available, and would continue to be with the invention of the birth control pill. Birth control methods helped relieve the risk of unwanted children and single motherhood. Though the Sexual Revolution of the 1960s was by no means revolutionary, it did mark the beginning of another women’s rights movement.

People involved in the Sexual Revolution

guyerali — 2014-05-31 22:01:31 UTC

Many women and organizations worked toward women’s rights through literature and hosting events. In 1963 Betty Friedan’s book, The Feminine Mystique, calls women to pursue their own identity. Friedan points out that the typical housewife isn’t happy. The Feminine Mystique added to the spark for women to join the movement for more rights. Friedan also began the National Organization for Women (NOW) in 1966. NOW encouraged women to divert from the housewife role and become equal participants in society. Kathie Sarachild started the consciousness raising groups to help create a mass movement of women. These groups would gather more women supporters by making the cause personal to women. In these consciousness raising groups, women would gather together in small groups and discuss their personal experience of a topic (usually one that made them feel inferior). The discussion created a sense of sisterhood because now the women didn’t feel isolated. Hosting these groups became a great method of gathering support. All the methods to gain support created a personal connection with every woman that led to unity.

What was the Sexual Revolution?

guyerali — 2014-05-31 22:04:04 UTC

The Sexual Revolution of the 1960s challenged the traditional sexual roles of women. Before, the social norm was that the women should be virgin in order to find a husband. The vibe of the country from the civil rights movements caused this new generation of women to challenge these social norms. The moral values of women have slowly evolved even from the 1950s with the increase of premarital sex and single motherhood. A new rise of the single and free life also became popular. PBS states, “Feminists asserted that single women had the same sexual desires and should have the same sexual freedoms as everyone else in society.” One key controversy that women were pushing for was legalization of abortion. The birth control pill’s approval by the U.S. government settled the issue for now. This controversial pill would allow women to live their life more freely without the worry of having the responsibility for children. In the landmark cases, Griswold v. Connecticut (1963), the use of contraception was established legal, and later the Roe. V. Wade case (1973) established that abortions are legal. In a sense, the Sexual Revolution is the point in which this ignored issue came to the surface, but also marked the beginning of a revolution concerning women’s rights.

What was the Sexual Revolution: part 2

guyerali — 2014-05-31 22:07:18 UTC

Women finally put their foot down and demonstrate against anything sexist against women. The protest of the Miss America Pageant of 1968 drew an enormous amount of attention to women’s rights. The leading organization of this protest was the New York Radical Women (N.Y.R.W.), who also participated in the New Left. Robin Morgan, a writer and editor was one of the leading protest organizers. Women were appalled that in order to win, one must possess that “unbeatable madonna-whore combination,” as Morgan says. The women argue that the pageant belittles women’s values. The effort for women’s rights protest gained massive momentum due to the protest of the Miss America Pageant. This issue finally captured the larger public’s interest. One of main widely known practices during this time was the “Freedom Trash Can.” Women gathered and burned items such as wigs, magazines such as Playboy, and dishes. The women that participated in the practice of the “Freedom Trash Can” were called “bra burners.” All the items burned represented things that trapped women in the home.

What was the Sexual Revolution: part 3

guyerali — 2014-05-31 22:09:40 UTC

Not only were women limited at home, but also in the workplace. It was a rarity to see a woman in a position of power such as a scientist. Even banks refused to hand out credit to women interest in starting their own business. In the 1960s, the call for equality in the workplace was answered via legislation. The Equal Pay Act (1963) and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (1964) helped end discrimination against women. Even President Johnson’s Executive Order 11246 ordered affirmative action to end employee discrimination based on sex. Employers found a way around the new rules by not hiring women because no spots were left. Yet the next day he would hire a new male employee. The actions taken in the 1960s were only the first steps toward women equality. After the 1960s women will still face discrimination. However, the legislation passed in the 1960s will be the building blocks for future action to be initiated successfully.

Effects

guyerali — 2014-05-31 22:11:27 UTC

The Sexual Revolution of the 1960s only jump started a larger cause. The movement for women’s rights would only be baby steps; as time progresses women will have a more liberal mindset and more willing to act. In the 1960s, the first birth control pill was approved by the U.S. yet only few used it. This is because the pill needed to be prescribed by the doctor and only to married couple. The revolutionary part of the pill occurred in a marriage. Couples were able plan to obtain an education before starting a family. Later in 1975 contraception was made available to the unmarried including teenagers. Before the Sexual Revolution of the 1960s, women were restrained to strict guidelines and easily scrutinized if they didn’t follow them. The Sexual Revolution allowed women to fully express themselves. The pride of being a single woman started to become acceptable and a social norm. Helen Gurley Brown’s book, Sex and the Single Girl and magazines such as Cosmopolitan helped in creating the image of the new single lady. The women in the workplace still faced discrimination then and even today. There has been remarkable progress though with the wage gap between men and women and numerous acts such as the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978. The White House writes in their report assessing equal pay, “The 2007 Census Survey of Business Owners reported that women’s business ownership accounted for over a quarter of all businesses nationwide.” The Sexual Revolution of the 1960s was only the beginning of a movement that our nation is still battling today.

Citations of Overview

guyerali — 2014-05-31 23:04:01 UTC

Finer, L. B. (2007). Trends in premarital sex in the United States, 1954–2003.
Public Health Report, 122(1), 73-78.

Keen, C. (2004, November 29). UF study: Sexual revolution began with 'silent
generation of '40s and '50s. Retrieved May 31, 2014, from University of
Florida website: http://news.ufl.edu/2004/11/29/sexual-revolution

Liberalism radicalized: The sexual revolution, multiculturalism, and the rise of
identity politics (Report No. 46). (2013, August). Retrieved from
http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2013/

Napikoski, L. (n.d.). Feminist consciousness-raising groups. Retrieved May 31,
2014, from About.com website: http://womenshistory.about.com/od/feminism/a/
consciousness_raising_groups

Nation Equal Pay Task Force, Fifty Years After the Equal Pay Act, Doc., at 5
(2013). Retrieved from http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/image/
image_file/equal_pay-task_force_progress_report_june_10_2013.pdf

Sawhney, V. (n.d.). The women's liberation movement of the 1960s. Retrieved May
31, 2014, from Chicago Women's Liberation Union website: http://www.uic.edu/
orgs/cwluherstory/_notes/GrrlSmarts/sawhney

U.S. Department of State. (n.d.). The women's movement. Retrieved May 31, 2014,
from http://countrystudies.us/united-states/history

Comparison: The Women's Movement of the 1920s (Flappers)

guyerali — 2014-05-31 23:07:30 UTC

During WWI the women were left at home to hold down the fort. The main focus was ensuring the economy kept stable by filling the jobs of the troops overseas and being able to survive. After WWI the newer generation of women began to demand for equality. Right after WWI the 19^th Amendment was ratified in 1920 giving the women the right to vote. The increase of women in the workplace also skyrocketed because most women ended up wanting to keep their job. The Flapper desired to be like the men. So they not only smoked in public, but also drank alcohol with their boyfriends and did it illegally. Flappers began to attend events that were male dominant such as baseball games. This newer generation of women transformed their wardrobe by scandalously short dresses and boyishly bobbed hair. Coming out of a war, the mentality of the people was to live in the moment. These girls defied the older generation with their wild behaviors. Although short lived, the Flappers left an imprint in American history because they opposed the social norm by being a symbol of strong women independence especially in the social aspect.

Comparison: The Sexual Revolution of the 1960s

guyerali — 2014-05-31 23:08:25 UTC

Both the Sexual Revolution of the 1960s and the Flappers of the Roaring Twenties both were one of the results of war. The people wanted to embrace life after coming out of a devastating war. The Flapper demanded rights for women in the workplace by first establishing more employed women. This can be considered a first step of the Sexual Revolution in the 1960s. The Flappers demonstrated that they will not be subordinate figures for men’s pleasure by changing their dress style. The women of the 1960s did the same through the Freedom Trash Cans. Some even call the Flapper’s push for equality as the First Sexual Revolution. The Flappers actions toward equality were brief and outrageous while the women in the 1960s experience a slow moving process. Even though the advancements took time, the overall impact is much greater than the in the 1920s.

Citation for Comparison Section The Flapper: The heroine or antagonist of the 1920s. (n.d.). Retrieved May 31,
2014, from New York University website: https://wikis.nyu.edu/ek6/
modernamerica/index.php/AmericanPowerAmpCulturalHegemony/1920sNewWoman

Primary Source

guyerali — 2014-05-31 23:14:16 UTC

On October 13, 1969, in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Judge Carswell was party to a most unusual judiciary action which would permit employers in defiance of the law of the land as embodied in title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act to refuse to hire women who have children…

This necessity is historical in two ways: Biology and the

advances in science in this world, in society which man has made, give a woman today 75 years, on the average, of human life. A relatively small proportion of these years now can be spent or must be spent in child rearing and child bearing. So a woman has the majority of the years of her adult, human life and most of her human energy to be spent in society. She has no other place to use it. Secondly, the economics of our time have made it a historic necessity for women to move to full equality in society. I speak here now not only of the standards of living of a society of affluence where our demands for bringing up our children and giving them education require in most instances a two-income family or in the great many instances where women are the sole support, require women to work to pay for what they and their children need; but also, the technology has removed from the home many of the tasks that used to be performed there and those tasks are now done outside in society, from the educating of children themselves to the baking of the bread and the weaving of the clothes. Women, along with others, must pay for these things and must have, in effect, a share of the work in society in order so to pay….

Over 85 percent of them work for economic reasons. Over half a million are widowed, divorced, or separated. Their incomes are vitally important to their children perhaps even more important as a portent of the future is the fact that there has been an astronomical increase in the last three decades in the numbers of working mothers. Between 1950 and the most recent compilation of Government statistics, the number of working mothers in the United States nearly doubled. For every mother of children who worked in 1940, 10 mothers are working today, an increase from slightly over one and a half million to nearly 11 million.

Soaps Analysis

guyerali — 2014-05-31 23:19:16 UTC

Subject: Betty Friedan delivered this speech in 1970. She is the author of the famous book, The Feminine Mystique which contributed to the women’s movement. Later, Friedan became the first president of the National Organization for Women (NOW) in 1966. Because she holds one of the highest positions in NOW, it’s her responsibility to inform the public on NOW’s position during a situation concerning the women.

Occasion: Just recently, Judge Carswell of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that employers are allowed to not hire a woman who has children under 6 years old. NOW strongly objected to the ruling because it was a clear violation of Title VII in the Civil Rights Act. Judge Carswell was being nominated for the Supreme Court, making him a huge influence on issues that NOW holds an extreme position on (i.e. abortion). Friedan worried that because Judge Carswell already ruled against women’s rights, there’s a good chance that he’ll repeat this, except in the Supreme Court, making the ruling apply to the entire nation. This uneasiness caused Friedan to protest against the nomination.

Audience: Betty Friedan delivered this speech to the U.S. Senate in 1970. Friedan uses the rhetorical strategy of logos. She outlines two logical explanations against Judge Carswell’s ruling that impacted women and in NOW’s opinion, violated the Civil Rights Act (1964). She points out that the ruling will have a detrimental domino effect for future generation.

Purpose: The goal of this speech is to persuade the Senate to not instate Carswell in the Supreme Court. Friedan takes a specific incident where Carswell judged on and his decision, in her opinion, was unconstitutional. She aimed to evoke sympathy for the loss of women in this court case. As the president of NOW, she comes across as fighting for the women she represents.

Subject: The speech given by Betty Friedan makes a strong argument against Judge Carswell’s judgment and ignorance toward the Civil Rights Act. This speech addresses a current issue occurring at the time. The speech is written in a logical fashion. The overall impact of the speech isn’t much because the Judge Carswell’s nomination to the Supreme Court is rejected by the Senate.

Citation for Primary Source Section

Friedan, B. (1970, January 27). [Speech]. Retrieved May 31, 2014, from
http://www.emersonkent.com/speeches/carswell_testimony.htm

guyerali — 2014-05-31 23:21:37 UTC