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Pharmacy Links

“SEXUAL REVOLUTIONS” THAT HAVE AFFECTED OUR SEXUAL NORMS: SEXUAL REVOLUTION OF THE 1960S, WOMEN’S MOVEMENT OF THE 1960S AND 1970S, FEMINISM

13/03/09

The Sexual Revolution of the 1960s

The 1960s were marked by enormous political and social upheavals. President John F. Kennedy and civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., were assassinated. The Civil Rights Act was passed, the antiwar movement led to mass protests across the country, and the Equal Rights Amendment for women was debated in statehouses across the nation. The increasing availability of contraception allowed women and men to seek sexual pleasure with decreased fear of unintended pregnancy. A new “singles” culture developed among young people, and marriage was no longer seen as the only option in women’s lives.

Second-Wave Feminists: The Women’s Movement of the 1960s and 1970s

Since the beginning of the century, women had gained the right to vote, they were more competitive in the workplace, and they had made many strides in gender equality. But American culture remained dominated by men. Women’s share in positions of political and economic power was still small. In 1966, Betty Friedan founded the National Organization for Women to support the Equal Rights Amendment, end sexist discrimination in the workplace, and make abortion safe and legal.

Women began to meet in consciousness-raising groups to talk about sexism, gender roles, and the oppression of women. Out of this work came the understanding that “the personal is political”—that the sexual double standard, motherhood, and marriage had become elements in a system of gender roles that made women subordinate to men.

Women of the 1960s demanded the right to control their own bodies and broke the silence that concealed the crimes of rape, sexual abuse, and domestic violence. Hundreds of women’s groups and organizations were formed focusing on issues from pornography to prostitution, from lesbian rights to sexual pleasure, from child support to domestic violence.

Black Feminism

African-American feminists found unacceptable levels of sexism in the often male-centered civil rights, Black Nationalist, and Black Panther movements. Many also felt excluded from the mainstream women’s movement. In 1973, Audre Lorde and other black feminists formed the National Black Feminist Organization to address the combined effects of oppression related to race, gender, class, and sex-al orientation. In recent years, the black feminist movement has generated a variety of organizations that address specific concerns of the African-American community.

Third-Wave Feminists

For many young women, the term “feminist” has become suspect. Many, however, still speak out for increased gender equality and for the recognition of the many other problems women yet face in our culture. The 1990s ushered in a new era of young feminists. Rebecca Walker founded an organization for young feminists called Third Wave. Diversity is the hallmark of this chapter in the history of the women’s movement. It addresses the dynamics of ethnic, racial, class, and sexual diversity.