The Uneven Effects Of The Sexual Revolution

The Sexual Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s produced sweeping, far-reaching, fundamental changes in sexual behaviours, sexual desires, and sexual attitudes. Or did it? On closer inspection, many researchers concluded that men did not change all that much in their desires and attitudes, and their behaviour only changed because they got more opportunities to do what men had always been wanting to do. In contrast, women changed in much more fundamental ways. After the revolution, women approached sex and felt about their bodies in ways that differed sharply from previous generations (e.g., Birenbaum, 1970; Schmidt & Sigusch, 1972; Arafat & Yorburg, 1973; Bauman & Wilson, 1974; Ehrenreich et al., 1986).

Baumeister, Roy F. “Gender and erotic plasticity: Sociocultural influences on the sex drive.” Sexual and relationship therapy 19.2 (2004): 133-139.

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Four theories about cultural suppression of female sexuality are evaluated. Data are reviewed on cross-cultural differences in power and sex ratios, reactions to the sexual revolution, direct restraining influences on adolescent and adult female sexuality, double standard patterns of sexual morality, female genital surgery, legal and religious restrictions on sex, prostitution and pornography, and sexual deception. The view that men suppress female sexuality received hardly any support and is flatly contradicted by some findings. Instead, the evidence favors the view that women have worked to stifle each other’s sexuality because sex is a limited resource that women use to negotiate with men, and scarcity gives women an advantage.


Baumeister, Roy F., and Jean M. Twenge. “Cultural suppression of female sexuality.” Review of General Psychology 6.2 (2002): 166.

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Commentary:

TradCons and feminists both desire for men to continue in their same behaviors and responsibilities, but decide to restrict authority in favor of women possessing it. It’s seemingly one of the most important patterns to emerge in the last 50 years – women can do more (or all), but men have to do what they’ve always been responsible for. The idiom, “you can’t have the best of both worlds,” seems to be untrue in the latest iteration of society. Women can have the best of both worlds. The Eastern European version, “you can’t have the wolf fed and the lamb safe,” seems oddly appropriate, as well. In a sense, TradCons are preserving part of traditional society, but it’s quite convenient what they are preserving. Feminism wants the bill paid (just look around…), so it’s no surprise they would help TradCons out on that issue.