The Sexual Revolution and Western Morality

[SeanF1989]

During the 1960s into the 1980s the Western world went through a major change in sexual morality; the pill and other methods of contraception became more available, sexual relations outside of marriage became more acceptable, pornographic material became much more available, abortion and homosexuality were legalised, divorce became eaiser to obtain, sex education was added to the school curriculum and has become more explicit as time has passed, sex and nudity became more common in films/TV, public nudity and prostituion were legalised and people began to openly discuss their sex lives in public.

Did this “revolution” damage/destroy Western morality or will morality make a come back?

 

[nickybr38]

Yes it did. It completely destroyed western morality.

I have sincere doubts that morality will make a return so long as western countries are run as they are now.

 

[BlueEyedLady]

I think it was overall a good thing. People who still want to lead traditional lives are free to do so. Much of what you listed liberated women. It allowed them to enter the workforce and expect the same pay as a man. It allowed them to pursue an education. Before the sexual revolution is was rare for a woman to report a rape, because that just wasn’t talked about. Same for spousal and child abuse. It used to be that if a woman got an STD the doctor wouldn’t tell her so as to cover for her cheating husband. He would tell the man and give them both penicillin. These are not days that I’m willing to return to.

 

[Aelred_Minor]

Part of me wants to say it would take a catastrophe and new Dark Ages to re-purify Western Civilization. On the other hand each individual in the group has free will, and so theoretically conversion ought to be possible even in the midst of prosperity.

 

[edwest2]

The Church is helping Catholics return to an understanding of true sexual morality. But the project to change our minds began in 1960.

The FDA approves The Pill but it is not given a big promotional push till 1967. You can read the reasons why women were told to use it:

time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19670407,00.html

1968 - Pope Paul VI has Humanae Vitae published, reiterating the Church’s well-considered reasons for Catholics to not use artificial contraception:

vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae_en.html

There were those inside and outside that loudly decried what the Pope wrote. A priest posted here some time ago about a meeting he attended with other priests in 1968. The priest leading the meeting asked the other priests present to sign a letter against Humanae Vitae. This priest refused.

1970s - Adult Bookstores open everywhere, making the private public and creating an open scandal. There were protests by Christians but the producers of pornography had high priced lawyers who told us: “Freedom of expression!” “First Amendment right!”

1973 - Based on false and misleading information, the Supreme Court legalizes abortion. They cited “penumbras” and “emanations” from the Constitution. In point of fact, those promoting legalizing abortion lied to the American people:

aboutabortions.com/Confess.html

I was there, and this was a period in our history where the people placed greater trust in their government to do the right thing and pass laws based on sound and right principles.

1980s - Porn on cable. Catholics were not consulted about this.

1990s - Into the abyss. Shock jocks, pornographic speech on the radio, rap disrespecting women, and then the internet.

It will be up to each of us to avoid immoral television, movies and radio, and most of the internet. On the other hand, the Holy Father has made it clear that we need to use the internet to spread the Gospel and expose the truth, not just to Catholics but to all people of good will.

Peace,
Ed

 

[SeanF1989]

I think it was overall a good thing. People who still want to lead traditional lives are free to do so. Much of what you listed liberated women. It allowed them to enter the workforce and expect the same pay as a man. It allowed them to pursue an education. Before the sexual revolution is was rare for a woman to report a rape, because that just wasn’t talked about. Same for spousal and child abuse. It used to be that if a woman got an STD the doctor wouldn’t tell her so as to cover for her cheating husband. He would tell the man and give them both penicillin. These are not days that I’m willing to return to.

Women worked before the 1960’s you know. There has always been women teachers, nurses, midwives etc, it was women who dominated the textile industry in the 19th century.

PS - How exactly does an 18-year old high school drop out performing in pornography help women?

Many women are opposed to pornography as they feel it objectifies women.

 

[BlueEyedLady]

Women worked before the 1960’s you know. There has always been women teachers, nurses, midwives etc, it was women who dominated the textile industry in the 19th century.

PS - How exactly does an 18-year old high school drop out performing in pornography help women?

Many women are opposed to pornography as they feel it objectifies women.

But there haven’t always been female lawyers, politicians, doctors, CEOs, etc.

And the great thing about the US is that women who are against porn don’t have to be in it. The ones that aren’t can. And as against porn as I am, if it was that or nothing, I’d probably be grateful that I could at least do that.

 

[Langdell]

During the 1960s into the 1980s the Western world went through a major change in sexual morality; the pill and other methods of contraception became more available, sexual relations outside of marriage became more acceptable, pornographic material became much more available, abortion and homosexuality were legalised, divorce became eaiser to obtain, sex education was added to the school curriculum and has become more explicit as time has passed, sex and nudity became more common in films/TV, public nudity and prostituion were legalised and people began to openly discuss their sex lives in public.

Did this “revolution” damage/destroy Western morality or will morality make a come back?

My sense is that the sexual revolution was more of an effect than a cause. The real cause, I think, was moral relativism, which ceased to be confined to a fairly small number of intellectuals when the spread of mass communication and entertainment accelerated in the 1920s. Movies in particular pushed society as a whole to conform to the mores of New York and Hollywood.

Meanwhile, the Depression and two World Wars gave the federal government greater and greater opportunities for encroaching on areas of life that had previously been considered private or local. Thus, an infinitely flexible mass “morality” of utilitarianism came to replace the old-fashioned Judeo-Christian morality of principles derived from axiomatic rules.

 

[edwest2]

Women worked before the 1960’s you know. There has always been women teachers, nurses, midwives etc, it was women who dominated the textile industry in the 19th century.

PS - How exactly does an 18-year old high school drop out performing in pornography help women?

Many women are opposed to pornography as they feel it objectifies women.

That is exactly what it does. The only purpose of porn is to create sexual arousal and to encourage masturbation and other immoral behaviors, like fornication.

Peace,
Ed

 

[edwest2]

I think it was overall a good thing. People who still want to lead traditional lives are free to do so. Much of what you listed liberated women. It allowed them to enter the workforce and expect the same pay as a man. It allowed them to pursue an education. Before the sexual revolution is was rare for a woman to report a rape, because that just wasn’t talked about. Same for spousal and child abuse. It used to be that if a woman got an STD the doctor wouldn’t tell her so as to cover for her cheating husband. He would tell the man and give them both penicillin. These are not days that I’m willing to return to.

In the 1940s, during World War II, women were working in factories doing hard work. They flew completed aircraft to dispersal centers. My mother worked before I was born in the mid 1950s and was able to pay cash for our home. My father was the primary worker after my sister was born and each parent helped socialize and contribute to the moral upbringing of their children.

The pay gap between men and women still exists:

usgovinfo.about.com/cs/censusstatistic/a/womenspay.htm

Please provide documentation about not reporting rape, STDs (also referred to as Venereal Disease) and about cheating husbands.

Peace,
Ed

 

[Colorad007]

I know that the 60s get a lot of the blame for our contemporary cultural situation. But it really does go back much farther than that. It goes back to the 20s in America, and really the Enlightenment centuries ago. To understand why we are what we are you have to understand the epistemological roots of all of this, and the 60s were only a symptom of the moral malaise of the Enlightenment.

Depending on the day and the news, I have a different answer to your question. I think that Blessed John Paul II was convinced that the truth would eventually burst through the darkness and lead people back to a life of faith and virtue that the European Enlightenment made appear more and more farsical and irrelevant. Benedict XVI has a more sober view of things, as far as I can tell, arguing that Christians must function as a “creative minority” in the West that provides the salt and light that get us through dark times. Those two views are not necessarily in absolute conflict, but they are different.

I’ve always believed that the human person and his society can flirt with darkness only so long and extinguish every alternative to virtue and truth, but ultimately you can’t ignore that “still, small Voice” and have to concede the truth of Christian, and specifically Catholic, faith.

I live in Denver where this city has erupted over Tim Tebow. Why do you think he’s so popular? People gravitate to goodness and beauty, and they see it in Tebow.

Will our culture follow suit? Who knows. I sure hope so. Most movies, much “pop” music, and a good deal of our cultural narrative, is totally redemptive in character. We’re searching for and talking about God without even knowing it. The key is to connect that redemptive impulse to the Christian story of salvation, and that takes courage and boldness in articulating what we believe.

 

[George_Stegmeir]

The Church is helping Catholics return to an understanding of true sexual morality. But the project to change our minds began in 1960.

The FDA approves The Pill but it is not given a big promotional push till 1967. You can read the reasons why women were told to use it:

time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19670407,00.html

1968 - Pope Paul VI has Humanae Vitae published, reiterating the Church’s well-considered reasons for Catholics to not use artificial contraception:

vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae_en.html

There were those inside and outside that loudly decried what the Pope wrote. A priest posted here some time ago about a meeting he attended with other priests in 1968. The priest leading the meeting asked the other priests present to sign a letter against Humanae Vitae. This priest refused.

1970s - Adult Bookstores open everywhere, making the private public and creating an open scandal. There were protests by Christians but the producers of pornography had high priced lawyers who told us: “Freedom of expression!” “First Amendment right!”

1973 - Based on false and misleading information, the Supreme Court legalizes abortion. They cited “penumbras” and “emanations” from the Constitution. In point of fact, those promoting legalizing abortion lied to the American people:

aboutabortions.com/Confess.html

I was there, and this was a period in our history where the people placed greater trust in their government to do the right thing and pass laws based on sound and right principles.

1980s - Porn on cable. Catholics were not consulted about this.

1990s - Into the abyss. Shock jocks, pornographic speech on the radio, rap disrespecting women, and then the internet.

It will be up to each of us to avoid immoral television, movies and radio, and most of the internet. On the other hand, the Holy Father has made it clear that we need to use the internet to spread the Gospel and expose the truth, not just to Catholics but to all people of good will.
You are 100% correct in your assessment of the decline in Western sexual morality. It seems we have reverted back to the paganism of the Roman Empire, but without the benefit of their gods, rituals, and glorious temples, "We have definately lost something. I fear nothing short of a plague like those of the Middle Ages or a nuclear war will bring society back to Christian morality.

Peace,
Ed

 

[John21652]

I think it was overall a good thing. People who still want to lead traditional lives are free to do so. Much of what you listed liberated women. It allowed them to enter the workforce and expect the same pay as a man. It allowed them to pursue an education. Before the sexual revolution is was rare for a woman to report a rape, because that just wasn’t talked about. Same for spousal and child abuse. It used to be that if a woman got an STD the doctor wouldn’t tell her so as to cover for her cheating husband. He would tell the man and give them both penicillin. These are not days that I’m willing to return to.

Never before in the hostory of the human race have women allowed themselves to become objectified as sex objects.
It has become so bad that parents throughout the western world are deeply concerned at the sexual objectification of young girls. Google ‘sexualisation of young girls’ and ‘objectification of young girls’ and also the ‘objectification of women’. You might have your eyes opened enough to realise that the breakdown in western morality, led in large part by the women’s libbers, have done more harm than good by a long shot. Women have been conned and men along with them. Todays children are paying the price because minority ‘rights’ took precedence over society.

 

[Bev17243]

But there haven’t always been female lawyers, politicians, doctors, CEOs, etc.

And the great thing about the US is that women who are against porn don’t have to be in it. The ones that aren’t can. And as against porn as I am, if it was that or nothing, I’d probably be grateful that I could at least do that.

er…so if you couldn’t get a job, you’d be ok wiht starring in porn movies and grateful that you have that option? Did I understand you correctly? I can understand why women are grateful for being CEOs, doctors and politicians but why would you be “grateful” that you can be in a porn movie?
I have seen plenty of women who talk the talk of how porn/being a stripper/prostitute(and I’m not necessarily putting strippers in the same category as prostitutes)actually “enpowers” women. What they don’t understand that there is absolutely nothing “enpowering” of having sex for money-all it amounts to is men treating them like pieces of meat. How can any woman think its a good thing is a mystery to me There has been severe brainwashing by “feminists” who lost track long time ago what it meant for women to have rights. Believe me when I tell you that when movement started back in 1800s, never in their wildest dreams did they imagine that one of its goals would be women wanting to legally taking clothes off or having sex for money.

 

[edwest2]

Here is a related article that I invite everyone to read:

catholic.org/featured/reality.php?ID=1493

Peace,
Ed

 

[Leegal]

I think it was overall a good thing. People who still want to lead traditional lives are free to do so. Much of what you listed liberated women. It allowed them to enter the workforce and expect the same pay as a man. It allowed them to pursue an education. Before the sexual revolution is was rare for a woman to report a rape, because that just wasn’t talked about. Same for spousal and child abuse. It used to be that if a woman got an STD the doctor wouldn’t tell her so as to cover for her cheating husband. He would tell the man and give them both penicillin. These are not days that I’m willing to return to.

I agree here. There was a lot more that came out of the sexual revolution. I must agree liberation has altered the shame of rape and STDs and have done more to protect women than to harm them. It’s called taking women seriously.

And, yes, women now reach levels that were only previously male oriented positions and education or professions.

Not to mention that physical abuse of women is taken seriously – women are no longer viewed as property, even by the police who usually just let the man off with a warning so he could return. And those rape laws include spousal rape as well.

Unfortunately, a good thing went a bit too far. I have hope though. I see a return to religion in light of more recent events. People want order in their life where they see none. It our responsibility to take the good and discern the bad – and discard and avoid the bad. Which means not getting caught up with what the media presents as sexual liberation. There was an up side.

 

[edwest2]

Women’s Libbers in the 1970s established a Marxist class warfare structure. Women became the eternal victims and men became the eternal enemies. Which is one reason why I read that some women have trouble trusting men regarding relationships. Is the correct solution to avoid having relationships with men? No, but it is one answer.

Instead, groups like the National Organization for Women offered mostly vitriol and anti-family rhetoric. That women should become CEOs and so on. How has that solved anything regarding male-female relationships?

Instead of establishing ways to solve the very real problems that men and women still have, it was class warfare and the marketing of a false “power” for women. So what if they now hold positions of “power.” What has that given women? It was during this time period that “Womens’ Studies” and “Womens’ Literature” began to be offered in colleges, this to further separate women from men, at least psychologically. In one case, a woman said she wanted to become a political lesbian since only a woman could understand the needs of another woman.

Have a look at the National Organization for Women’s web site:

now.org/

Women are in need of an extreme makeover as they are being robbed of their dignity. Where casual “just sex” has replaced trust, friendship and true love.

I encourage everyone to look into this book:

amazon.com/Extreme-Makeover-Transformed-Conformed-Culture/dp/1586175610

Peace,
Ed

 

[John21652]

Women’s Libbers in the 1970s established a Marxist class warfare structure. Women became the eternal victims and men became the eternal enemies. Which is one reason why I read that some women have trouble trusting men regarding relationships. Is the correct solution to avoid having relationships with men? No, but it is one answer.

Instead, groups like the National Organization for Women offered mostly vitriol and anti-family rhetoric. That women should become CEOs and so on. How has that solved anything regarding male-female relationships?

Instead of establishing ways to solve the very real problems that men and women still have, it was class warfare and the marketing of a false “power” for women. So what if they now hold positions of “power.” What has that given women? It was during this time period that “Womens’ Studies” and “Womens’ Literature” began to be offered in colleges, this to further separate women from men, at least psychologically. In one case, a woman said she wanted to become a political lesbian since only a woman could understand the needs of another woman.

Have a look at the National Organization for Women’s web site:

now.org/

Women are in need of an extreme makeover as they are being robbed of their dignity. Where casual “just sex” has replaced trust, friendship and true love.

I encourage everyone to look into this book:

amazon.com/Extreme-Makeover-Transformed-Conformed-Culture/dp/1586175610

Peace,
Ed

Spot on Ed.

Most of those who jumped onto the feminist bandwagon seemed oblivious to what was really driving the feminist rights agenda. Denigration of marriage, denigration of men and an agenda with a Marxist driven polemic.

Look no further that Australian writer, academic and champion of feminist 'rights, Germaine Greer, an avowed Marxist and anarchist communist.

It was she who once said -

Women’s liberation, if it abolishes the patriarchal family, will abolish a necessary substructure of the authoritarian state, and once that withers away Marx will have come true willy-nilly, so let’s get on with it.

And women who wanted the sex lives of male Lotharios fell for it.

 

[manualman]

Give BlueEyedLady her due. The feminist movement did not resonate in the hearts and minds of millions for ZERO reason. Their genius was to CORRECTLY diagnose that the culture at large demeaned the value and contributions of women (view any 1950’s to early 1960’s TV show if you doubt me and witness the patronizing view almost all male characters have towards the female ones). The best lies are always attached to a significant and neglected truth.

Where feminism went horribly wrong was to fundamentally misunderstand the real need of the situation. Instead of standing up and demanding that men begin to value the priceless contributions of women equal to their own, the feminists JOINED the mysoginists and denigrated the historic roles and contributions of women. Women who devoted their lives to raising and forming happy and healthy children and communities were suddenly denigrated by both ungrateful men AND hostile feminists. Women were told that they were not valuable unless they put their kids in daytime warehouses and aspired to be CEOs, lawyers and doctors (and mind you that is a VERY different messsage than telling women it is OK to do such things).

So a magnificent opportunity was lost. We stood on the cusp of realizing that the work of government, industry, law and medicine were only the supporting roles of civilization and that the REAL value lay in the interpersonal communities that for so long had been created, nurtured and passed on to the next generation by women. Instead, we took a U turn and convinced women to largely abandon those community structures and instead substitute the time clock and a paycheck. Where once, residential communities took care of their own, we now need bloated government social service agencies that do the job poorly for enormous costs. Where once kids came home from school to a loving parent to support them and ensure they behaved in a healthy manner, kids now return to a home empty except for electronic access to vices once unimaginable. Where kids could once provide themselves with weeks of delighted entertainment with a few castoff carboard boxes and some sticks, they are now sullen and withdrawn among their thousands of dollars worth of high tech toys.

Feminism came so close to being a very good thing for society. In some ways it did affirm women questioning their worth and assuring them that they could be and do anything men could. Unfortunately, it went bad and told them they were wasting themselves unless they DID do the things men typically did in the past. And so something that could have been great was a train wreck of ungoldy proportions.

But I think the status quo is so inherently self destructive that it will fade in time, especially as the benefits of healthy human interpersonal relationships begin to shine in bright contrast to the moral swamp of the larger culture. The light shines in the darkness, you know.

So here’s to you ladies (insert smiley bowing and tipping hat). You’ve always been the bigger players in the real work of civilization and culture. We men just have bigger egos, so tend to brag more. But the inescapable fact is that bringing home the paycheck takes 11 hours of my weekday every day, and I’m not alone. There’s no getting around the fact that my wife does the brunt of transforming our kids from the narcisstic little heathens we all start out at to the fine young citizens they are growing to be. And that is something the value of which my stupid paycheck cannot compete with.

 

[edwest2]

Oh please, I grew up with those 1950s and 1960s TV shows. Patronizing? Where? I knew those people were actors but I could relate to them 100%. There was zero genius in recognizing the contributions of women. The feminist genius lay in what was common in TV commercials of the 1950s and 1960s: You are not cool and you will not attract the ladies if you don’t use this hair gel, drive this car or wear these clothes. In other words, they sowed the seeds of discontent in women by saying you should get out of the house and get a career, and you should distrust that man because he can dump you at any time and leave you with the kids. What? Divorced or abandoned women did not have families and relatives to help them?

As a Catholic growing up in the 1960s, there were strict rules about dating and both young men and young women were expected to follow them.

No sexual intercourse until married.
You treated the opposite sex with respect.
I opened doors for my date, brought her flowers, sent her cards, took her to a play and did other wholesome things together.

Then there might be going steady, and if that went well, a period of engagement where the couple talked about kids, finances, a house and transportation. And then, up to and including right before the wedding ceremony, you could still change your mind.

Divorce helped to destroy the normal intergenerational bonds that we had during the 1950s and 1960s. You had grandma, grandpa, mom and dad, uncles, aunts and in-laws from both sides. And before they got married, the couple would meet each other’s family.

One of my closest friends went to his wife to be’s father and asked if he could marry his daughter. Now, that girl’s father had been twenty-one at one time himself. He knew exactly what it was like and his daughter was beautiful. So he asked the practical questions:

“How are you going to support my daughter? Have you talked about children? Where will you live?” The father knew all about the emotions and hormones, and didn’t want his daughter to marry someone who wasn’t ready or who was lazy. Being married meant a lifetime commitment, and we believed that 100%. And what a support network we had. Today? Casual sex and casual pregnancy followed by casual abortion. This is better?

Feminist Betty Friedan compared the family to “a comfortable concentration camp.”

Peace,
Ed