1963-72, Sexual Revolution

Question 1

Social Changes

General Reform

Answer 1

1960 - FDA approved contraceptive pill, 1.2 mil using in 1962, 6.5 mil by 1965
Number of cohabiting couples rose - 250,000 in 1955, 750,000 in 1970
Divorce rate rose almost 100% during 1960s

Question 2

Social Changes

Views of Sex

Answer 2

1969 - 74% women said they believed premarital sex was wrong, 1974 - only 53%

Question 3

Why

Changing Attitudes

Answer 3

Slow changing attitudes post WW2
Playboy (1953) + sensationalist book covers on open shelves
Kinsey Reports (1948-52) - more open discussion of sex

Question 4

Why

Evidence of Changing Attitudes

Answer 4

68% males, 50% females engaged in pre-marital sex
37% males, 13% females had at least one homosexual experience

Question 5

Why

Pop Culture

Answer 5

Reflected the change
Married couple in** The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961-66)** assigned separate beds
By 1968, Broadway show Hair celebrated sexual freedom - naked cast

Question 6

Limits

Birth Control

Answer 6

Long standing conservatism about birth control + abortion - slow change
1965 - Supreme Court ruled married couples couldn’t be refused contraception (Griswold v Connecticut)
1974 - Doctors no longer able to refuse birth control to unmarried adults for moral reasons
Abortion illegal until 1973

Question 7

Impact

Answer 7

Sex ‘discovered’ by popular culture
Individuals felt liberalisation freed them from stifling Victorian moral code - increasingly free to cohabit + have children outside marriage
Conservatives claimed ‘permissive society’ led to breakdown of traditional family unit