The Sexual Counterrevolution

The Sexual Counterrevolution

Introduction

The sexual revolution was not a process of just one decade. It presented itself over a long time. It began to explicitly emerge in the 1960s with the introduction of pills as a contraceptive measure. Its growth was further implemented as the middle class became more liberalized in its way of living. The sexual revolution apart from widely influencing the American society was also a precursor to movements such as the feminist movement and gay rights.

However, with the emergence of AIDS crisis, the sexual counterrevolution measures came into force. Health authorities by pointing out that sexual promiscuity were behind AIDS, and the resistance by Social Conservatives and religious fundamentals halted the expansion of the sexual revolution. Sexual revolution, as a result, began to be increasingly viewed as the reason behind the moral decay of the American society.

Discussion

The sexual counterrevolution is merely not just a transitory reaction to the sexual revolution but a revolution empowered by ideology and strategic organization that resulted in a well-financed political movement that exists to this day. Sexual revolution was the stimulus for movements such as feminism and gay rights. These movements along with sexual counterrevolution subsequently resulted in the American public splitting up into opposing camps regarding conflicts about sex, the rights and roles of women, and gay rights. The impact of the sexual revolution has made its presence felt considerably in the American politics by playing a decisive role in ascertaining the winners in American politics and what they do after coming to power, for the past four decades. The resiliency of sexual counterrevolution led to the defeat of Democrats in 2001. Sexual counterrevolution thus came to play a pivotal role in influencing the American society (Cohen, 2012).

The stimulus for the sexual revolution had been the pill. Had the pill not been invented the shape of American politics would have been much different from what it is today. The pill allowed considerable freedom to the women. Besides finding the pill to be the most reliable source of contraception, women also found that now their fertility was under their control and they no longer needed the consent or knowledge of their sexual partners (Cunningham, 1990). Thus, it was the pill that made the sexual revolution of the 1960s possible. This led to more sexual freedom and women found it easy to delay marriages and having kids while engaging in sexual activities. Men continued to have the sexual liberties they had in the past. Women though still continued to love and marry men, but now no longer were their reputation or future dependent on the men's impulse. They were no longer restricted to the closet of marriage and finally for the first time they now had a choice (Cohen, 2012).

In the nineteenth century, the American family used to be what is now referred to as the nuclear family. It was a family in which men worked outside the house while women stayed at homes. The American society then found a steady increase in ...