Sexual Attitudes
Sexual attitudes and the Changing Times Sexual attitudes have changed in the last 50 years, not so much sexual behavior but societies attitude towards it. After the 2nd World War and in the 1950's sexual behavior was a very taboo subject and not openly discussed. Sex was conducted behind closed doors and in the confines of marriage. Sex was mainly for reproductive purposes and pleasure was not that important. When a woman got pregnant outside of marriage and the father was around they were made to marry (shotgun wedding) as this brought great shame on the family. Adoption and unmarried mother's homes were in existence and the church normally ran these. Children born to these mothers were put up for adoption. Church values were very strong and church leaders had a lot of say in the way family life was conducted (3). Alfred Kinsey in the USA conducted a major investigation in the 1940's and 1950's of sexual behavior and faced condemnation from many religious organizations for being immoral. He persisted and eventually obtained sexual life histories of 18,000 people. This showed a gap that can exist between publicly accepted attitudes and actual sexual behavior (1).
Many clubs were started to accommodate this (2). In the early 80's just when people's prejudices were beginning to adjust and accept the gay community along came mass media on AIDS. Sexual attitudes had undoubtedly become more permissive over the last 30 years. With people being more open and discussing sexual behavior more, many youngsters are engaging in sexual practice earlier. In cinema and theatre scenes are shown which previously would have been completely unacceptable, while pornographic material is readily available to most adults who wish to obtain it. While it is true that sexual behavior (acts) has not changed the moral attitude has. The Government is trying to alleviate this problem of teenage pregnancy by not allocating a council house to teens under 18, if they cannot stay with their family they will have to stay in supervised hostel accommodation. The teenage father will have to pay child maintenance as soon as they start working. Homosexuals are often seen as threatening by the 'straight' community. This and the contraceptive pill played a great part in women becoming more sexually adventurous, as fear of becoming pregnant was taken away. Attitudes have changed in their perception of gays with gay bars and clubs in most big cities. In 1967 the Abortion Act entitled women to legal abortion on medical and social grounds, although this was a very limited service on the NHS but many private clinics opened. With this legislation they hope to cut the 90,000 teenage pregnancies in half by the next the decade (3). Media started to campaign on safe sex, and as more research evidence was gathered, heterosexuals were told that they were at risk. What was once hidden behind closed doors we can now watch on television most every night and every day on such shows as Jerry Springer.
Common topics in this essay:
AIDS AIDS,
World War,
Kinsey USA,
Abortion Act,
Quentin Crisp,
Hippie Lifestyles,
sexual behavior,
Times Sexual,
Jerry Springer,
,
sexual attitudes,
attitudes changed,
1950's sexual behavior,
behavior societies,
1950's sexual,
pre-martial sex,
closed doors,
'straight' community,
teenage pregnancies,
sexual behavior societies,
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Acceptance Essays
