Tag: sexual revolution
Feminists Against the Sexual Revolution
Was the sexual revolution a mistake? From the 1960s through today, the majority of feminists would instantly answer “no.” Easier access to contraception, the relaxation of divorce laws, the legalization of abortion, less emphasis on virginity, reduced stigma around unmarried sex—all of these have been hailed as liberating for women.
But in the past few years, an emergent strand of feminism has questioned these assumptions. “Reactionary feminism”—the name was popularized by the British writer Mary Harrington—rests on a premise that
When Science Outpaces Ethics – The Atlantic
Welcome to Up for Debate. Each week, Conor Friedersdorf rounds up timely conversations and solicits reader responses to one thought-provoking question. Later, he publishes some thoughtful replies. Sign up for the newsletter here.
Question of the Week
What do you watch or read or see portrayed in the media that is most at odds with your own observations and personal experiences, whether at home, at work, in your dating or family life, or in any other area where your reality
How Should Feminists Have Sex Now?
When the activist and writer Ellen Willis published “Toward a Feminist Sexual Revolution” in 1982, the preposition in her title underscored an uncomfortable truth: The sexual revolution had come and (mostly) gone and left women largely unsatisfied. On the one hand, the ’60s and ’70s had ushered in real, tangible gains. Contraception and abortion had been legalized; the stigmas surrounding casual and extramarital sex had lessened. For women, there weren’t as many punishments for daring to have sex as
Why Did We Buy What Victoria’s Secret Was Selling?
The last ever Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show took place in 2018, before allegations of institutional misogyny surfaced at the underwear chain, but after many of us realized that it was peddling something more insidious than $40 teal lace push-up bras with rhinestone details. The model who opened the event was Taylor Hill, a then-22-year-old from Colorado with the guileless beauty and long limbs of a baby farm animal. “We should go forward, we should push the boundary,” Hill said in