The Decline and Fall of Chastity

Abstract:
This article explores the causes of the decline of the idea of chastity as a mainstream ideal in America and its implications. The chief culprit, this author argues, was the birth control pill, which allowed women a level of sexual freedom that was once almost exclusively the province of men. Other unwitting perpetrators included Henry Ford (no more parlor petting under threat of discovery) ; protestant evangelizers (their attack on the red light districts forced many men to sully the waiting pool of women of their class); sexologists such as Alfred Kinsey, who forced us to face the fact that everyone was doing it; the Supreme Court of the late 50's and 60's which so narrowly defined obscenity that the sex industry and advertisers were now free to use sex as package and packaging; and feminists who finally exploded the double standard about sex. The result: after millennia of male sexual turpitude, women are now nearly as free to be oblivious to procreation and emotional commitment.

Publication: from History's Hidden Turning Points, U.S. News/World Report


Date Published: 4/22/1991

Pages: 1

Location Code: 6081