CASTELLI: Need to address negative consequences of sexual revolution
Next to the Internet, the invention of "the pill" has changed the fabric of modern society. No longer limited to marriage or the workplace, women were able to juggle intimate relationships while pursuing a career. The birth control pill gave women more liberty to sleep with whomever they wanted without the risk of an unwanted pregnancy. This freedom has led more women to pursue a college education, join the workforce and achieve economic equality to men. It also led to a rise in “single culture” and destroyed the stigma of premarital sex. Yet, has the sexual revolution improved the relationships between men and women? Has it made women happier and fulfilled? While the dust is still clearing from the effects of the counterculture movement in the 1960s, discontent has begun to rear its ugly head.
Who does the sexual revolution liberate — men or women? Upon first glance, it appears that women were finally getting what they always wanted: sex without consequences. Coinciding with the second wave of feminism in the 1960s, the “sex-positive” women argued that women were just as interested in sex as men were and that there existed a double standard between sexually active men and women. This double standard does exist and is a problem that should be addressed. But, contraceptives convenience the man more than the woman. While contraceptives allow women to have sex without running the risk of getting pregnant, they allow the man to sleep around without having any consequences for his action. He is devoid of any responsibility, emotional or otherwise, that he may have when sleeping with a woman. What is the incentive for a man to remain loyal to a woman?
This lack of accountability on the man’s part is perpetuated further through the use of pornography. If men want to satisfy themselves, they have it right in their hands (no pun intended). Why bother getting into a relationship in the first place when the internet offers the same? The purpose of pornography is to objectify the people in the video and often depict women in subservient, abused roles. There are countless testimonies from actresses who describe in graphic detail the abuse they experienced both from other actors and directors while shooting porn. One woman describes filming a scene with an actor who had a “natural hatred toward women, in the sense that he has always been known to be more brutal than ever needed,” and was beaten so badly that she had to stop filming because she was in too much pain. She describes the event as “the most brutal, depressing (and) scary scene that (she has) ever done.” How is that empowering?
In the aftermath of the #MeToo movement, women are angry and are fighting back. Those growing up during the counterculture in the 1960s thought little of the consequences of their actions. The sexual revolution rejected all form of social control as oppressive and restrictive. The sexual revolution was supposed to, as American essayist Ellen Willis put it, give men permission to reject “false gentility and euphemistic romanticism” and freely act out their sexual desires in order to combat their aggressive and misogynistic tendencies toward women. Yet, as we have seen with the recent scandals and abuse of power in the workplace, this notion seems to have the opposite effect. The sexual revolution allowed predators to think that they were not abusers. After all, women want it just as much as men do, and they should be free from any oppressive societal constraints that are preventing them from their desires. It undermined male self-restraint and enabled those like Harvey Weinstein and other Hollywood men to prey on young women.
The trajectory for the future of the sexual revolution is unclear. While women have been speaking up and raising awareness about this issue, there is still a lot to be said and done. But as men and women become more careless in their sexual encounters, the effects of the sexual revolution become more and more clear.
Giana Castelli is a School of Arts and Sciences junior majoring in political science. Her column, "Conservative Across the Aisle," runs on alternate Fridays.
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