Sexuality

Prior to the 1960s, abstinence from premarital sex was considered the official standard for men and women. However, the double standard, which holds that sexual intercourse before marriage is permissible for males but not for females, was widely practiced. In the 1960s, young people rejected the double standard and set more egalitarian standards: permissiveness with affection, and permissiveness without affection. Permissiveness with affection allows premarital sex between males and females when love is present; permissiveness without affection sanctions premarital sex for fun between a man and a woman in a casual relationship. As men engaged in such behaviour down through the decades, the greatest changes in premarital sexual norms have been changes in female behaviours.

Changes in sexual behaviours are influenced by the social realities of the time and in the 1960s the United States was not only becoming a postindustrial society but was also engaged in a major war with Vietnam. Society was in a state of turmoil and young people especially were questioning its values and its morals. The upsurge in premarital sexual permissiveness during this period is viewed as the " desire for autonomy, for control over one's own sexual destiny." Women wanted the right to control their own lives and what better time to stake their claim on their autonomy than at the beginning of a new era.

While the goal of feminism is the achievement of equality of standards in attitudes and behaviours for both men and women, feminists did not necessarily envisage an increase in sexual permissiveness. However, the findings from sociological research carried out during the 1970s among female and male teenagers indicate that they were much more sexually active at the end of the decade than they were at the beginning. Studies undertaken among college students point to a similar pattern, especially among women. Not only has the sexual behaviours of teenagers and young adults changed during this period, their attitudes toward the morality of this behaviour has also changed considerably. Between 1969 and 1985, the number of young adults who do not believe that premarital sex is wrong increased by almost 35 percent.

An increase in premarital pregnancies is the most likely outcome of an increase in premarital sexual activity, unless couples are using reliable forms of contraception. The responsibility for the use of contraception usually falls to the woman because she is the one who is most likely to have to deal with the costs and rewards related to both contraception and pregnancy. The decision to use contraception is influenced by a woman's attitude toward her own sexuality, gender roles, and her sense of autonomy as well as her relationship and communication with her partner. Women holding egalitarian attitudes toward gender roles who choose to become sexually active with their partners for their own pleasure and expressive needs, also choose to protect themselves from unwanted pregnancies by using reliable forms of contraception. Young adolescent women, molded in the traditional gender-role pattern, may become sexually active at an early age in order to boost their self-esteem and are unlikely to take contraceptive precautions.

With increasing emphasis on egalitarian gender-role conditioning, many men are moving away from the stereotypical sexual aggressor attitudes of the traditional male when women were considered the subordinate, sexual conquests, and are looking for the expressive qualities of mutual love and caring in their sexual relationships. Similarly, women look for equality in their sexual relationships where they are active participants rather than passive objects. " The popularity of the permissiveness-with-affection standard may indicate some convergence in the perspectives of considerable numbers of women and men who want something more than casual sex."