A Revolution in the Pants

We’re living through a turbulent decade.

Every week feels like rolling the dice on what outlandish story is going to make headlines next.

It’s quite similar to another decade in recent history.

Because before Trump, the Russia-Ukraine war, and vaping we had Kennedy, the Cold War, and LSD.

I’m talking, of course, about the 1960s.

Counterculture Takes the Cake

The 1960s saw one of the most significant cultural shifts in history, best seen in the emergence and influence of what has been termed “counterculture.”

Counterculture is the accumulation of practices, attitudes, values, and the like that run counter to a culture’s established norms.

Examples of 1960’s counterculture include:

• The advancement of civil rights for women and people of color

• The popularization of psychedelic art 

• And the de-romanticization of fighting in war 

There was a lot of good that came out of it!

Better treatment of women and people of color? Great! More criticism of war and killing? Great!

But not everything was so productive, a great example being our topic of the week…

The Sexual Revolution

The Sexual Revolution is the name given to the cultural changes in sexuality that emerged from the 1960s.

At the time, the nuclear family was the most culturally acceptable form of sexuality: One husband, one wife, and two and a half kids. Dad is the breadwinner, mom is the homemaker, and everyone is “happy.”

Doesn’t take long to realize that isn’t the case anymore.

Please don’t misread me. I’m not saying the nuclear family is the ideal form of marriage or sexuality. It’s simply what was popular before the Sexual Revolution and what has been waning since.

The Sexual Revolution presented alternative forms of sexuality such as:

• Homosexuality 

• Polygamy 

• And premarital sex

It’s interesting to note, however, that these expressions were nothing new.

In fact, they can be traced back to the earliest days of civilization (they’re in the Bible, too). 

What the Sexual Revolution accomplished was a doing away of the social taboos that emerged around them.

And though these taboos came from a culture influenced by Christianity, they were applied with such guilt, shame, and pressure that an immense trail of harm was left in its wake.

The Sexual Revolution was a reaction against that.

And though its intentions were good, I’d argue that the ethic of sexuality that emerged wasn’t any more helpful than what was there before.

More on that tomorrow.

For now, be blessed.

Jon,

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