Sexual liberation was a movement that started in the 1960s and lasted till the 1980s. It was particularly prominent in the United States and slowly gained traction to other countries. The movement aimed for freedom in sexual exploration and experimentation (Escoffier J, 2004). This included normalisation of sex outside of marriage, exploration of one’s sexuality, masturbation, and control over one’s body.

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There are a few factors as to how the movement came to be and one of it being the “counter-culture” movement. According to Escoffier (2004), the 1960’s cultural atmosphere combined with drug usage among youths, public display of nudity, and new openness regarding sexuality led to a radical cultural change. The rise of homosexual civil rights movement, women’s movement, and changes in the understanding of female sexuality also played a role in the sexual revolution.

 

Another factor is the publishing of erotic magazines and normalisation of pornography. Popular erotic magazine such as Playboy was launched in 1953, a time where women were seen either as caregivers or mothers- a role that is seen as submissive and repressed. The launching of the magazine challenged the societal norm and showed that women were individuals that had their own sexual desires and needs (Jones, 2017).

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Pornography film such as the Blue Movie by Andy Warhol was released in cinemas all around America. This film made Americans warm-up to the idea of pornography and in a way, influenced the way the general American public viewed porn as something normal (Hall, 2018). This led to the Golden-Age of Pornography where pornography films were showcased in cinemas and the creation of porn was at an all-time high (Tidnam, 2016).

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One might argue that the publishing of Playboy and normalisation of pornography only served to further objectify women and treat them as a sexual object. While this is true, it is also important to note that these two factors also helped in promoting the Sexual Liberation Movement despite its contradictory nature of contributing in the normalisation of sexual objectification of women (Jones, 2017).