What do we do now that the sexual revolution is over?

Humanist, Nov-Dec, 2004 by Robin Jacobs, Roy Speckhardt

Over the past two decades some of the hard-won gains of the sexual revolution have lost ground to politicized religious fundamentalism. For example, while there have been improvements in the family planning field, government program funding in the United States has recently been slashed and the availability of certain contraceptives is under attack. Furthermore, although progress has been made in sexual health with the discovery and government approval of a variety of birth control methods and contraceptives, some health insurance companies in the United States--and more recently some pharmacies--refuse coverage for and access to this technology. In fact, many health insurance policies today don't provide coverage for the full range of sexual health needs: they won't pay for contraceptives, sexual dysfunction medications, tubal ligations, vasectomies, sexual reassignment surgery, and the like. Conservative legal actions have also created difficulties regarding access to comprehensive family planning services in the United States and through its programs abroad.

Amid this backlash, however, there has been progress. Gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transsexuals, and transgendered people have enjoyed legislative, judicial, corporate, and social gains. And marriage rights for non-heterosexuals are now on the table. Additionally, with the expansion of various sexual rights movements, mainstream notions of gender, sex, and relationships have been challenged and we are being asked to embrace a fuller spectrum of possibilities beyond the binary male-female union.

For these and other reasons, the time is now ripe for a full critique of A New Bill of Sexual Rights and Responsibilities. Published in the Humanist at the beginning of 1976 and signed by notable sexologists of the time, this document codified the results of the sexual revolution. The sexologist who drafted the New Bill, Lester Kirkendall, and those who edited his work were living in a forward-thinking time for family planning, sexual health, and sex education--a time when normative behaviors were relaxing in a seemingly permanent trend toward a future without inhibitions. The New Bill reads as if reversals don't happen and it overlooks or stops short of advancing a number of ideas in the forefront of our understandings about sexuality today. Added to this, the very Humanism underlying the New Bill has itself has matured.

Most of the key principles in the document nonetheless continue to hold true. The New Bill was at the cutting edge of its time and still offers useful recommendations for large numbers of people today. So it is within that larger positive context that we now focus on ways in which this document-available online at www.americanhumanist.org/ about/sexual-rights.html--might be improved.

Religion

The New Bill begins with a proper recognition that the imposition of shame onto sexuality has prevented full human enjoyment. This aptly applies to many religious groups' approval and disapproval of certain kinds of sexuality. But this sort of religious guilt or shame isn't universal, and, now that the research has been done, it can't be denied that large numbers of traditionally religious people also enjoy healthy sexual relationships. The issue of religious guilt and shame also ignores the evidence that human sexuality hasn't always been vilified by the dominant faith. Article 1 in the document declares that purposes of sexuality outside of procreation "were regarded as derivative, were looked at askance, or were sternly disapproved." But newer global perspectives formed by research in anthropological, historical, and gender studies suggest that non-procreative sexuality has been considered acceptable in numerous cultures.

This isn't meant to downplay the harmful effects some repressive religious traditions have on sexuality. Practices around the world today demonstrate how some religious and cultural traditions can negatively impact sexual relationships between people: genital mutilation, forced marriage, and the outlawing of divorce are just three examples. But many civilizations in history, including the ancient Greek and Indian, accepted various forms of sexual expression often condemned by contemporary American religious leaders.

Feminism and Equality

Humanists have long advanced feminist ideals of social, political, and economic equality. But the face of feminism has changed dramatically over the last thirty years. Equality should exist not only between sexes but also between genders. On feminism, Article 2 of the New Bill proclaims the importance of equity:

All legal, occupational, economic, and political
discrimination against women should be removed
and all traces of sexism erased. Until women have
equal opportunities, they will be vulnerable to
sexual exploitation by men. In particular, men
must recognize the right of women to control
their own bodies and determine the nature of
their own sexual expression. All individuals--female
or male--are entitled to equal consideration
as persons.