sexual revolution

Cultural  

1. A drastic relaxation in general standards of sexual behavior. The most recent occurred in the 1960s and was helped by the introduction of the Pill, an easy and reliable method of preventing pregnancy.

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Example Sentences

And the social upheaval of the 1960s and ’70s — the civil rights movement, the women’s movement, the sexual revolution, environmentalism.

From Washington Post • Dec. 16, 2022

When I was back in high school — a Catholic girls’ school in Cincinnati at the beginning of the sexual revolution — our religion class covered the abortion issue in approximately 45 seconds.

From Seattle Times • May 13, 2022

This is not unlike other moral panics that have preceded this one—reefer madness in the 1930s, moral panics about sexuality during the sexual revolution.

From Slate • Jul. 31, 2020

Retired Pope Benedict XVI has published an analysis on the Catholic Church's clergy sex abuse scandal, blaming it on the sexual revolution of the 1960s and church laws that protected priests.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 11, 2019

Speaking via phone earlier this month, Comen wondered if the roadblocks we still grapple with in the cancer community today got their start, ironically, at the height of the sexual revolution.

From Salon • Dec. 29, 2018