Essay Test 2
By Cody Ward

This essay argues that the attitudes toward sexuality were greatly varied between average people and activists between 1900 and 1960. The people in the 1960s had were much more sexually liberated than those in the earlier part of the century. (Peiss, Sexual Revolutions, p.405) The 1960s brought about a time when sex be came a more common place topic, and people where able to plan their families more easily. In the early part of the 1900s women became under scrutiny for their sexual practices. Many American women, as well as immigrants, were entering into prostitution in order to make ends meet. They received higher financial rewards as prostitutes than they would have if they had worked in factory of domestic jobs. (Peiss, Prostitution and Working-class sexuality in the Early Twentieth Century, p. 273) Some of the women were forced into sex slavery. They were often brought from abroad to work as sex slaves. The government launched an investigation into these practices, and determined said that most of these women were already living immoral lifestyles. It was not only happening abroad but within America as well. Many women who were prostitutes had to be very careful so to not become the victims of sexual slavery or violence. (Peiss, A Government Agent Explains the White Slave Traffic, 1911, p. 275) In this same time period most states had outlawed abortion. There were strict rules as to the types of contraception that women were able to use. The birthrate dropped significantly in the early part of the 20th century as more and more women began to seek methods of birth control. In 1910, activist Margaret Sanger began a campaign to change the laws that regarded birth control devices and information pertaining to birth control. She was eventually arrested for her efforts when she opened a birth control clinic in 1916. Thousands of people came to her aid, and the beginning of the reproductive rights movement began. (Peiss, The Politics of Reproduction, p.308) Sanger believed that sexual education was important for many reasons. She spoke of a hospitals findings that 75 percent of the diseases in men and women came from their lack of knowledge of sexual functions, and could be prevented with the proper knowledge. She said that America has the highest number of abortions in the world. She found that three hundred babies under one year of age die from poverty and neglect, and that six hundred thousand parents did not have the knowledge to prevent having more children. (Peiss, Margaret Sanger Argues “The Case for Birth Control,” 1917, p. 312) In the 1920s and 1930s women in Baltimore began to go the Baltimore Committee on Contraceptive Advice to seek aid in receiving and learning about birth control. Of the women that visited 82 percent of them where white, and only 17 percent were of color. At the time of the findings only 14 percent of the Baltimore population was of color. This showed that the beliefs that people who were economically less fortunate would in fact use birth control. Most of the women that cam were married, around the age of 30, and had already experienced five or six pregnancies.(Peiss, Women’s Use of a Baltimore Birth Control Clinic, 1929, p. 319) Forced sterilization of epileptics and feeble minded people were laws that continued to be upheld. It was believed that if the feeble minded continued to breed they would pass their insanity on to their children. Like in the case of Carrie Buck who was considered to be a feeble minded person and she was the daughter of a feeble minded person. It was argued for her forced sterilization. (Peiss, Women Write Margaret Sanger for Birth Control, p. 317) By the 1950s the public opinion changed and sex was a welcomed topic at all. On television TV parents always slept in twin beds so that the public would not think of them as being sexual. (Peiss, Open Secrets in Cold War America, p.367) At this time Kinsey released his findings which was the first book of its kind and created a uproar when he showed that there was many different types of sexuality that people experienced. He excluded the traditional values of good and bad, normal and abnormal that normally are taught through religion and culture. (Peiss, Alfred Kinsey Reports on Americans’ Sexual Behavior, 1948-1953, p. 370) Playboy also came out in this era which helped to pave the way for the future of the sexual revolutions. The 1960s began to sexual revolution. Interracial marriage laws overturned, and single sex dorms rooms became a thing of the past. Sex became more common in public speech, movies, and books. People began to partake in love ins and group sex. The invention of “the pill” allowed for more sexual freedom, and allowed people to plan their lives and families more accordingly. (Peiss, Sexual Revolution, p. 405) An illegal abortion service called Jane began to help women get safe abortions by keeping their identities anonymous. It became so popular that they were able to lower their prices and make it more affordable and there by more available to women. (Peiss, A Memoir of “Jane” an Illegal Abortion Service from 1969 to 1973, p 414.) The attitudes on sexuality between advocates and the average person were greatly varied. It is the actions of the activists which helped to spur the average person to addressing social issues that they may have not otherwise been addressed. The early repression of birth control issues evolved into a much more tolerant and educated societal beliefs as the century progressed.