3B- growth in permissive society

what were three key liberal laws for women?

* 1967 Family Planning Act
* 1967 Abortion Act
* 1969 Divorce Reform Act

what did the 1967 Family Planning Act do?

providing the pill on the NHS

what did the 1969 Divorce Reform Act do?

allowed couples to divorce if they had been separated for two years, or five years if only one party wanted to divorce

what did the 1967 Sexual Offences Act do?

decriminalised homosexual acts between two consenting men aged over 21

why did the 1965 Murder Act cause controversy?

banned the death penalty - supported by most MP’s but not the public (70% believed in it by 1970)

what suggested that Britain was not becoming more Liberal?

* laws passed because of the impracticality of current law not because of real desire for change (Abortion Act because of backstreet abortions)
* demands for laws came MP’s not people (Roy Jenkins key supporter)

what evidence is there that Britain was becoming more accepted towards homosexuals?

* the high profile trial of Lord Montagu and Journalist Peter Wildeblood (perception that the state should not be able to regulate who two consenting adults do in private
* Gay Liberation Front 1971 set up
* Elton John and David Bowie - openly bisexual

evidence to suggest Britain were not acceptable towards homosexuals?

* 1950’s - 1000 men imprinted for their sexuality
* poll in 1963 revealed 93% of the population viewed homosexuality as an illness
* number of men arrested for public indecency trebled between 1967 and 1972

what two acts passed suggested a more sexual society?

* 1959 Obscene Publications Act
* 1968 Theatre Act (more obscene sexual content accepted)

how did WW2 create a more sexual society?

it undermined tradition values by operating wives and husbands

* divorces peaked in 1947

by 1990, what percentage of sexual intercourse took place after marriage?

less than 1%

what 1974 film became the first adult film to be showed in cinema?

soft porn film Emmanuelle

how did ww2 disprove a more sexual society?

mass observation reports suggest women who had wartime affairs saw them as a product of difficult circumstances and returned to their husbands after war

* divorce rate fell after 1947

what two major studies suggested the notion of a sexual revolution to be highly exaggerated?

* 1965 ‘The Sexual Behaviour of Young People’
* 1971 ‘Sex and Marriage in England Today’

what two publications highlighted sexual freedom?

* Alfred Kinsleys ‘Sexual Behaviour in the Human Female’
* Dr Alex Comforts ‘The Joy of Sex’ (sexually explicit and illustrated)

what percentage of teenagers in a sample had sex before the age of 19?

17% of girls and 33% of boys

what percentage of men and women were married before 45?

96% of women, 95% of men

what did the average age of marriage change from in 1970 from 1946?

1946- 25

1970- 23

how did Margaret Thatcher oppose a more permissive society?

* declared in 1970 Finchley Press “I should like to see a several of the permissive society”
* complained in 1977 that “basic Christian values are under attack”

how many petitions did Mary Whitehouse’s clean up TV petition get in 1964?

500,000

what did Mary Whitehouses legal battle in 1977 against the Gay News result in?

she won her case and the magazine owner was fined

what Mary Whitehouse’s campaign against pornogrpahy potentially influence?

the decision in 1981 to force sex shops to have black out windows

what was the 1971 Nationwide Festival of Light?

* staged to promote Christian morality
* supported by famous figures such as Cliff Richard
* attracted crowds of 100,000
* inspired over 70 regional rallies