OPINION:
Upon reflection, the sexual liberation movement of the 1960s was more like “open season on women.” According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, among sexually active teens between the ages of 15 and 24, one in four has a venereal disease. Many of these individuals will suffer serious life-long consequences. Do you think they feel liberated?
The movement’s proponents thought that once they’d gotten rid of the “judgmental Christians” and had free access to the birth-control pill, they could frolic all they wanted without consequence. But that is not the way things happened. The human heart and soul are far more complex than most understand. The suicide rate among this age group has skyrocketed. And now we have the #MeToo movement that shames men for their sexual aggressiveness. But weren’t they told that we got rid of all those old-fashioned ideas about “right” and “wrong” so women could be liberated?
Once there were rules about men and women’s behavior. There were restraints based largely on Judeo-Christian values, which kept us all safer, and, many (myself included) believe, happier. There was romance and marriage. And children, for the most part, grew up with a mom and dad. The pain suffered because of divorce or being born out of wedlock has been anything but liberating. As Cal Thomas wrote recently, “Is ’old fashioned’ returning?” In my opinion, not fast enough.
LUCY WELLS
Poulsbo, Wash.
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