As for feminism, many a conservative wrote its obituary in the
1980s, only to find it risen from the dead in the 1990s. Actually, its
demise was always imaginary. Movements make headway only in a context of
dissatisfaction. And, clearly, there is still plenty for women to be
dissatisfied about, particularly in the wake of a decade that tried to
stifle meaningful change.
The "new feminism," as some call it, is less doctrinaire than the
old, less extreme in the sense that it no longer has to be outrageous in
order to call attention to itself. The movement today is less
introspective, more goal oriented and pragmatic. Demands for liberation
are superseded--and subsumed--by a well-organized quest for power. Women
no longer want to burn bras, they want to manufacture and market
them.
The New Masculinity
To say that the men's movement today is confused is to understate
mercifully. Many men say they want to be more "sensitive" but also "less
emasculated," "more open," yet "less vulnerable." While the early flux of
this movement is often so extreme that it cannot but evoke guffaws, there
is, nonetheless, something in it that commands some respect--for, in
contrast with earlier generations of males, this one is making a real
effort to examine and redefine itself. The movement, in a word, is
real.
Innumerable studies and surveys find men dissatisfied with
themselves and their roles in society. Part of this, undoubtedly, is the
result of the displacement men are experiencing in a culture where women
are so successfully transforming themselves. There is evidence, too, that
men are dissatisfied because their own fathers were so unsuccessful in
their emotional lives and were thus unable to impart to their sons a
sense of love, belonging, and security that an increasing number of men
say they sorely miss.
The trend has nothing to do with beating drums or becoming a
"warrior." It relates to the human desire for connection, and this, in
the long run, can only bode well for communications between humans in
general and between the sexes in particular. Many psychologists believe
men, in the next two decades, will be less emotionally closed than at any
time in American history.
More (and Better) Senior Sex
People used to talk about sex after 40 as if it were some kind of
novelty. Now it's sex after 60 and it's considered not only commonplace
but healthy.
Some fear that expectations among the aged may outrun physiological
ability and that exaggerated hopes, in some cases, will lead to new
frustrations--or that improved health into old age will put pressure on
seniors to remain sexually active beyond any "decent" desire to do
so.
But most seem to welcome the trend toward extended sexuality. In
fact, the desire for sex in later decades of life is heightened, studies
suggest, by society's growing awareness and acceptance of sexual activity
in later life.
Diversity of Sexual Expression
As sex shifts from its traditional reproductive role to one that is
psychological, it increasingly serves the needs of the individual. In
this context, forms of sexual expression that were previously proscribed
are now tolerated and are, in some cases, increasingly viewed as no more
nor less healthy than long-accepted forms of sexual behavior.
Homosexuality, for example, has attained a level of acceptance
unprecedented in our national history.
More Contraception, Less Abortion
Though abortion will remain legal under varying conditions in most,
if not all, states, its use will continue to decline over the next two
decades as more--and better--contraceptives become available. After a
period of more than two decades in which drug companies shied away from
contraceptive research, interest in this field is again growing. AIDS, a
changed political climate, and renewed fears about the population
explosion are all contributing to this change.
Additionally, scientific advances now point the way to safer, more
effective, more convenient contraceptives. A male contraceptive that will
be relatively side-effect free is finally within reach and should be
achieved within the next decade, certainly the next two decades. Even
more revolutionary in concept and probable impact is a vaccine, already
tested in animals, that some predict will be available within 10 years--a
vaccine that safely stops ovum maturation and thus makes conception
impossible.
Religion and Sex: A More Forgiving Attitude
Just a couple of decades ago mainstream religion was monolithic in
its condemnation of sex outside of marriage. Today the situation is quite
different as major denominations across the land struggle with issues
they previously wouldn't have touched, issues related to adultery,
premarital sex, homosexuality, and so on.
A Special Committee on Human Sexuality, convened by the General
Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA), for example, surprised many
when it issued a report highly critical of the traditional "patriarchal
structure of sexual relations," a structure the committee believes
contributes, because of its repressiveness, to the proliferation of
pornography and sexual violence.
The same sort of thing has been happening in most other major
denominations. It is safe to say that major changes are coming.
Mainstream religion is beginning to perceive that the sexual revolution
must be acknowledged and, to a significant degree, accommodated with new
policies if these denominations are to remain in touch with present-day
realities.
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