Is there a connection between the sexual revolution and the feminist movement?
WILLIAM CHAFE: One of the things that people always talk about vis-a-vis the 1960s is the sexual revolution, which I think really has a lot to do with the student revolution generally speaking, and with a different attitude towards middle class institutions such as monogamy, marriage, the church, et cetera. It was kind of an impetus toward questioning what has been inherited as sort of the sacrosanct qualities of the culture. Now obviously feminism is certainly part of that, but I don’t think feminism can be seen as either the cause of or identical with the sexual revolution because there are so many aspects of feminism which in fact are very inimical or hostile to the notions which are part of the sexual revolution. There is no feminist embrace of the notion of sexual freedom. There is no belief that having multiple partners is necessarily a good thing. There is, in fact, a desire, I think, to have a greater degree of authenticity and commitment in relationships, whether they’re betwe
