The permissive society is a label given to a society where social norms are becoming increasingly liberal. This usually accompanies a change in what is considered unnatural. When a society becomes permissive, sexual freedom becomes more noticeable while violent and sexual materials in films, music and literature becomes readily available. To some extent, permissiveness is not always a nice thing. People say that the past was far better than it is today because there were few divorces and lower teen pregnancy rates, to name a few.
Since the 1950s Britain has experienced a period of accelerated social and cultural change.This has coincided with the disintegration of the British Empire, an expansion of the Commonwealth and the immigration of people of numerous nationalities, languages and cultures. The steady globalising of life, to which these occurrences have contributed, has created a multi-ethnic Britain, with a plurality of identities and heritages. One of the most influential forces for change during this period has been the women’s movement.
The entry of women into the labor market and their increasing independence has brought about fundamental changes in their position in society and their relations with men.Similarly, the emergence of youth as an identifiable group with a very different lifestyle to members of an older generation, has contributed substantially to the changing social and cultural profile. Between 1948 and 1978 the influence of ethnicity, feminism and youth in Britain was experienced across the arts, as successive governments provided funds through the Arts Council to encourage new styles of expression. This went on until the election of the Conservative Government in 1979, which marked an essential turning point.
Financial support and benefits from the state for the arts were swapped with a culture of individualism, private enterprise and the values of the market-place in almost every area of society. With this, cultural life took most of the consequences, as funding was decreased or disappeared in all areas. The British Culture and Society Christopher (1999) related that during the Second World War, many women had spent time to work in the fields and factories, but later were advised to return to their familial roles as wives and mothers.During this period, birth rates increased sharply and large families became fashionable. But simultaneously there were signs of domestic unhappiness.
Among the most outstanding sign was that divorces quadrupled from 8,000 per year pre-war to 32,000 in 1950 and persistently rose. Soon, more and more women started seeking the services of psychiatrists and marriage guidance counselors. Then in 1953, women gained confidence as they were told that they could actually enjoy sex as much as men and that dissatisfaction and adultery in marriage were common.The Kinsey report that same year initiated public and private debates about the differences between the sexes and marked the initial stages of a new sexual openness in Britain. The more lenient attitude towards sexuality had connotations for the content of several artistic works.
Certain books by authors such as D. H. Lawrence and James Joyce (Smith 1998) could not be published because of their erotic content while a number of sculptures by Jacob Epstein were thought to be obscene.Within three years of the Kinsey Report, the restrictions of censorship in the arts and entertainments became more casual and many films, plays and books began to contain sexually explicit material. In European cinema, the depiction of women slowly changed as Marilyn Monroe and Brigitte Bardot became famous for their portrayal of an innocent, child-like sexuality. In Britain, for instance, Diana Dors started her career as a cinematic sex symbol.
In their roles, they described a way for women which was neither submissive nor whore-like.They were publicized as fun-loving girls who were independent, sexually confident and happy. However, for many young British women of the 1950s, this was still not an option, and a life of dependence and child rearing remained the reality. The overstated images of advertising and mass culture were countered by a movement in the arts to tackle and interpret the real and the authentic in society. Many works connected with major social issues of the time, such as criminality, punishment, poverty, family tension and racism.In literature, theatre and film, the strident works of radical new writers reflected the lives of the industrial working class in a realistic way.
Wilson (1973) showed that while homosexuals and lesbians, to be sure, have children and raise families--with bisexuals often having children with primary sexual partners--on the whole, the children of gay people come through prior relationships, artificial insemination, surrogacy, and adoption, not as a direct consequence of their own primary sexual relationships.These "families of choice," then, substitute for blood families within the gay family structure, and they have become a permanent part of contemporary society, forcing the courts in turn to deal with not only the offspring of lesbian coparents but also to determine support, visitation, inheritance, and all the other conventional rights that stem from heterosexual marriage. A 1988 study conducted by the American Bar Association estimated that between eight and ten million children were being raised in gay and lesbian households.Some social scientists estimate that ten thousand children are being born each year to lesbian mothers who conceive by means of artificial insemination.
4 These trends, together with a gripping permissiveness in a society as a whole regarding social relationships, are forcing the law itself to redefine the state of marriage. Thus, if these new relationships differ substantially from traditional marriage yet carry the same incidents as marriage, it is argued they may be termed "marriage. Szasz (1963) indicated that the traditional characteristics of marriage are no longer mandated legally. Indeed, contemporary marriage is best defined as "some sort of relationship between two individuals, of indeterminate duration, involving some kind of sexual conduct, entailing vague mutual property and support obligations, a relationship which may be formed by consent of both parties and dissolved at the will of either. Conclusion Today, sex is put together in every and all ways possible--from the joyful banterings of magazines or the media in general to the blatant displays of revealing undergarments that are now worn as outer clothes by such permanent teen role models as Cyndi Lauper and Madonna, tightly contoured and suggestive Calvin Klein jeans, on television, cable, the movie screen, videos, and in suburban boutiques.No-holds-barred sensualism and impromptu eroticism has grown to be the focal points for advertising and nudity--and its various degrees--an all-too-often erotic cue for lust.
First, one part of the female body is uncovered and found erotic; and then another part is discovered, creating what has been referred to as shifting erogenous zones. Living for the moment's existing passion and for self-indulgent pleasure--considered the sole object of desire-- jeopardizes to be overwhelming for many. Packaging sex, in all its various products, means big business actually.In other Western societies like the United States, the marketing of sex as an industry has become an important part of these cities’ economy and a lucrative tourist attraction as well.
Not only does it breed business dollars and tax revenues, it employs a large number of people as well. Unfortunately, one person's impropriety may be another's lyric. Western society has, over the years, sought to improve a variety of standards to hold back the viewing and commercial distribution of explicit materials. The predicament, however, remains.
As much as dilemmas cry for solutions, being what they are, they resist it. This is particularly the case here as the search for a decent society is forever objective against the right of free expression, with the First Amendment always being seen as prescribing common sense by those who seek its protection. What is moral to some may not be moral to others. We are living in a society where freedom of doing things is absolute. We tend to dress up uniquely to a point that our fashion has taken the leaning of permissiveness.The media have also contributed in the permissiveness of the British society.
Our fashion, our attitudes, our manners have taken those of what we see in films or what we see in magazines. Permissiveness is something that is not absolute. What is permissive for the British society may not be permissive for the American or even Asian society. It is a state of mind, something that is relative.
However, as mentioned earlier, let us keep in mind that permissiveness is not always a good thing.What goes beyond the norms can sometimes hurt us more than ever. It is sad to note that among the many effects of a permissive society is the shattering of the very foundations of marriage. More divorces are happening everywhere, not only in Britain. Families are destroyed because we have become a disposable society. Time has made everything so easy.
But the consequences are quite obvious and painful. In the end, what is important is that our rights are protected, our individual freedom are respected.
