Sexual revolution

The sexual revolution was a substantial change in sexual morality and sexual behavior throughout the West in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The trigger for the revolution was the development of the birth control pill in 1960, which gave women access to easy and reliable contraception.

Lady Chatterley's Lover, Tropic of Cancer, and Fanny Hill

In the United States in the years 1959 through 1966, bans on three books with explicit erotic content were challenged and overturned.

Related Topics:
1959 - 1966

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Prior to this time, a patchwork of regulations (as well as local customs and vigilante actions) governed what could and could not be published. For example, it was the U. S. Customs authority that "banned" James Joyce's Ulysses by refusing its importation into the country. The Roman Catholic Church's Index Librorum Prohibitorum carried great weight among Catholics and amounted to an effective and instant boycott of any book appearing on it. Boston's Watch and Ward Society, a largely Protestant creation inspired by Anthony Comstock, made "banned in Boston" a national by-word.

Related Topics:
U. S. Customs - James Joyce - Ulysses - Roman Catholic Church - Index Librorum Prohibitorum - Watch and Ward Society - Anthony Comstock - Banned in Boston

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 1959, Grove Press published an unexpurgated version of Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. Lawrence. The U. S. Post Office confiscated copies sent through the mail. Lawyer Charles Rembar sued the New York city postmaster and won in New York and then on federal appeal. In 1965, Tom Lehrer was to celebrate the erotic appeal of the novel in his cheerfully satirical song "Smut" with the couplet "Who needs a hobby like tennis or philately?/I've got a hobby: rereading Lady Chatterley."

Related Topics:
1959 - Grove Press - Lady Chatterley's Lover - D. H. Lawrence - U. S. Post Office - Charles Rembar - Tom Lehrer - Smut - Philately

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Henry Miller's 1934 novel, Tropic of Cancer, had explicit sexual passages and could not be published in the United States; an edition was printed by the Obelisk Press in Paris and copies were smuggled into the United States. (As of 2003, used book dealers asked $7500 and up for copies of this edition.) In 1961, Grove Press issued a copy of the work and lawsuits were brought against dozens of individual booksellers in many states for selling it. The issue was ultimately settled by the U. S. Supreme Court's 1973 decision in Miller v. California. In this decision, the court defined obscenity by what is now called the Miller test. The Wikipedia article on pornography notes that "In the United States, hardcore pornography is legal unless it meets the Miller test of obscenity, which it almost never does."

Related Topics:
Henry Miller - 1934 - Tropic of Cancer - Obelisk Press - As of 2003 - 1961 - U. S. Supreme Court - 1973 - Miller v. California - Miller test - Pornography

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 1965, Putnam published John Cleland's 1750 novel Fanny Hill. This was the turning point, because Charles Rembar appealed a restraining order against it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court and won. In Memoirs v. Massachusetts, 383 U.S. 413, the court ruled that sex was "a great and mysterious motive force in human life," and that its expression in literature was protected by the First Amendment. Only books primarily appealing to "prurient interest" could be banned. In a famous phrase, the court said that obscenity is "utterly without redeeming social importance"—meaning that, conversely, any work with redeeming social importance was not obscene, even if it contained isolated passages that could "deprave and corrupt" some readers.

Related Topics:
1965 - John Cleland - 1750 - Fanny Hill - Charles Rembar - First Amendment

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

This decision was especially significant, because, of the three books mentioned, Fanny Hill has by far the largest measure of content that seems to appeal to prurient interest, and the smallest measures of literary merit and "redeeming social importance." Whereas an expurgated version of Lady Chatterley's Lover had actually once been published, no expurgated version of Fanny Hill has ever been (and it is difficult even to imagine what such a work could possibly consist of). In Lehrer's song, the speaker sings:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:I thrill

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:To any book like Fanny Hill

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:And I suppose I always will

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:If it is swill

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:And really fil-

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:thy.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

By permitting the publication of Fanny Hill, the Supreme Court set the bar for any ban so high that Rembar himself called the 1966 decision "the end of obscenity."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~