Gender and Sex after World War I

We usually assume that great changes in American sexual behavior began just after World War I; however, Maurer (1976) argues that there was foreshadowing as far back as the 19th century. The woman's rights movement, a tendency to violate sexual taboos (called free love), and a preoccupation with blander forms of Marxism dramatically came together in the United States at the end of the war. When The Great War was over and the men came home, they found a different world in the making. For one thing, women finally got the vote after a nearly 100-year struggle. Social change was everywhere, not the least of which were modified sexual mores and new ideas about sex.

The 1920s were a time of great optimism. There was a general belief that sociology and psychology were going to the make the world a better place. Now...
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