SEXUAL FREEDOM!

Dr. Reuben on the sex revolution

CONTINUED

scene six or seven times before they could decide.

Any unmarried man or woman who engaged in sexual relations with another person was technically a criminal and ran the risk of a prison term. A man who crossed a state line to spend the night with his sweetheart violated the federal Mann Act forbidding interstate transport of a woman for immoral purposes.

In Connecticut anyone (including medical doctors) who furnished information about birth control was subject to arrest and sentencing. The

SEX

same nation that was dedicated to keeping the means of productionindustry-sacred was ruthlessly industry-sacred was ruthlessly dominating the means of reproduc-

tion.

And it was more than just a matter of principle. The moment a woman became pregnant, the state seized absolute control of her uterus. She was condemned to carry her child, legitimate or illegitimate, wanted or unwanted, under threat of years in prison.

Even worse, the laws were applied irregularly and capriciously. Prostitution was illegal, yet a tired businessman could find a companion for hire

10 minutes after arriving in any major American city. Few wealthy women were ever prosecuted for obtaining an abortion. Birth control devices were available for the affluentthose who needed them the least. And anyone who complained was offered the cynical alternative:

"Well, nobody said you had to have sex, did they?"

Little by little, in the well-established American tradition of reinterpreting old customs to meet current needs, the bonds of sexual dictatorship were loosened.

Thousands of American women demonstrated for abortion-on-demand. Millions of others wrote their law makers. It didn't take long for the message to get through and, one by one, many states adopted the principle of sexual self-determination.

In other parts of the country vasectomy, even when performed by a doctor, had been considered a form of assault and battery. Understandably, this dampened the enthusiasm of many doctors-especially those who didn't want to spend their summer vacation explaining the operation to some judge. It also deprived millions of American men of a safe and effective means of contraception.

The Post Office pretty much got out of the business of protecting our national innocence and as a result the mail seemed to get delivered a little earlier each morning. The Customs Bureau went back to the business of catching smugglers instead of prying into the reading tastes of

tourists. The movie censors retired and are now presumably watching soap operas on television purely for their own enjoyment. And the battle for sexual freedom has been won. Not quite.

Sexual freedom, as it exists today, is clearly a step forward for individual democracy. It is also a step backward into sexual hypocrisy.

For one thing, the parasites and exploiters have moved into the picture. The pious peddlers of pornography hawk their wares under the banner of freedom of the press.

They intrude their bizarre photos, fantastic films, and lurid little sexual daydreams into our daily lives. While there is no conclusive evidence that pornography in itself is emotionally harmful, it is about as sexually satisfying to most people as a dissonant singing commercial or a billboard in their backyard. Besides, no normal person likes to have the sexual hangups of a pornographic publisher thrust upon them.

Then there is prostitution. Officially illegal but constantly available, it is a wart on the nose of society. Moreover, prostitution is probably the outstanding example of sexual exploitation. The girls exploit the customers, the panderers exploit the girls, the police exploit the panderers, and no one has a chance for happiness. So far no one has ever come up with a reasonable solution, although more and more lawmakers are talking about legalized prostitution. Legal warts are still ugly warts.

There is also the nagging problem of homosexuality. As our society moved away from the idea of a sexual dictatorship, it slowly recognized that homosexuals, for the most part, were not exactly sexual criminals. But it has not yet been able to decide exactly how they fit into the framework of sexual freedom.

The issue is clouded by two groups; militant anti-homosexuals who insist that every homosexual is a perverted sex maniac, and ultra-radical homosexuals who simultaneously maintain that everyone should be a homosexual and who threaten to take over heterosexual society. In reality, the vast majority of homosexuals are reasonable men and women who are trying to do their best with a way of life that is fraught with problems.

The failure of sexual freedom is