Shifts in Attitude: Before
Joan McCracken: '...you could not kiss...'Anita Fream: '...you want to be a virgin...'Sylvia Clark: 'One was supposed to go from absolute celibacy... to suddenly... blossoming sexuality with one's husband...'Joan McCracken: '...we all wore girdles...'Loretta McLaughlin: '...they would burn in hell fire for eternity...'Richard Hauskenecht: '...mistakes occurred...'Joan McCracken: '...condoms were not acceptable...'Leslie Woodcock-Tentler: '...looking for another answer...'

Sylvia Clark | video | transcript

In the 1950s one was supposed to have no access to birth control until marriage, and then suddenly all the rules changed and it was okay. One was supposed to go from absolute celibacy, some necking and some carrying on, but not actual intercourse, to suddenly a full-blown wonderful, blossoming sexuality with one's husband. This was supposed to have taken place overnight, magically. And we did talk about that. It was like how are you supposed to accomplish that, and you go from knowing nothing, and not even exploring as much as one would have liked, to suddenly being expected to be the radiant bride who's wonderful in bed. Now to be fair, the same things were expected of men except that there was experimentation allowed for them. So it was not bad for them to have had some experience.







After