I think that some young women were ambivalent about the sexual revolution because they had never experienced this type of reform. Before the movement, a woman was not give the type of freedom we now see today. If a woman were to get pregnant there was nothing she could do, because abortions weren't legal. And at that time if a women was taking birth control she was seen as some what of a whore. There was and in my opinion, still is a huge double standard for men and women. I think that even after the movement there are still a large about of prejudices about women that exist. Gender roles are still seen through family lives and with the types of jobs that many women are given. There are of course exceptions to this stereotype, but I think that it is no where gone from our society and I do not know if I will ever fully go away.

Women's sexual pleasure was a significant aspect to explore during the women's movement, as myths about the female orgasm have long been held. In discovering the real truth about the female clitoral orgasm, women also realized the exploitation that went along with it. Their needs and emotions went unquestioned and largely taboo. More importantly, they were seconday to those of men and seen as insignificant. They were perceived as mere means to an end and women accepted this as the norm, disregarding their own needs.
This manifests a supressed gender, emotionally and biologically, and women felt inclined to stand against such ideologies. This certainly compelled both sexes to be aware of issues and to create some sort of balance that we see today.

2. How important was it to challenge prevailing myths about women’s sexuality? Why did women see a connection between faked pleasure and sexual exploitation? What are your reactions to this connection?

I think it is very important. I believe women saw a connection between faked pleasure and sexual exploitation because women would fake orgasms in order to please and exite men and their sexual fantasies. Women are being exloited since they put themselves as sexual icons for men. I think it is a great connection because as women showed fake pleasure, men more and more started to see them as items that were primarily to please them and less as equals.

The sexual revolution affected African American women differently from white women. The black male leaders told their women not to have abortion and not to take pills. The leaders encouraged this idea to the African American women for the need of many “black warriors” for the revolution. As for the white women, they took the pill in order to avoid getting pregnant. The African American women responded to their male leaders by opposing to their ideas. These women began to take birth control pills thinking that by limiting the number of pregnancies, they would be able to “care for their children, and to ensure they became educated adults.” Also, these women noticed that in order to avoid pregnancy, taking birth control pills is a safer way than getting an abortion.

Why was abortion such a central issue to the women’s movement? Why did they find it important to “speak out” about this issue? Why does it continue to be so controversial?
Abortion before the 1960's was completely illegal in the United States although institutions like the American Law Institute and even doctors and welfare right groups advocated for abortion reform. The women's movement really added force behind this movement because they represented the group to which this issue affects more significantly and directly in a public way. Abortion was a central issue to the women's movement because as Cindy Cisler said, "a woman's other 'freedoms' are tantalizing mockeries" as long as a woman cannot even control her own body and reproduction. Abortion represented in real terms and in symbolic, women's complete freedom to decide for themselves how they would live their lives. The women's movement called for not just reform or abortion laws but complete repeal of them since there was no equivalent law for men limiting their reproduction or what they did with their bodies.
One tactic the women's movement used was to have feminists "speak out" about their own private experience with abortion. The important issue for women was not a question of whether abortion would be conducter, but whether it would be safe and affordable. Having women speak out about their own abortions revealed to the public that abortions were happening despite the laws as well as brought it out of the closet so that it was not viewed as shameful. This shows an example of how the women's movement really brought "what's private as public" into previously secret realms of a woman's life.
Because abortion reaches beyond a woman's life into the potential life of another human being, it has a polarizing force between pro-life and pro-choice. The political block of conservative Christian groups within America continue to try and repeal the Roe v. Wade decision while those who are pro-choice fight equally for abortion.

I think there is a lot more respect for women’s independence today and peoples attitudes reflect that. Even though in some situations women are still looked down upon, such as being paid less than men, I think men now understand more fully the equality of men and women. The sexual revolution drove these attitudes and showed women’s strength is the sexual sense. It gave women more power over their own bodies and made them less vulnerable to men. I think men and women are more equal now in a sexual relationship than before the sexual revolution, but I feel women still have more to worry about in some situations. It is easier for a woman to be taken advantage of than a man. On the other hand, women have more control of their own choices. They have the choice of birth control and abortion now. I think society today has become a lot more accepting of peoples choices of their sexuality. People I think are more open about it now as well. Depending on the place, It is alright to be seen in public with someone of the sex. Even though there is a lot of controvery about gay marriage, it is now alright to talk about it and make it public. I think this is a resualt of the sexual revolution as well.

Some women held ambivalent views because they were granted some freedoms, but did not have access to others. Contraceptives were legal, however, abortions were not. The sexual revolution changed how sex was treated in society, and "eliminated the sexual veto." Along with some of these new freedoms came possible new threats, as sex was now thought of as casual and not just a means for reproduction. Before this revolution, the biological similarities between men and women were stressed. Afterwards, many questioned the differences and researched these "hidden injuries," reporting them as crime. Because of these biological differences, casual sex is viewed as harmless for men, but dangerous for women. Yes, contraceptives were available, but there was still a possibility for pregnancy. This is a concern that only women can express. Even today, with the popularity of the pill, it is still considered somewhat of a taboo subject. Because of the differences between men and women, women may be incorrectly labelled as "sexually active" just because they take a certain type of birth control. However, for men, there is no type of male contraception that would lead for others to believe they are sexually active.

How did the sexual revolution affect African American women differently from white women? How did some of these women respond?

While women's rights were not an issue of focus, the problem had already begun. African Americans were fighting for rights and freedoms, but behind the scenes, the women were suffering and nobody knew. The Women's Movement is stereotypically seen as a handful of radical white women who want freedom from men and sexual independence. Black women, however, were struggling with a different fight during the sexual revolution. Black males, while "fighting racism" were sexually exploiting their black women, using them and abusing them as sexual objects. All of this was being done in the name of the movement. With women's rights not even in the scope of things, women had to suffer and take the abuse. Eventually, as the sexual revolution grew, Black women realized what had been going on, and what they had felt all along. They had their chance now to fight back, and they spoke out for contraception and abortions. They fought harder and more passionately than white women because of their experiences during the Black movement.

The attitudes towards women and sex today have been greatly shaped by the sexual revolution. When women became more sexually available in the 1960s, men's attitudes changed. And they remain the same still today. As time has passed, the sexual relationship between men and women has become more equal, but a double standard still exists. A permiscuous woman is still frowned upon and a permiscuous man is reveared. While this is the case, society is becoming more accepting of people's choices when referring to sexuality, but it is happening very slowly. Judgement based on sexuality remains to be a huge problem in our society.

Phelps believes that women are sexually schizophrentic because, like the separation of mind and body due to schizophrenia, women relate to a world of fantasy rather than to themselves or their partners. Women have been raised around certain ideas in society that all reel back to a passive, helpless woman taken over by the dominant male. I believe that society is full of these images and recall being showed and told them throughout my childhood like the princess ideal, and still see it today in things like soap operas. I never realized that images and symbols could and really do have an effect on people, but after reading this excerpt I can see how this male dominated society is influenced by them. I found the analysis very interestng and it made me think about the things people subject themselves to. Maybe we should take a closer look at things.

Some young women were ambivalent about the sexual revolution because they realized some of the dangers that came with the new freedoms. The widespread use of birth control allowed for a sexual freedom that had not existed before. For the first time women were allowed to control whether or not they would have children. Casual sex became much more frequent, but along with that came sexual exploitation.
Biological differences became necessary to aknowlege, because men and women are fundamentally, geneticaly different. They act, think, and feel differently. Women's bodies and roles are different. In terms of a sexual revolution, I believe women were trying to achieve more satisfying, worthwhile sex. While men merely found casual sex more readily available. It is important to note the biological differences in bodies and the roles we play in order to value one another with respect and dignity.

The issue of women's sexual pleasure came to represent how women were being treated in society in general. Women were taught that their job was to please men (sexually and in other ways). If a woman was unhappy or dissatisfied it was seen as a personal problem, or part of "life", that they just had to deal with. The taboo of talking about orgasms (or the lack of) was just one way in which women were simply expected to quietly cope. This idea represents a widely held belief that women were expected to take care of men's needs, and their own needs were secondary concerns. Also, the opening up of discussion on the issue was important in consciousness-raising. In the reading, many women describe when they first revealed that they had faked orgasms with their partners, and the liberation at finally realizing that they were not the "only one". Society had created an environment that suppressed women's emotions and told them what they were feeling was wrong and infantile. The revelation that the need for clitoral orgams was not only acceptable, but widespread in the female population is only one example of how highly suppressed women were, not only emotionally but biologically as well. To discover that the repression of women went so far as to ignore their physical needs was important in furthering the fight for women's rights in the home as well as in society as a whole.

The sexual revolution was different for African American women as opposed to white women. With the new introduction of the pill, many white women would take the pill and were almost assured of not getting pregnant. On the other hand, African American women were told not to take the pill and not to have abortions by black men because they "needed more black warriors for the coming revolution." The pill was an awakening for African American women as they knew they no longer could be fooled by men. The pill allowed women to have fewer children and actually raise and educate their children as they pleased.

The issue of sexual pleasure for women was a big part of the movement because it was a taboo issue at that point in time. It was something that wasn’t seen as much of a concern for men and their female partners seemed not to make much of a deal out of it. The fact of the matter is that no relationship can survive without good sex; it has been proven time and time again. It was said that clitoral orgasms were “immature” which made the women inadequate when they couldn’t achieve an orgasm through intercourse. Finally, women began speaking out about how unfair that was and how they also have a right to be sexually satisfied without being looked down upon so to speak. More began to be discussed about women’s sexual pleasure when more research about women’s bodies became readily available to the masses. It helped women to realize that they were not the only ones in their situation and that they could achieve sexual pleasure along with their partners. Feminism was very much about not only women’s health, but about being seen on the same level as their male counterparts. Sexual pleasure for women evened out the playing field in the bedroom as well as making the marital (or a lot of the time non-marital) relations run much more smoothly and created a healthier relationship in general.

Attitudes today have been shaped by the sexual revolution in that it has made people a bit more liberal when it comes to the idea of sex. No longer are people hiding their sexual tendencies and there has definitely been an increase in communication about the subject. I believe that men and women are more equal today in terms of sexual relationships. It used to be that the man would only get what he wants sexually but now I believe that the woman is equal in this category. I think it's a definite truth that people are becoming more accepting of other people's sexual choices. Although there will never be complete acceptance, I think it's true that people are becoming more liberal about this subject. I like to relate this changing attitude about sexuality to the changing attitude most white people had before the civil rights movement. Before the civil rights movement, many people considered African-Americans sub par humans. This of course was completely ridiculous. With time, Whites began to see that there was no good reason for any distinction. These people were just as equal as them. I believe that attitudes towards sexuality are the same. Decades ago (and still today) some people believe that there is only one right way to think about sex. But now as people are opening their once dogmatic minds, they are seeing that no matter the sexual orientation is, all people deserve to be treated fairly and respectfully. In my opinion, this is definitely a step in the right direction.

Sexual pleasure was an important issue to the women's movement because it braught up the idea of male dominance over women. Women, for years, were often times subjugated to bad sex. In other words, they would not reach climax or just not enjoy the whole act of sexual intercourse with their partners. This might have been largely due to the "myth of the vaginal orgasm." The medical community (dominated by men) had for years, explained that women can reach climax two different ways. The more mature form of orgasm was the vaginal orgasm. And the less mature and looked down upon one was orgasm by clitoral stimulation. With this ideology still circulating at the time, women were inclined to stand against it. The women's movement took sex from the depths of house affairs to the forefront of discussion so that women would know how to get what they wanted out of sex and relationships. They were no longer going to let their man get off and use them as nothing more than a "tissue," as someone put it. Women wanted an equal part in the act of sex. They were not going to accept the role of being a passive partner.

Abortion is a central issue to the women's movement because it is about womens freedom. The freedom to choose what they want to do to their bodies. This is exactly what the movement is fighting for, freedom for women so it had to be a main issue because it is one of the best examples of what they were fighting for. It's very controversial because of the many interpretations about abortion. For instance whether a fetus is a living human being or not so therefore is it ok to perform an abortion and kill another human being. The issue is very complex and with complexities comes the controversial nature of the issue.

Not only do you have the human vs. non-human idea but you also have men deciding what the women can do. It's the woman's body, they are the ones who are pregnant, who must give birth, not the men. So the fact that the men in the government are deciding what is right for them makes it an issue for the movement. Equality is being able to choose yourself what you do to your body and how you take care of yourself. Most women in the movement feel that regardless of the whole non-human vs. human issue that they should be the ones deciding what to do, not a bunch of men making the decision.

It is still an issue today because not much has changed. Men are still making the decisions for the women and along with that the human vs. non-human debate is still going on without a winner. We just can't decide what the real answer so the issue goes on with no resolution.

Abortion was such a central issue to the women’s movement, because this is something that concerns women’s bodies and their right to choose for themselves. Although it is a decision between whether or not to have a child, I believe that women felt that they were also having their power taken away by not being able to choose. Women were unhappy with the reforms made to abortion laws which only empowered men and the medical profession further. With the reforms in certain states women may be made to take multiple psych exams, or doctors increased the price of the procedure to a point where few could afford it. Women called for a “repeal of ALL laws that limited a woman’s right to abortion.”

This issue continues to be so controversial because it is so complex and there are always two sides to a story, and two opinions that always feel that they’re right. In this instance there are the pro-choice people vs. the pro-life advocates. The issue of abortion is even more prevalent today as we await for the Supreme Court to once again rule on this case and possibly overturn its previous ruling. There will always be the fight between a women’s right to choice and a baby’s right to be born.