The English Sexual Revolution: Technology and Social Change

Abstract

Did a sexual revolution take place in the 1960s and, if so, what if anything did the Pill have to do with it? Feminists and historians of women, of sexuality, and of the pill have rejected the idea that the pill was a causal factor in what has been called the ‘permissive moment’. This article argues that the existing historiography has over-emphasized the importance of structural forces, and overlooked the impact of new technology as well as underestimating the importance of women's agency. It focuses on showing how interactions between the innovative technology of the Pill and existing social and commercial structures made substantial change possible in a very short time.

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