Sexual Lifestyles in the Twentieth Century

A Research Study by Elina Haavio-Mannila, Osmo Kontula, Anna Rotkirch

Foreword by Jeffrey Weeks

Elina Haavio-Mannila and her colleagues have established themselves in the great tradition of sex researchers over the past century. Like their predecessors and contemporaries in Europe and America they have brought a social scientific zeal and a liberal imagination to bear on what is simultaneously the most intimately personal and the most publicly controversial of life’s pleasures, passions and pains. The fundamental aim is always to understand before we condemn on the basis of prejudice or ignorance, to know in order to act (or not act), to tolerate rather than to excoriate. The sex research tradition has embodied many paradoxes and contradictions. Some of the earliest pioneers in the early 20th century now appear to us as old fashioned, mired in their own confusions and unwarranted assumptions. But they also offer a signal achievement: they have provided beams of light on what the forces of sexual regulation have often preferred to leave in obscurity, namely the vital importance of sexuality in shaping our sense of self, social identity and place in the wider society. The authors of this book embody the best of the tradition, while being alert to the wider debate about the history, meanings and shifting values of sexuality. The result is a fascinating and illuminating work that adds an important piece to the jigsaw which is contemporary sexuality.

Sex only acquires its meanings through the web of beliefs, values,norms and relationship patterns in which it is embedded. An important aspect of this book is that it locates its findings in a sense of great historical change which is transforming that web of meaning. Broadly, over the past couple of generations there has been a major shift from authoritarian patterns of erotic life, backed by tradition, church and state, to more highly individualised patterns, where sexuality has become increasingly a matter of negotiation between more or less equal, consenting partners.

Behind that shift are dramatic changes in family life and economic mobility, growing gender equality, and an awareness of sexual as well as cultural diversity. Of course, it is possible to exaggerate change. Inequalities between men and women persist. Prejudices and discrimination against sexual minorities remain potent. There are gross social and income differences. There are differences between cities, towns and villages, between regions. Value differences are growing rather than diminishing as we come to recognize the pluralism of even the apparently most homogeneous societies. We are still in the midst of along, unfinished revolution. But no-one with a sense of history can doubt the importance of the transformations in intimate life that have taken place – and the transformations continue.

The result is a change in the western pattern of sexual life that is common across the highly industrialised world, and which this book documents. The details may be from Finland, but the pattern can beverified in many studies, from western Europe to North America and Australasia and beyond, even as different cultural histories give a distinct shading to each example. Marriage may not any longer be the only gateway to respectable sexual life, but committed relationships are the norm. Divorce may now be commonplace and easy, but serial monogamy shapes the lives of most couples. There are still unwanted pregnancies, but birth control and abortion are more freely available than ever before. Homosexuality is still encrusted by prejudice, but most jurisdictions are removing gross discriminations, and there is an international move towards the recognition of same sex partnerships. Sexual abuse, against children and adults, may persist, but every where there is a growing recognition that sexuality and power are inextricably linked, and that positive steps can be taken to check abuse. Sex may remain for many a source of fear, anxiety and disease, but by and large sex education is improving, sexual health is taken seriously, and the pleasures of sexual activity rather than the burdens are increasingly taken for granted. We live in a different world even from the one most of us were born into, and no doubt we will see yet further changes in the years ahead.

This book shows a world in the process of significant sexual change. It captures both a moment and a history. In its dispassionate presentation of the facts of contemporary life, it also gives us an opportunity. By understanding better, we can respond in more appropriate and sensitive ways to the processes of change. Sexuality is not a given. On the contrary it is a sensitive conductor of social change. By understanding what is happening to sexuality, we can better understand what is happening to our culture and society. As with the pioneers of the tradition of sex research, the authors of this book are casting light on the intricate processes of social change, as it is happening.