The Free Press Presents: The America Debates
(Roger Kisby for The Free Press)
We have the sexual revolution to thank for things like the pill, no-fault divorce, IVF, and women in the workforce. And yet revolutions are unpredictable, and new freedoms come with invisible costs.
With the hindsight that comes with half a century, we ask whether the movement that promised women sexual equality and liberation has fulfilled its promises—or whether it has failed women and men.
This sold-out debate was our first live event. We have big plans to bring The Free Press into the real world in the coming year. For now, we are so pleased to share a film of this debate for those who couldn’t be in the theater:
Dear coffeebits: May I suggest you switch to DECAF? :)
Bari, thank you for this wonderful experience!
Both sides are actually standing on the shoulders of the sexual revolution and all have choices as a result. Everyone on each side of this debate actually admitted as much. As such, the sexual revolution has far from failed! So, I can agree with both sides in so much as it is clear that we, as women and society, simply need to improve things, not go backwards!
Many areas in need of improvement were touched upon in the debate. I loved each debater. Women are nuanced and I love that!
It was briefly mentioned, but from my point of view, the advent of remote work has revolutionized the potential for choice, and balance of home / work for both genders and therefore the family, much like birth control did! The new revolution is the pursuit of balance. For men too. For partners too.
I think Covid introduced a tipping point in free societies. The idea of flexibility for the sake of family. I am excited for the possibilities this opens for my daughter, who is about to get married. This idea of choice and flexibility goes for so many things. Pertaining to work, while not all women and men have the kind of work that can allow flexibility, the idea has been permanently introduced into our society for both genders, and needs to be expanded upon to fit all kinds of jobs and all kinds of families.
There’s always an imbalance and may always be for the higher paid in terms of resources for greater choice. We can do better, okay… All panelists said so. But you don’t throw out the baby with the bath water.
Honestly, kudos for the work we’ve accomplished! Let’s keep going. Kudos to my Grandmother who went back to college before her time and was actually lab partners with my father who just turned 90. Kudos to my mother who was valedictorian of her rural school and worked and sewed all her clothes to be the first in her family to go to college and graduate. But then got pregnant, married my dad and had 3 children by the time she was 24. Kudos that she went to night school and was the physics teacher in my HS where I grew up. I made a hybrid and choice a self-employed profession I could keep and adjust while raising our family.
It all started with the sexual revolution! But it cannot stop there. I am absolutely pro-choice. For procreation too, but that’s not what I only mean. It is a metaphor that can be generalized. Choice is freedom.
The impact of the sexual revolution is improving stop / start, but we are still learning. It’s all about choice. That’s feminism. But males could use a masculism too. We are progressing relative to history, some places in the world more than others. In a free society, each generation has the luxury of learning where to focus: There is personal responsibility. There are societal norms.
Don’t tear down what so many women, me included in my 6th decade, have worked so hard to achieve. It’s the foundation upon which today’s women stand. Don’t take it for granted. We need to continue to evolve, hopefully actively so. That’s what I wish for both my daughter and my son, each of whom have yet to start a family.
Build the next level.
Build the next level.
Thanks for listening :)))