He said that freeing your sexual libido and exploring sexual energy would damage your health (O"Neill, 1972). Its no wonder sex was so scarce! .
Even as recent as in the 1950's and 60's, women were still rarely viewed as sexual beings. The gender role given to women was one of the pretty, clean-cut, stay-at-home moms who always had dinner on the table when her husband walked through the white picket fence on the way home from work. Women were nice nurses or simply mothers; however, always submissive and eager to please their husbands. .
Women were not only sexually oppressed through expectations, but also physically. Female Circumcision has been practiced in some cultures for hundreds of years (Lancaster, 1997). The circumcision was performed because women were not supposed to enjoy sex and it ensures virginity for the future husband. It was also said to make the vagina more sexually appealing and more pleasurable for the male. It was even argued that female circumcision prevented the "oversexing" of the female, which meant keeping the vagina from becoming loose (Lancaster, 1997). This operation made intercourse and especially child bearing extremely painful for the woman and all reasons for the circumcision revolved around keeping men happy.
Another interesting, yet subtle, way that women have been sexually oppressed is through medical literature. In early medical books, the clitoris, the main "button" for pleasure in a woman, was never mentioned. It was often somehow seen as a cause for psychological and physical disorders (Lancaster, 1997). Along with the clitoris being "non-existent," so was female masturbation. It used to be thought that masturbation led to madness (Lancaster, 1997). If women weren't supposed to enjoy intercourse with a man, imagine the notion of a woman pleasing herself!.
Luckily, there has been a strong movement for female sexual liberation. Peter Swerdloff, author of Men and Women, put forth three premises in 1975 to sway the "old sexual code.
