Make Love, Not War

by David Allyn

When Helen Gurley Brown's Sex and the Single Girl hit bookstores in 1962, the sexual revolution was launched and there was no turning back. Soon came the pill, the end of censorship, the advent of feminism, and the rise of commercial pornography. Our daily lives changed in an unprecedented time of sexual openness and experimentation. Make Love, Not War is the first serious treatment of the complicated events, ideas, and personalities that drove the sexual revolution forward. Based on first-hand accounts, diaries, interviews, and period research, it traces changes in private lives and public discourse from the fearful fifties to the first tremors of rebellion in the early sixties to the heady heyday of the revolution. Bringing a fresh perspective to the turbulence of these decades, David Allyn argues that the sexual revolutionaries of the '60s and '70s, by telling the truth about their own histories and desires, forced all Americans to re-examine the very meaning of freedom. Written with a historian's attention to nuance and a novelist's narrative drive, Make Love, Not War is a provocative, vivid, and thoughtful account of one of the most captivating episodes in American history. Also includes an 8-page insert.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Feminism, Sexuality, Gender and Sexuality, American

404 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

America, in the 1960s, was a time of great change. That statement is a truism which doesn’t need an explanation for most people. Having said that, there is a surprising lack of historical or analytical literature written about those times. One of the largest and all-pervasive social movements of the decade was the Sexual Revolution, an occurrence that infiltrated all levels of American society. David Allyn’s Make Love Not War: The Sexual Revolution: An Unfettered History does a sufficient job of introducing this history to a general audience.

Allyn gives brief but direct explanations of the social climate that made the Sexual Revolution possible. The population explosion after World War II meant there were a lot of horny teenagers and college students around the country. The economy was growing also and with full-time careers available to many Americans, worries about money were diminished and the pursuit of a plush and pleasurable lifestyle was within reach of more people. Also the 1950s had been a repressive, conformist, and soulless decade; in combination with the expanding consumerist society, young people had urges for new kinds of thrills. The Civil Rights Movement was gaining momentum too, and this inspired people from all walks of life to challenge the prevailing social customs. American conservatives love to hate the social movements of the ‘60s, but when the causes of those movements are clearly laid out, it becomes obvious that such changes were inevitable and could not have possibly been prevented.

One way that David Allyn explains the Sexual Revolution is by examining shifting ideas and practices in the superstructure of America. Big changes were happening economically, politically, legally, and academically. The scientific research into sexology done by Alfred Kinsey had a profound impact on the way human behavior is understood. Parents started demanding higher quality sex education in schools. Censorship and obscenity laws were being challenged. Psychiatrists and medical doctors began redefining the contours of healthy sexual activity. Even progressive clergymen and rabbis began to consider the possibility that sexuality in all its varied forms of expression is a gift from God. During this time of questioning American values, all kinds of irrational, outdated attitudes, superstitions, and ideas were peeled away and dicarded the way a snake sheds it skin in its own rite of renewal and regeneration.

From another angle, Allyn looks at the Sexual Revolution from the grass roots up. Young people, searching for a lifestyle more satisfying than the constrictions and monotony of factory work and suburban blandness, experimented with drugs, new forms of mysticism and religion, radical politics, and communal living; these experiments in lifestyle carried over into nudism, expanded forms of artistic expression, sexual experimentation, promiscuity, and group sex. Gays and lesbians became more visible in public and more inclined to activism. The previously suppressed subject of female sexuality became a topic of discussion when the birth control pill became available and women began to question traditional gender roles Then Second Wave Feminism was born. The Sexual Revolution also affected middle America as suburban couples experimented with open marriages, wife swapping, and sado-masochism while swinger’s clubs were established all across the country.

This new sexual freedom led to a unique conjunction between the youth counterculture and the older generation. Some young people expressed their desires for exhibitionism by appearing in sexually explicit photographs and movies while middle-class, middle-aged men, carnally frustrated in their marriages, turned to pornography to relieve their tensions. And so the author examines the commercialization of sexuality, the third major component of the sexual revolution, as an inevitable outcome in an economy based around crass consumerism. By the end of the decade, adult stores were in every city, stocked with magazines and sex toys. Strip clubs, pick up bars, private swinger’s clubs, massage parlors, and prostitutes became more common. Groundbreaking feature films like Deep Throat and Behind the Green Door pushed pornography into the mainstream.

Just as Allyn identifies three major components of the Sexual Revolution, he also identifies three major trends in the 1980s that caused it to dwindle. The first one is the STD crisis, most particularly in regards to AIDS and HIV infections. A less-talked about part of the rampant spread of venereal diseases was the spread of genital herpes which came about approximately at the same time as the AIDS crisis. Secondly, there was an unfortunate uprising of conservative politics and its religious component of fundamentalist Christianity. The third trend that signaled the end of the party was a mean-spirited, sometimes emotionally abusive strain of feminism that hated men and male sexuality with a vengeance. The latter two killjoys of these three sometimes worked hand in hand, although they often failed, to limit people’s access to sexual enjoyment. Neither of those two proved to be as morally upright as they thought they were, as Allyn so rightfully points out.

This book does not follow the 1960s and 1970s chronologically; you shouldn’t expect it to since the Sexual Revolution was not a series of events. Rather it was a time of changing beliefs and practices so the chapters are organized around different themes. Each chapter could easily be the starting point for a separate, in-depth book about its subject matter, so even though this writing is jam-packed with information, you still come away from it feeling like only the surface has been scratched.

David Allyn also admits that he wrote this without any theoretical framework. This was done on purpose because he couldn’t find such a theory to use and also couldn’t conceive of one of his own that would sufficiently fit. That doesn’t cause the book to suffer at all; the current emphasis on postmodern theoretical frameworks tends to be pretentious, alienating to the reader, and often an unnecessarily complicated way of covering up intellectual shallowness. God, if you exist, will you please save us readers from the evils of academic writing? The author’s lack of theory is part of what makes this history so engaging. Of course, being a book about sex, it is inherently exciting anyways.

A wise philosopher once said that there are two kinds of people in the world: those who don’t love sex and those who do. The former are often the types of people who seek positions of political power, supporting things like fundamentalist religion, conservative politics, and radical feminism. Their goal is to force their anti-sex agenda down the throats of people who don’t want it, often because they want to control us. Dishonesty and deception are often one of their strategies; masturbation is not a mental illness, homosexuality is not unnatural, sex serves other purposes besides procreation, and pornography does not cause rape. I have a feeling that David Allyn is in the latter category due to his unrelenting interest in this subject matter. I recently heard a sociologist say that Americans have never attempted to understand how and in what ways the Sexual Revolution has impacted society. The current state of confusion over things like gender identity and pornography is a result of that failure. I can’t say that Make Love Not War does not answers the types of questions that sociologist was asking but it does a good job of encapsulating the subject matter and putting it out there for all to see, so that such an analysis can begin.

Until that happens we will just have to dream about a day when streaking will come back into style.

[David Haines · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an excellent history of the sexual revolution, tainted, however, by the authors clear anti-Christian bias, and his rejection of traditional values. The author was almost entirely unable to recognize the potentially harmful effects of a fully liberated and unrestrained sexuality. Any person who fought for limits to sexual freedom was painted as promoting an outdated and prejudicial morality, any event which went against absolute sexual liberty was unfortunate.
It is, however, interesting to see how the author draws lines between the different events, movements, thinkers and activists of the sexual revolution. This is a must read for anyone doing research on contemporary views of sexuality, or on that period of time. It is not, however, for the faint of heart, or those who are easily disturbed or swayed by descriptions of various sexual acts.

[Fifi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This provided a great look at the ways in which the sexual revolution impacted numerous groups including women's lib, the LGBT+ community and the civil rights movement.

Overall,

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[Kody · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't usually feel this way about history, but there were times when I just couldn't stop reading this book- and when I WASN'T reading it, I was talking with people about some cool story or fact or thing it made me think about. It was incredibly accessible and engaging, with just the right balance of narrative, quirky detail, and contextual panorama. The history it discusses is recent enough to feel powerfully relevant to me even though I wasn't alive for any of the time period he discusses. But my parents and grandparents were... the people who are primarily shaping the intellectual and political world I live in were... so the author's clear analysis feels very timely.

I couldn't give it a perfect rating for a couple reasons: one, the author's jumps between chronological and topical organization are often sudden and confusing, and two, there were a number of places where I felt he didn't take sufficient care in his critical thinking about race, sexual orientation, and gender identity. For example, he routinely identifies the races of people of color, but not those of the white people he describes. His use of language around LGBTQ issues was adequate, but barely.

Still, this book was important enough to me, and thoughtful and well-written in so many other ways, that I will be recommending it, and maybe getting my own copy (a big deal in my world).

[Bruce · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting history book providing insight into the sexual revolution. It was a period of history that I lived through but missed. Living 2 doors down from the Methodist church in a small village in upstate New York and then going into the military I was sort of grazed by it. Occasionally the author mentions briefly earlier parts of the history of sex in America it is a concentration on the mid-2oth that makes up the bulk of the book. The ideas of free sex, women's lib and LGBTQ rights are covered as well as various government attempts to control peoples' lives. Perhaps the most important take away is: the rise of Evangelicalism ('christian' fundamentalism) ended the Sexual Revolution. 'Christian' fundamentalism is something we have to deal with even today. It seems that we make two steps forward and fundamentalists take us three steps back.

[river nakachokos · Rating 3 out of 5]

great as a beginner entry into the history of American sexuality, unfortunately just a bit below my current level so i wanted more. take into account this book is 25 years old, and 16 years before the ruling legalizing gay marriage, but it repeatedly stops short of a radical analysis and favors a tamer, more liberal view of sexual revolution and liberation movements. bit of a bummer in that regard.

[Mi Universo Literario Writer · Rating 5 out of 5]

a thorough, compelling understandment of one of history's most charming revolutions

[Pauliannone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great look at various aspects of the sexual revolution. An easy, engaging, and informative read.

[SN · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating introduction to the American sexual revolution of the 1960s and 70s and it's interactions with other counter cultures of the time, like the anti-Vietnam War Movement and the Women's Liberation Movement.

The book is tarnished in parts however, because of a clear anti-Conservative bias that makes it difficult for the reader to distinguish between a legitimate historical retelling and a propaganda-ish push of a narrative that confirms the author's views.
For example, in a discussion on reproductive rights in this era, Allyn states that "abortion was not a significant issue in American life until the middle of the 19th Century", giving the explanation that doctors only began pushing restrictions during this period because they were worried about most abortion providers being female and the low birthrate of native-born whites; He fails to give a balanced history of this increased regulation however, by not mentioning the discovery of the Mammalian egg that occurred almost simultaneously to these laws, in 1827, as well as the other leaps and bounds made in the science of conception during this time.

Though, for inquisitive students willing to put in the work, much of this bias is able to be overlooked, because of the excellent referencing and notes Allyn makes through out.

I also found it depressingly ironic that Allyn's chapter on lesbian liberation was significantly shorter than his chapter on gay male liberation, as in his discussions about lesbians, he notes that many felt slighted by their invisiblity and lack of inclusion in both the Gay Lib and Women's Lib movements. Whilst the chapter was there, it would've been nice if it appeared as more than mere courtesy.

Another way this book could be improved, perhaps in later editions, is with the inclusion of a chapter summarising the 1st American sexual revolution of 1870 - 1910. Besides the fact that the book's subtitle does not suggest that you will only be hearing about the 2rd revolution, knowing about the late 19th Century adaption of Victorian sexual sensibilities would help the reader to better understand how American society got to the point of revolution in the 1960s in the first place.

Overall a well-written, thorough and interesting documentation of the 60s and 70s American sexual revolution that provides an excellent starting point for those interested in American sexual attitudes and the history of their formation.

[Kenni Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the best books of this type that I have read. It's packed full of information but it doesn't read like a text book. The Sexual Revolution is one of my favorite periods in history and I was glad to find a book that did it justice.

[Mark Klempner · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good book, probably the best overview of "the sexual revolution." The only problem I had with it was that Mr. Allyn seemed, at times, like an apologist for the 60s rather than a disinterested social historian who was just trying to figure out what happened.

[Sumayyah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting history of the United States and it's attitude towards sex.