Examine individual changes

'{{short description|Psychological state}} {{Multiple issues| {{essay|date=November 2018}} {{Lead too short|date=November 2018}} }} {{Close relationships |expanded=practices}} '''Sexual repression''' is a state in which a person is prevented from expressing their own [[Human sexuality|sexuality]]. Sexual repression is often linked with feelings of [[Guilt (emotion)|guilt]] or [[shame]], being associated with sexual impulses. What constitutes sexual repression is subjective and can vary greatly between cultures and moral systems. The ways in which individuals and groups undertake sexual repression can also be diverse in practice as either physical, mental, or both. This topic has been widely researched in varying fields as it is very broad in concept and execution. The history of this phenomenon is unique to societies with varying levels of sexual repression overtime. In modern times there are some countries still considered to exercise strong control over sexuality through legislation and societal pressures. ==History== [[Sigmund Freud]] was the first to use the term widely, and argued that it was one of the roots of many problems in [[Western world|Western society]].<ref>Wilf Hey. [http://www.vision.org/visionmedia/article.aspx?id=597 "Sigmund Freud: Psychoanalysis and Sexual Repression"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080518033909/http://www.vision.org/visionmedia/article.aspx?id=597 |date=2008-05-18 }}, vision.org</ref> Freud believed that people's naturally strong instincts toward sexuality were repressed by people in order to meet the constraints imposed on them by civilized life. Among many others, Freud believed renowned artist Leonardo da Vinci to have been a repressed homosexual, who he believed "sublimated" his sexual desires so as to achieve artistic brilliance.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Freud|first=Sigmund|title=Leonardo DaVinci, A Memory of his Childhood}}</ref> However, Freud's ideas about sexual repression have been subject to heavy criticism. According to sex therapist Bernard Apfelbaum, Freud did not base his belief in universal innate, natural sexuality on the strength of sexual desire he saw in people, but rather on its weakness.<ref>[http://www.bapfelbaumphd.com/Sexual_Reality.html B. Apfelbaum. "Sexual Reality and How We Dismiss It."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090704081455/http://www.bapfelbaumphd.com/Sexual_Reality.html |date=2009-07-04 }}</ref> In some periods of Indian history [[anaphrodisiac]]s were utilised in order to lower libidos.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fBVNAQAAMAAJ&q=|title=Sweet Tears and Bitter Pills: The Politics of Health Among the Yuroks of Northern California|last=Ferreira|first=Mariana Kawall Leal|date=1996|publisher=University of California, Berkeley with University of California, San Francisco|language=en}}</ref> In contemporary society, medication may be prescribed to registered sex offenders in order to lower the libido and ensure that further offences are less likely. Chemical castration has been elsewhere in history for various other reasons.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hall|first=Maggie|date=2014|title=Treatment or punishment : chemical castration of child sex offenders|url=https://researchdirect.westernsydney.edu.au/islandora/object/uws%3A34982/|journal=The Conversation|language=en}}</ref> ==Religion== {{Further|Religion and sexuality}} Most forms of Christianity [[opposition to homosexuality|strongly discourage homosexual behavior]].<ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=PPEyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=pwgGAAAAIBAJ&pg=1827,2290931&dq=&hl=en liberal media] Free Lance-Star retrieved 27 January 2012</ref> <nowiki>Many forms of Islam have strict sexual codes which include banning homosexuality, demanding virginity before marriage accompanied by a ban on fornication, and can require modest dress-codes for men and women.</nowiki><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=csX0f7AVM3gC&pg=PA722 Sex and Society] Volume 3 - Page 722</ref> In addition to this, there was a long tradition of chemically castrating male choristers prior to puberty to ensure that their vocal range remained unchanged. This practice of creating "Castrati" was common until the 18th century, and after a decline in popularity were only used in the Vatican up until the beginning of the twentieth century.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Jenkins|first=J. S.|date=2000|title=The lost voice: a history of the castrato|url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11202227/#:~:text=A%20small%20number%20became%20international,to%20employ%20castrati%20until%201903.|journal=Journal of pediatric endocrinology & metabolism: JPEM|volume=13 Suppl 6|pages=1503–1508|doi=10.1515/jpem-2000-s625|issn=0334-018X|pmid=11202227}}</ref> ==Laws== {{Further|Fornication|Adultery}} Various countries have laws against sexual acts outside marriage. In countries such as Saudi Arabia, Pakistan,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.eyeontheun.org/voices.asp?p=632 |title=Human Rights Voices – Pakistan, August 21, 2008 |publisher=Eyeontheun.org |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130121175822/http://www.eyeontheun.org/voices.asp?p=632 |archivedate=January 21, 2013 }}</ref> Afghanistan,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aidsportal.org/news_details.aspx?ID=4236 |title=Home |publisher=AIDSPortal |url-status=dead |archiveurl=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20081026065259/http://www.aidsportal.org/news_details.aspx?ID=4236 |archivedate=2008-10-26 }}</ref><ref name="travel.state.gov">{{cite web|url=https://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1142.html |title=Iran |publisher=Travel.state.gov |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130801084310/http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1142.html |archivedate=2013-08-01 }}</ref> Iran,<ref name="travel.state.gov"/> Kuwait,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/0/2f5665ae20b956cb8025675a0033cafb?Opendocument |title=United Nations Human Rights Website – Treaty Bodies Database – Document – Summary Record – Kuwait |publisher=Unhchr.ch }}</ref> Maldives,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.everyculture.com/Ja-Ma/Maldives.html |title=Culture of Maldives – history, people, clothing, women, beliefs, food, customs, family, social |publisher=Everyculture.com }}</ref> Morocco,<ref>{{cite news|last=Fakim |first=Nora |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-19049000 |title=BBC News – Morocco: Should pre-marital sex be legal? |publisher=BBC |date=9 August 2012 }}</ref> Oman,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.interpol.com/Public/Children/SexualAbuse/NationalLaws/csaOman.pdf |archiveurl=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20160516065620/http://www.interpol.com/Public/Children/SexualAbuse/NationalLaws/csaOman.pdf |archivedate=16 May 2016 |title=Legislation of Interpol member states on sexual offences against children – Oman |publisher=Interpol }}</ref> Mauritania,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2010/af/154358.htm |title=2010 Human Rights Report: Mauritania |publisher=State.gov |date=8 April 2011 }}</ref> United Arab Emirates,<ref>{{cite web|author=Dubai FAQs |url=http://www.dubaifaqs.com/education-dubai.php |title=Education in Dubai |publisher=Dubaifaqs.com }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Judd |first=Terri |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/briton-faces-jail-for-sex-on-dubai-beach-863918.html |title=Briton faces jail for sex on Dubai beach – Middle East – World |work=The Independent |date=10 July 2008 |location=London}}</ref> Sudan,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/2007/06/28/idUSL28849488._CH_.2400 |title=Sudan must rewrite rape laws to protect victims |agency=Reuters |date=28 June 2007 }}</ref> Yemen,<ref>{{cite web|author=United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees |url=http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/47387b712f.html/ |title=Refworld &#124; Women's Rights in the Middle East and North Africa – Yemen |publisher=UNHCR }}</ref> any form of sexual activity outside marriage is illegal. ==Marriage== {{Further|Child marriage}} Marriage has been seen as a means of controlling sexuality.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Murray|first=Melissa|date=2012-01-01|title=Marriage as Punishment|url=https://scholarship.law.berkeley.edu/facpubs/1885|journal=Columbia Law Review|pages=1}}</ref> Some forms of marriage, such as [[child marriage]], are often practiced as a means of regulating the sexuality of girls, by ensuring they do not have multiple partners, thus preserving their [[virginity]] for the future husband.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dayofthegirl.org/child-marriage/ |title=Archived copy |access-date=2014-05-30 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140531090804/http://dayofthegirl.org/child-marriage/ |archivedate=2014-05-31 }}</ref> According to the [[BBC World Service]]:<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/people/features/ihavearightto/four_b/casestudy_art16.shtml|title=Article 16: Right to marriage and family and to equal rights of men and women during and after marriage|publisher=[[BBC World Service]]|access-date=June 8, 2016}}</ref> {{quote|In some cases, parents willingly marry off their young girls in order to increase the family income or protect the girl from the risk of unwanted sexual advances or even [[promiscuity]].}} ==Female genital mutilation== [[File:Fgm_map.svg|200px|thumb|Prevalence of FGM in Africa]] {{Main|Female genital mutilation}} Female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female genital cutting or female circumcision, "comprises all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons".<ref name="who.int">{{Cite web|url=https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/female-genital-mutilation|title=Female genital mutilation|website=www.who.int|language=en|access-date=2019-07-29}}</ref> The practice is concentrated in 27 countries in Africa as well as Iraqi Kurdistan, Yemen and Indonesia; and more than 125 million girls and women today are estimated to have been subjected to FGM.<ref name="who.int"/> FGM does not have any health benefits, and has serious negative effects on health; including complications during [[childbirth]].<ref name="who.int"/> FGM is used as a way of controlling [[female sexuality]]; the [[World Health Organization]] (WHO) states:<ref name="who.int"/> {{quote|FGM is often motivated by beliefs about what is considered proper sexual behaviour, linking procedures to premarital [[virginity]] and marital fidelity. FGM is in many communities believed to reduce a woman's libido and therefore believed to help her resist "illicit" sexual acts.}} FGM is condemned by international human rights instruments. The [[Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence|Istanbul Convention]] prohibits FGM (Article 38).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.coe.int/en/web/conventions/full-list|title=Full list|website=Treaty Office|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-07-29}}</ref> FGM is also considered a form a [[violence against women]] by the [[Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women]] which was adopted by the [[United Nations]] in 1993; according to which: ''Article Two: Violence against women shall be understood to encompass, but not be limited to, the following: (a) Physical, sexual and psychological violence occurring in the family, including [...] '''female genital mutilation''' [...]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.un-documents.net/a48r104.htm|title=A/RES/48/104 - Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women - UN Documents: Gathering a body of global agreements|website=www.un-documents.net|access-date=2019-07-29}}</ref> ==Male circumcision== {{Main|Circumcision}} {{See also|Circumcision controversies|Circumcision and law|Ethics of circumcision|Religious male circumcision}} [[File:Global Map of Male Circumcision Prevalence by Country.svg|thumb|300px|Male circumcision [[Prevalence of circumcision|prevalence]] by country according to a World Health Organization's 2007 review.<ref name=WHO_2007_GTDPSA>{{cite web |title=Male circumcision: Global trends and determinants of prevalence, safety and acceptability |year=2007 |publisher=World Health Organization |url=http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2007/9789241596169_eng.pdf }}</ref>]] Male circumcision has been practiced as a surgical means of sexual repression in some cultures, although it may be practiced for various reasons, with the World Health Organization recommending it as a means of reducing [[HIV/AIDS]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.who.int/hiv/topics/malecircumcision/en/|title=WHO {{!}} Male circumcision for HIV prevention|website=WHO|access-date=2019-07-29}}</ref> Circumcision is also a religious tradition in Judaism and Islam. According to medieval Jewish theologian Moses Maimonides, the "reason" for male circumcision is "the wish to bring about a decrease in sexual intercourse and a weakening of the organ in question, so that this activity be diminished and the organ be in as quiet a state as possible."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cirp.org/library/cultural/maimonides/|title=Moses Maimonides: The Guide of the Perplexed: Circumcision|website=www.cirp.org|access-date=2019-07-29}}</ref> In the late-nineteenth century, circumcision of the penis was prescribed by John Harvey Kellogg as a "cure" for masturbation.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/19924/19924-h/19924-h.htm#chapi133|title=The Project Gutenberg e-Book of Plain Facts for Old and Young, by J. H. Kellogg, M.D.|website=www.gutenberg.org|access-date=2019-07-29}}</ref> William Acton, a leading authority on sexuality in mid-Victorian Britain, advocated male circumcision in order to prevent "undue excitement of the sexual desires … which it is our object to repress."<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/functionsanddis05actogoog|title=The Functions and disorders of the reproductive organs in childhood, youth, adult age, and advanced life, considered in their physiological, social, and moral relations|last=Acton|first=William|date=1862|publisher=Churchill|language=en}}</ref> A "biocultural analysis" of male circumcision supports the hypothesis "that a practical consequence of circumcision, complementary to any religious-symbolic function, is to make a circumcised male less sexually excitable and distractible, and, hence, more amenable to his group's authority figures."<ref>Immerman, Ronald S. & Wade C. Mackey (1997) "A biocultural analysis of circumcision." Social Biology 44: 3–4, p. 265.</ref> ==Honor killings== {{Main|Honor killing}} An honor killing is the [[homicide]] of a member of a family or social group by other members, due to the perpetrators' belief that the victim has brought shame or dishonor upon the family or community, usually for reasons such as refusing to enter an [[arranged marriage]], being in a relationship that is disapproved by their relatives, having [[sex outside marriage]], becoming the victim of [[rape]], dressing in ways which are deemed inappropriate, or engaging in [[Homosexuality|homosexual]] relations.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/honourcrimes/|title=BBC - Ethics: Honour Crimes|website=www.bbc.co.uk|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-07-29}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/honor%20killing|title=Definition of HONOR KILLING|website=www.merriam-webster.com|language=en|access-date=2019-07-29}}</ref><ref>http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/honor+killing?s=t</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2012/01/13/world/europe/turkey-gay-killing/index.html|title=Shocking gay honor killing inspires movie|author=Ivan Watson|website=CNN|access-date=2019-07-29}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/02/23/arizona.iraqi.father/index.html|title=Iraqi immigrant convicted in Arizona 'honor killing' awaits sentence|website=www.cnn.com|language=en|access-date=2019-07-29}}</ref> According to a UN Expert Group Meeting on good practices in legislation to address harmful practices against women:<ref>https://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/egm/vaw_legislation_2009/Expert%20Paper%20EGMGPLHP%20_Sherifa%20Zuhur%20-%20II_.pdf</ref> {{quote|They [honor killings] stem from the deeply-rooted social belief that male family members (in some cases, mothers and other women are involved in planning or carrying out honor crimes) should control the sexuality of or protect the reputation of women in the family, and that they may contain their movements or kill them for blemishing family honor, even when rumors or false gossip are the reason for public suspicion.}} ==Same-sex sexual activity== {{Further|Sodomy law}} Various cultures attempt to repress homosexual sexual expression. As of 2014, same-sex sexual acts are punishable by prison in 70 countries, and in five other countries and in parts of two others, homosexuality is punishable with the [[death penalty]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-25927595|title=Where is it illegal to be gay?|date=2014-02-10|access-date=2019-07-29|language=en-GB}}</ref> Apart from criminal prosecution, LGBT individuals may also face social stigmatization and serious violence (see [[violence against LGBT people]]). ==Studies== Some researchers{{who|date=November 2018}} have hypothesized a relationship between sexual repression and [[rape]]. However, they have been unable to find any support for this hypothesis - whether the tremendous difficulty of measuring sexual repression is to blame, or whether the theory is simply false, is unknown.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=VYj_woVgA3EC&pg=PA93 Mary E. Odem, Jody Clay-Warner, ''Confronting rape and sexual assault'', Rowman & Littlefield, 1998, p. 104.]</ref> Sexual repression is often viewed as a key issue within [[feminism]],<ref>{{cite journal |title = Sex and Power: Sexual Bases of Radical Feminism |last = Shulman |first = Alix Kates |journal = [[Signs (journal)|Signs]] |publisher = [[University of Chicago Press]] |issn = 1545-6943 |volume = 5 |issue = 4 |year = 1980 |pages = 590–604 |doi = 10.1086/493754 |jstor = 3173832 }}</ref> although [[feminist views on sexuality]] vary widely. Among the factors that might trigger appearance of sexual repression are cultural and societal norms that might be perverted in specific communities compared to western society.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/relationships/love-sex/Feeling-sexually-repressed/articleshow/7042809.cms|title=Feeling sexually repressed? - Times of India|website=The Times of India|language=en|access-date=2019-12-10}}</ref> ===Michel Foucault=== [[Michel Foucault]], in his ''[[The History of Sexuality|History of Sexuality]]'', neither refutes nor confirms what he calls the "repressive hypothesis." Instead, he says sexuality has become an important topic to understand and manipulate for the purpose of nation building. Through categorization of sexuality, the idea of repression was born. While he agrees sexuality has become much more controlled, he equates it to necessity. Furthermore, it is through [[psychiatric]] and medical discourse on sexuality that it has become repressed. Foucault argues that religious confession as well as psychiatric procedure codify confession within as a means of extracting [[truth]]. Because the mechanisms of sex were obscure, it was elusive by nature and its mechanisms escaped observation. By integrating it into the beginnings of a scientific discourse, the nineteenth century altered the scope of confession. Confession tended no longer to be concerned solely with what the subject wished to hide but with what was hidden from himself. It had to be extracted by force, since it involved something that tried to stay hidden. This relationship of truth scientifically validated the view of the confessed which could assimilate, record, and verify this obscure truth.<ref name="Foucault1990">{{cite book|author=Michel Foucault|title=The history of sexuality|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0Mbc5eMjLpoC|access-date=5 January 2013|date=14 April 1990|publisher=Vintage Books|isbn=978-0-679-72469-8|pages=65–66}}</ref> === Alfred Kinsey === Dr. [[Alfred Kinsey]] was a biologists that conducted one of the largest studies on human sexual behavior in history.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Morantz|first=Regina Markell|date=24/1977|title=The Scientist as Sex Crusader: Alfred C. Kinsey and American Culture|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2712574?origin=crossref|journal=American Quarterly|volume=29|issue=5|pages=569-570|doi=10.2307/2712574|via=}}</ref> Kinsey published the first portion of his findings in [[Sexual behavior in the human male|"Sexual Behavior in the Human Male]]” in 1948, and the companion, “[[Sexual behavior in the human female|Sexual Behavior in the Human Female]]” in 1953. His research consisted of thousands of interviews, where around 500 questions were asked, of a diverse field of people in terms of profession and class.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Bullough|first=Vern L.|date=2004-06|title=Sex Will Never Be the Same: The Contributions of Alfred C. Kinsey|url=http://link.springer.com/10.1023/B:ASEB.0000026627.24993.03|journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior|language=en|volume=33|issue=3|pages=277|doi=10.1023/B:ASEB.0000026627.24993.03|issn=0004-0002|via=}}</ref> These two volumes had many revelations presented through Kinsey’s data and findings that changed the outdated ideals of the Victorian view on sex that had persisted in society until this point in time. One of the most influential pieces of information from this study was Kinsey’s finding that not only is female masturbation as commonplace as male, but a female orgasm is more dependent on stimulation of the clitoris and outer labial portion. The vaginal canal was not as important as previously believed, which disproved the ideals that female sexual satisfaction was tied to penetration by male genitalia.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Morantz|first=Regina Markell|date=24/1977|title=The Scientist as Sex Crusader: Alfred C. Kinsey and American Culture|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2712574?origin=crossref|journal=American Quarterly|volume=29|issue=5|pages=569-575|doi=10.2307/2712574|via=}}</ref> The other well known portion of Kinsey’s findings found about 37% of men had participated in homosexual acts. Kinsey argued that the binary of heterosexuality and homosexuality presented in society was incorrect and then presented the [[Kinsey scale|Kinsey Scale]]. This tool was to be used to measure ones sexuality, and consisted of a scale with the two ends being heterosexual and homosexual, implying there were sexualities in between the two ends.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Morantz|first=Regina Markell|date=1977|title=The Scientist as Sex Crusader: Alfred C. Kinsey and American Culture|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2712574|journal=American Quarterly|volume=29|issue=5|pages=570-71|doi=10.2307/2712574|issn=0003-0678|via=}}</ref> Overall Kinsey’s study changed the view of human sexuality for American society greatly and has influenced modern perceptions equally.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Bullough|first=Vern L.|date=2004-06|title=Sex Will Never Be the Same: The Contributions of Alfred C. Kinsey|url=http://link.springer.com/10.1023/B:ASEB.0000026627.24993.03|journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior|language=en|volume=33|issue=3|pages=277–286|doi=10.1023/B:ASEB.0000026627.24993.03|issn=0004-0002}}</ref> ==Repression in various countries== {{Expand section|date=May 2017}} Many countries{{which|date=November 2018}} have developed a much more liberal attitude{{citation needed|date=November 2018}} towards sexuality, but in some{{which|date=November 2018}} it has become less so.{{citation needed|date=November 2018}} ===China=== Reproduction-based sex was urged by [[Mao Zedong]], but later politicians instituted a [[one-child policy]]. In a country where atheism is popular, the restriction cannot be ascribed to religion but to nationalist motives.<ref name="Body & Society">{{cite journal |title=Rethinking Sexual Repression in Maoist China: Ideology, Structure and the Ownership of the Body |journal=[[Body & Society]] |date=September 2005 |last=Yuehong Zhang |first=Everett |volume=11 |issue=3 |pages=1–25 |doi=10.1177/1357034X05056188 |s2cid=145745888 }}</ref> ===India=== According to R.P. Bhatia, a [[New Delhi]] psychoanalyst and psychotherapist, middle-class India's "very strong repressive attitude" has made it impossible for many married couples to function well sexually, or even to function at all.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/04/22/world/sexual-repression-in-the-land-of-the-kama-sutra.html|title=Sexual Repression in the Land of the Kama Sutra|last1=Stevens|first1=William K.|date=1983-04-22|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-11-21|last2=Times|first2=Special To the New York|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> === United States === In the last few decades the United States has been gradually removing much of the legislation tied to sexual repression of various groups. The influence of religious and conservative groups however continues to influence American society and how sex is viewed, working to influence governmental affairs, pharmaceutical companies, and education. ==== Birth Control ==== The first half of the 1960’s saw contraceptions such as the [[Combined oral contraceptive pill|birth control pill]] and [[Intrauterine device|Intrauterine Device]] (IUD) become widely available, which contributed to sexual freedom for many people without having to rely on less reliable and uncomfortable physical contraceptives such as [[Condom|condoms]] or [[Diaphragm (birth control)|diaphragms]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Baird|first=Karen|date=2015-03|title=Melissa Haussman. 2013. Reproductive Rights and the State: Getting the Birth Control, RU-486, and Morning-After Pills and the Gardasil Vaccine to the U.S. Market. (Reproductive Rights and Policy Series; Series Editor, Judith A. Baer). Santa Barbara, CA: P|url=http://doi.wiley.com/10.1002/wmh3.128|journal=World Medical & Health Policy|language=en|volume=7|issue=1|pages=1|doi=10.1002/wmh3.128|via=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Kuchin|first=Rebecca M.|title=Fit to be Tied: Sterilization and Reproductive Rights in America|publisher=[[Rutgers University Press]]|year=2009|isbn=|location=New Brunswick, New Jersey|pages=1}}</ref> However, religious and conservative lobbying groups as well as the influence of [[neo-eugenics]]<nowiki/>created push back on some other forms of birth control such as [[emergency contraception]] and [[tubal ligation]]. Emergency contraception was being developed and produced by [[Hoechst AG|Hoechst]] under the name RU-486. Conservative lobbyist groups with ties to various religious powers such as the [[Vatican]], originally were promoting limiting healthcare coverage of items such as birth control, and once [[RU-486]]<nowiki/>was made public knowledge these groups actively worked to threaten Hoechst by claiming they would cause the company financial hardship if they did not cease all activity pertaining to RU-486.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Baird|first=Karen|date=2015-03|title=Melissa Haussman. 2013. Reproductive Rights and the State: Getting the Birth Control, RU-486, and Morning-After Pills and the Gardasil Vaccine to the U.S. Market. (Reproductive Rights and Policy Series; Series Editor, Judith A. Baer). Santa Barbara, CA: P|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/wmh3.128|journal=World Medical & Health Policy|volume=7|issue=1|pages=101-103|doi=10.1002/wmh3.128|issn=1948-4682|via=}}</ref> In terms of more permanent forms of birth control such as tubal ligation and [[Hysterectomy|hysterectomies]], there has been a long history of [[Eugenics|eugenicists]] pushing for forced sterilization of women not considered to be contributing to the betterment of American society, usually non-white and poor women. However, neo-eugenics, which is the more modern iteration of the eugenics movement is not only advocating for the normalization of permanent birth control in order to promote forced sterilization covertly, but also working to limit access of procedures of sterilization from those they deem “fit” to reproduce. This population are mostly white middle class women, and their ability to remove the possibility of pregnancy from their sexual activity was greatly limited.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Kuchin|first=Rebecca M.|title=Fit to be Tied: Sterilization and Reproductive Rights in America|publisher=[[Rutgers University Press]]|year=2009|isbn=|location=New Brunswick, New Jersey|pages=216-217}}</ref> ==See also== {{Portal|Human sexuality}} {{div col|colwidth=30em}} *[[Age of consent]] *[[Antisexualism]] *[[Asexuality]] *[[Bodily integrity]] *[[Delayed ejaculation]]<!---is this sexual repression?---> *[[Erotophobia]] *[[Free love]] *[[Freedom of speech]] *[[Heterosexism]] *[[Human sexual activity]] *[[Human sexuality]] *[[Libertine]] *[[Opposition to pornography]] *[[Reproductive rights]] *[[Right to sexuality]] *[[Sex-positive movement]] *[[Sexual and reproductive health and rights]] *[[Sexual norm]] *[[Sexual revolution]] *[[Sexuality in China]] *[[Victorian morality]] {{div col end}} ==References== {{Reflist}} {{Interpersonal relationships footer}} [[Category:Guilt]] [[Category:Human sexuality]] [[Category:Political repression]] [[Category:Sexology]] [[Category:Sexual emotions]]'