Differences in sexual activity between classes within technologically developed societies are very marked. Civilizations are made up of class hierarchies, and the different subgroups normally develop their own value systems. Most of the knowledge of the sexual activity and attitudes of ancient cultures is that of the upper or ruling class; the activity and feelings of the slaves and peasants were seldom recorded. There is the impression—probably a correct one—that throughout history the lower socio-economic class was the most permissive. Sex has always been one of the few pleasures of the poor and oppressed. On the other hand, one must not overlook the fact that a fanatical Puritanism can also flourish at the bottom of the social scale, and, hence, one can never assume that low status and sexual permissiveness are inevitably linked.

The Kinsey studies showed considerable social class differences in sexuality in the United States, chiefly in that the lower class was more tolerant of nonmarital coitus. More recent studies indicate that these class differences have rapidly broken down. Increased literacy and the influence of mass media have made the population more homogeneous in sexual attitudes. One can find, moreover, reversals of the previous pattern: a lower class person on the way up the social ladder may be quite conservative in his sexual views, feeling that this facilitates upward mobility, whereas the person secure in his or her high social status often feels that he or she can afford to flout convention. Actually, the most sexually liberal are those at the very bottom, who have nothing to lose, and those at the very top, who are beyond social retribution.

The great middle class remains the bastion of traditionalism, and it is here that the double standard of morality is most prominent. The intellectualized liberalism of the upper level seeps down only slowly, and the pragmatic egalitarianism of the lower level does not penetrate far upward.

Economic influences

Systems of production and distribution have had a growing influence on sexual activity since the Industrial Revolution. The old family pattern was inexorably disrupted by the rise of the industrial state. Children were no longer kept at home to share in the work and be economic assets but left for school or for nonfamily employment, and the degree of parental control diminished. The “working wife” employed outside the home, once found only among the impoverished, has gradually become the typical wife. With her enhanced economic power and her greater association with people outside the home, she became less a chattel. As the population left the family farm and tight-knit small communities for anonymous big-city existence, not only parental but societal controls over behavior were weakened. Society became increasingly nomadic with improved transportation and job opportunities. Cultural and ethnic subgroups that formerly would have had little contact were thrown together in the same schools, factories, offices, and neighborhoods.

All of this vast uprooting and rearranging naturally altered sexual attitudes and activity. The individual no longer had the option of choosing to conform or depart from a rather clear-cut sexual moral code but instead was faced with a multiplicity of choices of varying degrees of social acceptability. The major sexual change—one still in progress—was the emancipation of women, which brought with it an increasing acceptance of premarital sexual activity, the concept of woman as a human being with her own sexual needs and rights, and the possibility of terminating an unhappy marriage without incurring serious social censure. A second major change was the erosion of simplistic value systems: with increased mobility and social mixing, the individual learned that the values and attitudes he or she had unquestioningly accepted were not necessarily shared by neighbors and co-workers. As a result, life became not only more complex but more permissive. This growing tolerance has in recent decades extended, to a limited extent, to homosexuality. There is no evidence that homosexuality or other deviant activity has measurably increased as a result of society’s urbanization and technological progress, but one gains the impression of an increase simply because these topics, previously unmentionable, are now openly discussed in the mass media.

While the old monolithic value systems broke down and individuals were accorded a wider variety of choices in terms of sexual life, there developed a paradoxical trend toward homogeneity as a result of mobility, the mass media, and increasing economic parity. Geographical and social-class differences in sexual attitudes and activity have steadily lessened.

Legal regulation

Sex laws, the origins of which, as mentioned above, are found within the church, are unique in one important respect. Whereas all other laws are basically concerned with the protection of person or property, the majority of sex laws are concerned solely with maintaining morality. The issue of morality is minimal in other laws: one can legitimately evict an impoverished old couple from their mortgaged home or sentence a hungry man for stealing food. Only in the realm of sex is there a consistent body of law upholding morality.

The earliest sex laws of which there is knowledge are from the Near East and date back to the 2nd millennium bce. They are remarkable in three respects: there are great omissions—certain acts are not mentioned whereas others receive detailed attention; some laws seem almost contradictory; and penalties are often extraordinarily severe. One obtains the distinct impression that these laws were case law—that is, laws formulated upon specific cases as they arose rather than being the result of lengthy judicial deliberation done in advance. These laws influenced Judaic and, hence, Christian thinking, and some were immortalized in the Bible, chiefly in Leviticus.

As mentioned earlier, when secular law replaced religious law, there was rather little change in content. In Europe the Napoleonic Code represented a break with tradition and introduced some measure of sexual tolerance, but in England and the United States there was no such rift with the past. In the latter country, as each new state joined the union, its sex laws simply duplicated, to a great extent, those of pre-existing states; legislators were disinclined to debate sexual issues or to risk losing votes by discarding or weakening sex laws.

Sex laws may be grouped in three categories: (1) Those concerned with protection of person. These are based on the element of consent. These otherwise logical laws become problematic when society deems that minors, those affected by intellectual disability, and those affected by insanity are incapable of giving consent—hence, coitus with them is rape. (2) Those concerned with preventing offense to public sensibilities. Statutes preclude public sexual activity, exhibitionism, and offensive solicitation. (3) Those concerned with maintaining sexual morality. These constitute the majority of sex laws, covering such items as premarital coitus, extramarital coitus, incest, homosexuality, prostitution, peeping, nudity, animal contact, transvestism, censorship, and even specific sexual techniques—chiefly oral or anal. Laws relating to sexual conduct and morality are generally far more extensive in the United States than in western Europe and most other areas of the world.

Particularly in Europe and the United States, a number of highly respected legal, medical, and religious organizations have deliberated on the issue of the legal control of human sexuality. They have been unanimous in the conclusion that, while laws protecting person and public sensibilities should be retained, the purely moral laws should be dropped. What consenting adults do in private, it is argued, should not be subject to legal control.

In the final analysis, sexuality, like any other vital aspect of human life, must be dealt with on an individual or societal level with a combination of rationality, sensitivity, and tolerance if society is to avoid personal and social problems arising from ignorance and misconception.