Did the “sexual revolution” adversely affect me? You bet it did. My parents emigrated from Ireland to NYC in 1958. They were “old school” when it came
to matters regarding sex, which was basically never discussed, and was otherwise “dirty”.
I came of age as the sexual revolution was ramping up. Even though I went to a Catholic grade school, and was surrounded by people who were mostly
Catholic, the old faith was falling away fast. My parents’ generation was blind-sided by this, and rendered mostly impotent to do anything about
it. I never stood a chance.
The first woman I had a relationship with had already have five (five!) previous sexual partners. Her parents went to church every week, too. This
did not sit well with me, and I did not even understand why, at the time, it bothered me so. It took me years to get over it. But we stayed together
and got married. Mistakes, on so many levels. But I was young and stupid and immature. And the sexual component was powerful. There was a lot of
pre-martial sex and contraception. That these things were not aligned with Church teaching was not even entering my mind, I am so sorry to report.
This kind of thing was pervasive in the culture to the point where it seemed all too normal. You were, in fact, considered not normal if you were not
“getting it on” in as little as three dates. In my own workplace, full of modern and hip twenty-somethings at that time, it was a regular practice
to go out, on weeknights, to dance clubs, and such. I invited my then wife to come along, she wanted nothing to do with it. I went anyway. She
caught a whiff of my impropriety and ended the marriage in shockingly rapid fashion. Her agenda to procreate was in jeopardy, and she was having
none of it.
The woman I ended up with after getting that divorce herself, of course, had prior sexual partners. But worse, had an abortion when she was 17. This
really sent me in a tailspin. It caused much friction in that relationship. Of course, I was continuing to be happy by engaging in extra-marital
sex with this person. This tortured relationship would go on for 8 years before it mercifully ended (with her infidelity).
I was set on a lost path at that point, one I never wanted to be on. I would enter every relationship I took on with the “long haul” in mind, even
if my partners in each case were not necessarily of the same mind. In the worst case, one young lady who was reaching the age of no longer being
able to get pregnant safely, did get pregnant. Despite her professing that she would never have an abortion, she did. There is not much help for
the men of post-abortion trauma. That relationship ended and she wanted no part of reconciling this tragedy. I carry the weight to this day, and
will to my grave.
Some years after that, I got involved with a woman who was not happy with her marriage, even as she was trying to get pregnant via IVF (you can’t make
this stuff up)! She came after me in a big way, and eventually I relented. This was as close as I would come to a family of my own. I ended up
loving that child, but when her mother’s hormones settled down, she was done with me, even as she lived under my roof and had an engagement ring
on her finger. I was crushed.
All I can say is that my life went off the rails in a big way because of the “sexual revolution”. The old ways were the right ways. Young people, please,
don’t ruin your life. God Bless you.
Submitted by JN.