The sexual revolution was supposed to set us free — no more shame, no more coercion, no more female subservience. We were told that a new culture of no-strings-attached sex would give women the opportunity to revel in their sexual autonomy.I used to believe that liberal narrative. As a younger woman, I looked at the hard-won achievements of the feminists who came before me, and assumed that this history was simple: a woman's lot was better than ever before, and it would only continue to improve. Now we had the Pill and equal opportunities in the workplace, nothing would stand in our way.However, I no longer believe that. The feminist achievements of our foremothers are immensely valuable and should never be rolled back. But the digital age has brought with it a host of new problems for young women, and we are now discovering that our supposed freedom has come with terrible costs. A failure to balance sexual freedom against other virtues like respect, restraint and chivalry means we now find ourselves in thrall to the very worst of male sexuality.
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