During the previous regime, Czechoslovakia underwent changes in its approach to relationships and sexuality. In the 1950s, sexologists advocated a loving and equal marriage, while in the 1970s, on the contrary, the supremacy of men over women. In addition, they carried out unusual research regarding the female orgasm or perhaps male homosexuality.
The Czech Institute of Sexology was founded in 1921, making it the oldest sexological university workplace in the world. According to sociologist Kateřina Lišková from the Academy of Sciences, it only became really active in the middle of the 20th century. For example, in the early 1950s there was research into the female orgasm.
“Sexologists began to pay attention to him at the invitation of gynecologists who were investigating why women under their care in Františkové Lázně without other gynecological problems could not get pregnant,” explains Lišková. The research took place as a long conversation between the doctor and the patient about various aspects of life.
Based on this, the experts finally came to the conclusion that women who have no problem getting pregnant and regularly reach orgasm live in a happy, loving and respectful marriage. So the recommendation sounded clear – a woman and a man must be equal in a relationship. This also corresponded with the then strong wave of emancipation.
Lišková states that, in addition to orgasm, Czech experts also studied homosexuality. The research eventually resulted in Czechoslovakia decriminalizing homosexuality in 1961, which was earlier than in some Western countries such as Great Britain, Germany or the United States.
But the progress and emancipation of the 1950s were gradually questioned. At the end of the 1960s, during a period of significant political changes, the situation changed. “As far as the gender structure is concerned, it was a time of the so-called return to the traditional family,” describes Lišková. This was reflected in the research of sexologists in the form of the recommendation that a marriage can be satisfied only if there is a hierarchy of man over woman in the relationship.
People took the recommendations of sexologists seriously. Lišková states that according to the sales of books on this topic, their representation in libraries, the number of costs and editions, it can be concluded that there was a great interest in them.
However, the books were not always successful only for educational reasons. Specifically, the one from the 1970s about the marital hierarchy caught the public’s attention with something else. “We asked men where they got sexually stimulating materials in the 1970s, when pornography was prohibited by law, and they mentioned this book surprisingly often,” says Lišková. Its first edition contained photos of sexual positions.
However, education in schools in the field of sex education was not so progressive. There were only occasional lectures on this topic in secondary schools and no systematic teaching took place. “The main problem was that there were no professional experts for this, and pedagogues did not know how to deal with it,” explains Lišková.
Tags: Czech sexologists oldest world Research female orgasm kicked emancipation
-
