May 68 and the changes in private life

a "sexual liberation"?

Anne-Claire Rebreyend

pp. 148-160

in: Julian Jackson, Anna-Louise Milne, James Williams (eds), May 68, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2011

Abstract

The crisis of May 68 brought to the fore an issue that had been brewing since the 1950s and 1960s in France. The matter in question was love and sexuality, specifically female sexuality and the sexuality of young people. The demand for sexual freedom played a key role in the onset of student protests that took place within university halls of residence (Antony in 1965, Nanterre in 1967). The events of May–June 1968 thus launched a period of "intimate exposure" during which the sexual expectations of individuals were freely stated for all to hear.¹