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Media Credit: Stephanie Thomas Two DSC students talk with Dr. Ron Morrision, right, after his lecture "The Metamorphosis of Sex and Marriage in the 20th Century America" held at DSC main campus in late October.

"Sex and marriage is just not what it used to be!"

These were the opening words of Dr. Ron Morrison at the lecture he presented to the large crowd of students who filled the auditorium of the science building on Thursday October 29th. Not only were there no empty seats in the room but students were crammed into every possible nook and cranny to hear Dr. Morrison's presentation The Metamorphosis of Sex and Marriage in the 20th Century America. "What have we done to marriage?"

According to Morrison, one of the most profound factors of change concerning sex and marriage was World War II.

The 1940's were the age of "patriotism" and "passion" in which young people were affected by the disrupted physical impact on the family life as they packed up and left for WWII. They knew that each day might be their last and in response concluded they should "live for the moment."

This time of sexual experimentation resulted in eroded sexual restraints and between 1943 and 1945 the greatest sexual free-for-all in American history occurred. Sex was not confined within the boundaries of marriage and both soldiers over seas and their wives back home were carrying on extramarital relations. This era attributed to the 500,000 divorces that took place in 1946 after soldiers returned home from the war.

As America came to the conclusion that we needed to overcome the mentality that endorsed the staggering number of divorces and illegitimate children, religion and government joined together to promote sexual containment. Sexual liberation was considered unpatriotic.

The 1950's became a short age of conformity in which women returned to their "June Cleaver" roles. This sexual containment and confusion shortly left the "last generation of innocence" behind as rock and roll welcomed the swinging of hips and the 1960's.

In came the age of permissiveness, where one was encouraged to experience and confront life. With the introduction of birth control, mini skirts and Playboy magazine, any reasons to avoid sexual activity because of fear of pregnancy was left behind and marriage lost even more ground as the one place for sexual intimacy. The spirit of liberation and individualism that came with the 1970's brought what was called "the wildest decade" in America's sexual history.

Sixty years later, after the wave "sexual liberation," here the nation stands with the world's greatest divorce rate of 54 percent and that's after a 23 percent decline in marriages. Studies show that though the marriage rate goes down as the cohabitation rate goes up, the divorce rate continues to increase.

This is especially true among those who first cohabited before marriage. Society and family is becoming less child centered, marriages are ending in divorce and people aren't claiming responsibility for these results.

"We don't do relationships well." Morrison states. "But we can fix it. We need to realize we need each other. People weren't meant to go through life alone. One problem is that we're taught Math, English and History in school, but we're not taught relationships and how to relate to others. We're taught instead that we're supposed to be self-sufficient and if we aren't, we're weak. Marriage should, in fact, be the opposite, a co-dependant relationship. We need to teach this to people. We need each other."

"We need to quit trying to redefine the institution of marriage, because there will never be any end to it. Where will it stop? You redefine it for one person, you'll have to redefine it for someone else because not everyone will be happy where it ends up. You have to stop and draw the line somewhere! We can't afford any more devaluation of marriage. "

Morrison believes that divorce has seemingly become peoples' shortcut to happiness. If one of the couple simply no longer feels "happy" they have the "right" to get divorced.

Throughout the lecture and expressed during an open Q and A, Morrison said, "The biggest issue people struggle with, which attributes to divorce is the fact that people have 'I ' trouble. They seek relationships for personal benefit. They have lost track of balance."

"Until they realize that marriage is a partnership, a team, to which both people have to contribute, it won't work. It's like a submarine. No matter how great it is it will only work if you're completely inside it."

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