The clash of the sexual liberation movement and the Madonna-Whore complex

How the Madonna-Whore complex never left society after all despite the sexual revolution.

By: Venus Osmani, SATSC Contributor

cw: hypersexualization of women, mistreatment of women, racism

The sexual liberation movement began with the implementation of oral birth control pills in the United States, allowing for a drastic increase in female post-secondary graduates and careers. The benefits of easily accessible contraception were huge, but criticism can be given for the uprising in hypersexualizing of women seen in the media, notably Playboy magazines. The infamous rise of Hugh Hefner’s and his Playboy Mansion dominated the 60s sexual 

revolution of discarding the feminized norm of the “housewife” and embracing sex. The rise of Playboy was arguably one of the most influential marketing moves of the century. The company created an outlet for women to embrace sexual liberation after a puritan and sexually repressed America which was dominated by the Madonna-Whore complex proposed by psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud.  

The psychological dichotomy in Freud’s male patients essentially states women must be seen as either chaste and virginal or promiscuous and forthcoming; but never both. The great America prior to Playboy ostracized alleged sexual deviants and Hefner broke this ideology and challenged social restrictions. Playboy encouraged women to eradicate the norms of purity and to strive to become, for lack of better terms, sexual objects. 

Yes, Hefner encouraged women to express their sexual nature and reach beyond the prudish nature of social norms, but here is the main critique to the evolution of the sexual revolution: the movement “revolutionized” women as sexual objects but it grotesquely presented women as exactly that. Women were now reduced to objects separate to that of their own sexual desires, creating an even more restricted role to be confined to. After the publication of this reformed ideology, the market turned women's bodies into a profitable business. 

Aside from pure pornographic material, female sexual imagery leaked through to clothing, cosmetic and most famously, fragrance industries because ultimately, sex sells. But how this sexual imagery plays a role in what sexuality entails? 

Take Eva Mendes in the Calvin Klein Secret Obsession Ad or Victoria’s Secret in how embracing sexuality has its limitations based upon physical appearances. These advertisements show a woman who is not fully nude, yet still exposes herself entirely, containing the innocence centered around male dominated femininity — the epitome of the Madonna-Whore complex.  

The Madonna-Whore complex and the idea surrounding sexual liberation targets white women at its core. Birth control pills in the early 1960s allowed for women to gain bodily autonomy with the freedom of choice and sparked the discussion of female sexuality and social norms. What failed to be mentioned was whether the pill complicated racist degradation of Black fertility, evoking several campaigns to promote sexist norms within Black communities and degrade Black childbearing. 

Black women were given the opportunity to gain control over their reproductive rights more than ever before, so why the criticism towards the pill? From the early 1900s to 1970s, many states supported the false idea of eugenics, stating that Black people are biologically less intelligent than white people, often denoted as ‘scientific racism’.  

Despite a lack of scientific evidence to support Black inferiority, Black women were often sterilized regardless. So given the time period of the rise of eugenics and birth control, oral contraception was seen as a weapon against Black fertility as opposed to mere liberation and sexual endorsement towards predominantly white women. 

The question is whether Hefner's influence was for the greater good or greater evil. Playboy reconstructed social norms to create a sexual revolution for women and he was an open supporter of the civil rights and queer rights movements. However, the company was inherently misogynist and normalized the objectification of women and at large, it was established for the benefit of men. In fact, former playmate Sondra Theodore had described the abuse of the sedative Quaaludes used for sex under the codename ‘thigh openers’. 

Women are surrounded by sexuality in modern times. Much about sexual liberation is empowering and allows for reproductive control, but in another lens, the media perpetuates a sexually appealing standard for women to fulfill. Hugh Hefner advocated for supposed liberal feminism when mainstream society emphasized bachelorhood and promiscuity in opposition to the 1950s suburban dream. Nearly 70 years later, the Madonna-Whore complex continues to dictate internal misogyny: a spectrum of debauchery and chastity with no in-between.