For those who were actually old enough to have experienced the 1970s and not for those who were born in the 70s. What were the pros and cons of that era?
09.06.2025 10:59
The biggest differences between then and now concern sex, marriage, feminism.
In the 1970s, Americans thought of their nation as the Greatest Nation on Earth.
Times have changed.
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Sex outside of marriage was still controversial, along with any other sexual irregularity. I recall hearing about the Maine legislature trying to pass a reform that would legalize some of the things my wife and I did. And I remember a woman telling me about how unhappy her father was when he learned that she was living with her boyfriend. Unmarried women weren’t supposed to get pregnant. Gays could be jailed!
My wife stayed at home for years, taking care of the children. That was still common then. I can remember people asking what’s the point of spending money on a daughter's education, since they would just marry and quit work, like my wife did.
The 70s were a time for mild summers and cold winters for me. I lived in upstate New York and New England.
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Now in 2025, MAGA people dislike a polyglot (multi-language) America and look back to the past as the era when America used to be Great. They want to be led by an elderly guy who misremembers that era.
When people learned that President Richard Nixon had broken the law, he was forced to resign. Can you imagine that happening now in 2025?
I remember voting for a moderate Republican representative when I lived in Western Massachusetts. Can’t do that now. President Nixon, a Republican, signed Civil Rights acts and established the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Republicans are opposing the EPA now.
The war in Vietnam cast an ugly shadow on everything political, even years after South Vietnam fell (1975).
Inflation was a problem throughout that era. Everyone was concerned about it but no one could control it. It was much worse than anything since.
Conservatives were often polite. The group they expressed the most hatred toward were Russians. Former President Ford, a Republican, eventually became a friend of the liberal Jimmy Carter.
Politics was almost rational back then.
People from other nations disagreed but we were wealthy, powerful, and were advancing everything from science to entertainment. This quote, from the 1980s, applies equally to the 70s.
A few brave women were breaking barriers. Sandra Day O'Connor, broke barriers in the legal profession. This picture shows swearing-in ceremonies at the Arizona Supreme Court.
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People had begun talking about feminism and the proposed Equal Rights amendment to the US Constitution.
Nowadays, it isn’t remarkable for my daughter to be an attorney or my wife to become a university professor. The Equal Rights amendment became less necessary after courts realized that the words persons and citizens in the US constitution must include women.
There was also anti-feminist backlash. I remember people making fun of bra-burners, though hardly any woman did that. Some people said things I can’t repeat here.
Times have changed.
Times have changed.
Times haven’t changed. Anti-feminism is still alive today.
America stands unique in the world: the only country not founded on race but on a way, an ideal. Not in spite of but because of our polyglot background, we have had all the strength in the world. That is the American way.
I married at the age of 22. Early marriage was common back then. People also had more children.