It was never about promiscuity, but about removing the state from the bedroom
The popular image of free love is one of 1960s hedonism. However, the historical movement was less about seeking multiple partners and more about a radical legal boundary: the belief that consensual adult relationships should be entirely free from religious and state interference.
Historically, the free love movement sought to separate the state from matters of marriage, birth control, and adultery. Rather than advocating for short-term sexual encounters, proponents argued that any relationship entered into freely should be able to be initiated or terminated at will, without legal or religious regulation. This philosophy spanned centuries, from the 2nd-century Adamites, who practiced nudism and rejected marriage, to the 19th-century thinkers who viewed sexual autonomy as a cornerstone of individual liberty.
The movement was deeply intertwined with the struggle for women's rights. In the 1850s, advocates like Mary Gove Nichols described marriage as the 'annihilation of woman,' noting that legal structures often treated wives as the property of their husbands. For many, true sexual freedom was impossible without bodily autonomy and access to contraception. This radicalism extended to the Enlightenment, where figures like Mary Wollstonecraft and William Blake critiqued marriage laws as oppressive and compared them to slavery.
Despite its links to feminism, the movement faced significant internal contradictions. While it championed women's rights, it was often dominated by male voices. In the 1960s, even as the 'Summer of Love' brought these ideals to the mainstream, many male participants continued to view women through a lens of availability. By the 20th century, the movement's visibility fluctuated, from the anarchist activism of Emma Goldman to the 1920s intellectual revival in Greenwich Village, always battling obscenity laws and social stigma.
Source: Free love
