ABSTRACT
B o t h the u n c r i t i c a l nos ta lg ia a n d the e q u a l l y u n c r i t i c a l s c a p e g o a t i n g w e r e , of course , caricatures . T h e rea l i ty of the sixties w a s m o r e c o m p l e x , m o r e a m b i g u o u s , a n d just m o r e d o w n r i g h t m u d d l e d t h a n s u c h select ive m e m o r i e s a n d interpreta t ions w i l l a l l o w . W h a t they share, h o w e v e r , is the ins t inc t that the decade w a s a c r u c i a l one: a t u r n i n g p o i n t o r w a t e r s h e d ; a m o m e n t w h e n , one w a y or another , s o m e t h i n g f u n d a m e n t a l c h a n g e d . A n d , e q u a l l y certainly, p e r s o n a l a n d s e x u a l m o r a l i t y w a s one of the m a j o r areas i n w h i c h s u c h change o c c u r r e d .
