Is Britain still prudish?

Question

Has any of the uptight prudishness of Victorianism held over into contemporary Britain? Has Britain become as open about sexuality as the rest of Europe? How would it compare to the United States?

Answer 1

I think they are both about the same.

Answer 2

You may be interested to learn that historians disagree on just how prudish Britain was during the Victorian era. We were probably more liberal than most of the rest of the world. Popular history often isn't very accurate. Small, even insignificant, bits of "evidence" can be absorbed by an entire population and a view of an entire era is changed. For instance, many people know a story about Victorians covering up the legs of their tables, because they thought them indecent. This story almost certainly stems from a British tourist, writing from the US, describing what his American hosts did to their table legs.

Answer 3

I think you'd have to say that we're less prudish than the US and more prudish than many parts of Europe. This is reflected in the rates of teenage pregnancy, with the sexually repressed US having much higher rates than the UK, which in turn has higher rates than the more sexually open countries of Western Europe. Prudishness is definitely damaging. We should all be much more relaxed about sexuality and nudity.

Answer 4

Visit any high street in Britain on a Friday or Saturday night and tell me they are still uptight and prudish. They could not be further from it and anyone who says they are is just deluding themselves. You hear 11 year olds on buses going to school talking about oral sex, and 13 and 14 year old girls pregnant everywhere. It is very much on the same level as the US and i think its a crying shame. I say bring it back good old Victorianism and leave children to be children for as long as possible, adults well that's there own affair.

Answer 5

if you look at film censorship, then you will find that britain has some of the tightest censorhip in the world. thsi would suggest that we are more prudish than other countries. however if you look at youth culture you will find them very openly discussing things like sex and drugs in an unrestricted way. I think that Britain is as open as anywhere else

Answer 6

less so than in past times or as the media would less us think, I am a sociology student who recently moved to Britain and the Openness of the British (at least the ones I've met) was a pleasant surprise, three of my friends are gay and no one treats them differently and I am at a Christian College. Apparently research shows that British people are on of the most open Minded, In any case people can't be judged collectively that way, people are different so attitudes are different

Answer 7

Britain is still way behind the rest of europe when it comes to sexuality, and i doubt that will ever change sadly.We have a far higher rate of teenage pregnancies than the rest of europe, where they are more open about such things, so we are obviously doing something wrong.

Answer 8

No way! The U.S. is FAR more uptight about sexuality than the UK, generally speaking. In fact, the U.S. is definitely one of the more prudish nations in the western world--we're far more uptight about sex than the UK, Germany, France, Spain (ok, most of Europe), Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, etc.

Answer 9

The UK is so much more open than the USA (I am a Brit now living in the USA). Be it TV, people talking or just general willingness to talk about sex or very personal issues.
Having said that the US has a Passion to advertize and talk about mail enhancing drugs.......strange. Maybe that is just the major drug companies who are allowed to advertize on TV and have the money to make the male population think they need to boost performance by buying their drug...

Answer 10

You need to understand that 'prudishness' was an anomaly in our culture associated only with the 'Victorian' age...whereas this sort of behaviour is common to American culture and is indeed the evidence by which we in England enjoy the childishness of Americans at our leisure!

Answer 11

The U.S. has bigger problems right now but the U.K. isn't far beyond because of Bush's ignorant influence.

Look to France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Sweden, and Canada for any guidance.