It seems like over time, history has seen societies that are more open to special social interactions among its people (non-traditional religions, premarital sex, use of drugs, homosexuality, etc.), less open, and unevenly open. What do you think some of the most "permissive" periods and societies in human history have been? The most "restrictive"?
2007-10-14 17:41:38 · 5 answers · asked by SPQRCLAUDIUS 2 in Arts & Humanities ➔ History
Restrictive - religious societies like the Puritans, Sparta, Communist societies and Dictatorships (like the Nazi), the Middle Ages
Permissive - Renaissance/ Enlightenment, modern world apart from societies mentioned above
2007-10-14 21:54:44 · answer #1 · answered by misskitty 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I like William's answer. Weimar Germany was wide open.
The Nazi reign was restrictive, but the Puritan control of England in the Cromwell era of ~1650 to 1658 may be the most close minded of all. People were fined for swearing or for not attending the prescribed church. People who continued to swear went to jail. Sunday was so sacred that work of any kind or even a Sunday stroll was punishable. Christmas was outlawed! What sick person would outlaw Christmas celebration? In 1650s England there was no "fun" of any kind allowable. No sex (other than as prescribed), no gambling, no dancing, no theater, no frivolity of any kind. Women were not allowed to wear bright colors and extreme modesty was the order of the day. No wonder the English people were willing to beg Charles II to come back and be king by 1660. [They did apologize for cutting off his dad's head in 1649.]
2007-10-15 00:02:39 · answer #2 · answered by Spreedog 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The most obvious example to me would be two in immediate succession to one another. The society under the Weimar Republic in Germany was very open, too open to some tastes, and this society was over taken by one that felt it had been too open, National Socialism.
Shows what backlash can do, huh?
2007-10-14 22:27:05 · answer #3 · answered by william_byrnes2000 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In my opinion, one of the most restrictive societies would be the Puritans.
2007-10-14 17:44:19 · answer #4 · answered by Jen 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The most oppressive... Muslim fundamentalist
Most permissive... probably America today
2007-10-14 17:50:21 · answer #5 · answered by Brian W 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋