Free love

Free love is a social movement that accepts all forms of love. The movement's initial goal was to separate the state from sexual and romantic matters such as marriage, birth control, and adultery. It stated that such issues were the concern of the people involved and no one else.^[1] The movement began during the 19th century and was advanced by hippies during the 1960s and early 1970s.

The free love movement promoted the idea that consensual sexual and emotional relationships between adults should be free from state and religious interference, emphasizing personal freedom, sexual autonomy, and women’s rights. While intertwined with feminism and advocating for radical social change, the movement was often dominated by male voices and criticized for failing to significantly alter mainstream gender norms.

Throughout history, various utopian and radical movements have embraced the concept of free love as a challenge to conventional marriage and sexual norms. Early examples include the Adamites and Mazdakites, who rejected marriage and promoted communal or free sexual relations. In medieval Europe, sects like the Cathars and Brethren of the Free Spirit were persecuted for their unorthodox beliefs, including critiques of marriage and advocacy for celibacy or free love.

Enlightenment thinkers such as Mary Wollstonecraft and William Blake denounced marriage as oppressive, with Wollstonecraft portraying female sexual autonomy in her novels and personal life, while Blake critiqued religious chastity and advocated passionate love unfettered by law. Romantic poets like Percy Bysshe Shelley and Mary Shelley also embodied free love ideals in their writings and relationships. These ideas continued through the utopian socialism of thinkers like Charles Fourier and Robert Owen, who viewed the suppression of sexual freedom as socially harmful. By the 19th century, figures like Herbert Spencer were arguing for free divorce, reflecting the growing association between free love, feminism, and individual liberty. The Summer of Love in 1967 helped mainstream the Beat Generation’s ideals, fueling a broader counterculture and New Left movement that championed free love, anti-war sentiment, and sexual liberation.

^ McElroy, Wendy. "The Free Love Movement and Radical Individualism." Libertarian Enterprise .19 (1996): 1.

[1] McElroy, Wendy. "The Free Love Movement and Radical Individualism." Libertarian Enterprise .19 (1996): 1.

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