The hippies of the 1960s were champions of "free love," an early version of sex-positive culture. They shocked the conservative establishment by resisting the Vietnam war, rejecting materialism, promoting marijuana and LSD, and celebrating sexuality of all kinds. Their best-known slogan was "Make love, not war." Their movement died out, but for a while they were the conscience of a nation.

I think what they were trying for was a more humanistic culture, one where love and touch were valued over money and power. If that spirit of embracing all that makes us human--starting with our sexuality--can make a comeback, then the world will be a warmer and less lonely place.

But the double standard poisons everything by making sex a predatory enterprise. Men only think they win by exploiting and shaming women; truth is, everybody loses.