A permissive society, also referred to as permissive culture, is used to describe a society in which social norms become increasingly liberal, especially with regard to sexual freedom and profanity.
[1][2] The term is often used pejoratively by cultural conservatives to criticise what is seen as a breakdown in traditional values, such as greater acceptance of premarital sex, an increase in divorce rates, and acceptance of non-traditional relationships such as cohabitation and homosexuality.
A. P. Herbert, an English humorist, novelist, playwright, law reformist, and Member of Parliament, has been described as the "Father of the Permissive Society," particularly for his championing of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1937, which extended the grounds for divorce.
[3] It was particularly used during the Sexual Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s in Western culture by opponents of the changes in attitudes of the era.
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