Gold Diggers of the Sexual Revolution

Abstract

Chapter Four considers the gold digger in the wake of the sexual revolution. The changes in sexual practices and mores that occurred during the 1960s worked to upend the conservative marital norms of the previous decade. In this context, marriage as an economic institution underwent a renewal not unlike the changes that caused the “first sexual revolution” in the early twentieth century. As more and more couples lived together without the legal bind of marriage, the alimony question assumed new forms. This chapter analyzes the legal battle between actor Lee Marvin and Michelle Triola, a conflict that reached the California Supreme Court and established the concept of “palimony,” a form of alimony available to unwed couples. Many commenters, such as writer Nora Ephron, condemned Triola as a gold digger for suing Marvin for financial support. Critics like Ephron regarded Triola’s lawsuit as a reproach of the women’s movement. Others, like Gloria Steinem and Gloria Allred, championed Triola’s cause as highlighting the inequities of modern marriage and divorce. The debate about Triola’s status as a gold digger was a referendum on larger questions surrounding women’s liberation in the 1970s.