Koncesjonowana rewolucja seksualna? Przemiany obyczajowości w dyskursie medialnym późnego PRL

Abstract

A constrained sexual revolution? The transformation of sexual mores in the media discourse in 1980s Poland The author of the article analyses the media discourse of late socialist Poland through the lens of eroticised images. By doing so, the author puts forward a framework for understanding the media discourse of that period as a form of a constrained sexual revolution. The source base consists of the contents of two men’s magazines published between 1987 and 1989 (Pan [Gentleman] and Playboy) as well as the TV show Sexcesses produced in 1985. Such sources allow us to critically analyse the key features of the discussions about sexuality in 1980s media. On the one hand, the article highlights the notable liberalisation of visual discourse that took place in the 1980s and the profound impact it had on Polish society. On the other — it points to several constraints of this project. While in 1980s Poland heterosexual men were increasingly able to perform and reaffirm their sexual identities, the sexual revolution abetted by the official media did little to question the patriarchal social norms and left no room for emancipation outside this heteronormative framework. Women were portrayed as passive objects of the male gaze, while any suggestions of homoeroticism were dismissed outright. The article contains a critical analysis of such approaches, with the author arguing that the Polish sexual revolution had an inherently heteronormative and gendered character.