Abstract
British-Australian counterculture magazine Oz (1963–1973) was a subversive imagetext platform for anti-establishment issues, prominent among which were free love and sex. Particularly controversial was the “Schoolkids” issue (May 1970), which led to the editors’ indictment for obscenity. Oz presented progressive ideas on sex, but also conventionally sexist contents. For example, “Schoolkids” featured images of free and passionate lesbian sexuality, as well as a comic strip depicting the violent deflowering of an objectified female. The trial dwelled on these examples not from an anti-sexist standpoint, but from a conservative one, disapproving of explicit sexuality. This article argues that Oz was a sort of peer sex education agent for young British readers, and discusses its sexual discourse from the perspective of critical pedagogy, which considers visual culture a key educational vehicle. It analyses the magazine’s messages in the context of contested conceptions of sexuality in 1960s–1970s Britain, according to three themes: Sexist and objectifying discourse; Feminist critical discourse; and Egalitarian and subversive discourse. The article concludes by suggesting that despite its weaknesses and contradictions, Oz reflected a utopian version of the sexual revolution – which, as conceded in retrospect by one of its few female authors, Germaine Greer – was (and is) yet to come.
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Notes
Cook (2014) cites surveys according to which in 1963, 28.6% of boys and 55.8% of girls were opposed to premarital sex; by 1970s, the ratios changed to 10.3% and 14.6% respectively.
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I am grateful to Julie Clarke Neville for her permission to use the images and to UOW Archives for the reproductions.
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Gil-Glazer, Y. Between Sexism and Sexual Liberation: Oz Magazine as Sex Education Agent in Britain in the 1960s–1970s. Sexuality & Culture 27, 211–241 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-022-10010-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-022-10010-w