the introduction of the birth-control pill certainly did a great deal to further the cause of the sexual revolution

Yes, because in the “good old days” in the Fifties, men, but not women, could screw around with impunity. Then the men would marry a “nice girl”.

Many men, and an astonishing number of women think that this double standard was a Good Thing.

It’s absurd to idealise the Fifties, a time when women did not have equal pay or equal rights to jobs, or over their own bodies. In fact it’s absurd to idealise any decade. But I certainly would not idealise the Sixties, though some good came out of it. Those who came to power in the Sixties have an iron grip over the minds of young people to rival anything their predecessors had. “Herd of independent minds” is spot on.