20 Somethings- Then & Now

While sexual harassment didn't even have a name in the early '80s, it seems some things stay the same. Le Masurier says: "Maternity leave was an issue in the '70s, in the '80s, in the '90s and remains so. It is a scandal that Australia still penalises women financially - and emotionally - for having children."

Marriage was pretty much the 'done thing' for women in the '80s, still. "There was a lot of discussion about the point of marriage and much talk about 'living together' - the idea of 'living in sin' disappeared in the late '70s. It seemed the 'liberated' thing to do. But until the law caught up with social practices - until de factos were recognised as legally entitled to a share of the assets in a break-up - most women still saw marriage as a far more sensible option."

Salt says the Gen Y-ers are more cautious about tying the knot, with the average marriage only lasting seven years and about 50 per cent ending in divorce. "Gen Y tend to 'hook up', dismantle and re-hook up in a series of sequential monogamous relationships. It's serial monogamy. Gen Y don't make commitments until the end of their 20s, instead 'road-testing' relationships. Alternatively, the Boomers may have been promiscuous for a few years, but they were still married by 21 and 22."

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Sexual awakening was slow-coming in the '80s - an era that said hello to AIDS. Le Masurier says: "In 1982, the G-spot became news. For women, it was both a blessing and a curse. For those women who did manage to orgasm through vaginal penetration, the G-spot explained everything. For the majority who didn't, the G-spot became an elusive cause of much anxiety."

Things are different today, she says. "There is no question that young women know more about sex, their bodies, and their potential for sexual pleasure than 20 years ago. There is also much less shame about masturbation, which remained a subject of intense privacy and guilt, even in the '80s. The other very positive change in the past 20 years is the accessibility and acceptability of vibrators. A girl's best friend. And most men are no longer threatened by this third partner in the bed. Technology has solved the orgasm issue for a lot of women. Men should be grateful."

For trailblazing, pin-up '80s girl Madonna, the reverse has been true. She has swapped the overt sexuality of her Erotic and Bedtime Stories days for a more subdued, sophisticated persona. Even mothers would love her.

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