Questions related to the sexual lives of peoples in the past are always tricky. Even now getting accurate information about peoples sexual habits can be very hard due to the nature of self-reporting on a taboo topic. We can certainly try to paint a broad picture, though, especially when it comes to more concrete things like contraception availability.
So there were technically lots of options for birth control at the time but whether or not a person had access to them is a different story. Just to give you an idea:
Spermacide in various forms would have been around for 40 years or so, although they were largely ineffective until 1906 when "Patenex" was put on the market. It claimed a familiar "1 in 100" failure rate. Prior to that you would have gotten some form of preparation made by a pharmacist by request that would have been of dubious quality.
Skin condoms would have been around for centuries but the newly invented latex condoms were definitely the easiest to make and the best selling of the 1920s. I cant stress enough how important the invention of the latex condom was to birth control. They were safer and cheaper to make and therefore much less expensive than their skin and rubber counterparts. They also remained effective for up to 5 years while the older rubber variety lasted only a few months in its package. By the start of the 1930s fully automated factories and standardized testing had become the norm and so we could say, depending slightly on the brand, that condoms in the 20s were just as effective as they are today.
You may be surprised to learn that IUDs were also available in the 1920s. Varieties made of silk and silver would have been those most likely used at that time. Their effectiveness is something of an unknown to me.
Oral contraception on the other hand was not an effective option. anything youd be told to take at this time would most likely be a folk remedy and not something youd get from a pharmacist or doctor.
From 1914 onwards, a growing movement (which was started by the likes of Emma Goldman and Margret Sanger) pushing for more access to birth control gained power. It did get slightly mixed up in the Eugenics movement at the time (mostly thanks to Sanger) but thats another topic....
Anyway, thanks to growing support from feminist groups and the widespread use of condoms by soldiers during WW1 the stage was set for some legislation. By 1918 Americans had the right to obtain birth control from clinics under the supervision of a physician in New York, for example. As time progressed more and more states accepted the legality of birth control and by 1926, at least, we start to see ads in print for the stuff. Thats not to say things were easy. Clinics were still being raided in 1929, and Mary Dennetts 1924 attempt at federal legislation fell flat.
So! Youve got quite a night planned. Its 1920 something. You are a young woman out on the town looking for love. Youve seen a physician the week before and obtained some form of birth control. Youve got your hair done, best dress on, some heels and make up. So where do you go?
The dance hall, sure. Or a concert or speakeasy are good bets. But, believe it or not, "petting parties" would be your best bet. These were social events specifically set up for young singles to talk, drink, smoke, and "cuddle". Another popular option for young lovers was the automobile. It provided the means of escape from the prying eyes of society and also a place to do the deed once you got there. How limited to petting were these parties and automobile trips? Well if we consider the skyrocketing sales figures of the aforementioned latex condoms we might guess that some real love making was going on.
TLDR: not very difficult at all! there were social functions and hang outs just like today where you could expect to find a casual fling. plus, youve got some familiar and effective forms of birth control to chose from.
my personal opinion? sex was more taboo but i dont think it was any less frequent than now. :)
hope that helps, its a fun question!
Sources:
Jutte R. (2008) Contraception: a History Polity Press
Collier, A. (2007). The Humble Little Condom: A History. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books
Tone, A. (1996). Controlling reproduction: an American history
edit: refined source as per mods request. these sources are the two from the excerpts from the previously linked article that are relevant.
Allen, Frederick Lewis. Only Yesterday: An Informal History of the Nineteen-Twenties. New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1931.
Andrist, Ralph K., ed. The American Heritage: History of the 20's & 30's. New York: American Heritage Publishing Co., Inc., 1970.
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I can tackle some of the contraception piece!
At this time, New York City was home to social reformers like Emma Goldman and Margaret Sanger, who were championing women's access to birth control--mostly barrier methods like cervical caps and diaphragms.
But while Sanger had set up her first clinic by 1920, access to quality reproductive care would have been far from widespread: this was just after the 1918 Crane decision that legalized contraception to prevent disease, and well before 1938's United States v. One Package of Japanese Pessaries, which established that the federal government couldn't interfere with a doctor prescribing birth control. Sanger's clinic was routinely shut down. Your flapper might be aware of her work, but while New York City would have had more early access and more widespread knowledge of birth control than many other parts of the country, she'd have been unlikely to be fitted for a diaphragm or cervical cap.
What was newly legal and increasingly popular were condoms. They'd first made their entrance in the U.S. market in the mid-19th century, but the 1873 Comstock Act made it illegal to send any “article of an immoral nature" through the mail, limiting condom access for three decades. Post-WWI, the U.S. was facing a venereal disease epidemic, with almost a quarter of WWI soldiers testing positive for sexually transmitted infections. American soldiers had seen widespread condom use firsthand among other Allied forces in Europe, ratcheting up demand.
In the wake of the 1918 Crane decision, legalizing condoms as a method of disease prevention, condom companies (with attendant cheeky marketing campaigns) were proliferating. So in 1920s New York, it wouldn't have been uncommon for a man-about-town to carry a tin of Devil Skin, Shadows, Merry Widows, or Salome condoms in his pocket. You could buy them in most drug suppliers, pharmacies, dry-goods retailers, or via mail order. This was before latex condoms took over the market, so a tin would have contained about three thick rubber condoms (which were frequently reused), for a cost of about $1.
Source:
Additionally, how prevalent is the risk of STIs?
Additionally, how safe am I?
As in, assault, rape, STDs, pregnancy?
Can you elaborate broadly on the eugenics movement you touched on? Like what it was, how popular it was and any really cool facts about it? Thanks!