LIFE.com: Taboo Then, Typical Now
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1960: A Presiden...
Even in the United States, a country founded in part on the principle of religious freedom, it was a huge deal when John F. Kennedy ran for the presidency -- his Roman Catholicism was seen as a liability, with many voters actually worried that if elected, Kennedy would take orders from the Pope. Since then, of course, candidates for the nation's highest office have represented different faiths and cultures. Pictured: President Kennedy leaving Mass in Washington, D.C., 1962. (Photo: STF/AFP/Getty Images/LIFE.com)
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1973: A TV Perso...
"An American Family," a PBS series that trailed a California couple and their five kids, is famous for two important "firsts" -- it is considered the first reality television show, and also the first series to feature an openly gay man. The family's eldest son, Lance Loud, essentially came out to a nation, and stirred controversy and conversation just by being himself. Pictured: Lance in Los Angeles in 1990, holding a photo of himself from the pioneering series. (Photo: Ann Summa/Getty Images/LIFE.com)
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Elvis Presley Sw...
It's hard to imagine in today's sex-soaked pop culture, but 55 years ago, on June 5, 1956, Americans sitting in their living rooms were shocked -- shocked! -- when Elvis Presley dared to gyrate his hips while performing his new single "Hound Dog" on "The Milton Berle Show." These days, Elvis' moves seem almost quaint -- but back then, they enraged ministers, inspired a jeering new nickname ("Elvis the Pelvis"), and led one New York critic to condemn him for "the kind of animalism that should be confined to dives and bordellos." But that taboo-shattering performance isn't the only shocker of the past that seems fairly common now. . . . (Photo: Frank Driggs Collection/Getty Images/LIFE.com)
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1987: George Mic...
Newly solo and apparently eager to go in an edgier new direction, the former star of Wham! released a single with a very frank title: "I Want Your Sex." Several radio stations banned it, and even MTV was skittish, airing the video (featuring a woman in a teddy and garters) in the wee hours. Today, of course, pop music is much more graphic sexually -- the week this gallery was published, for example, Rihanna's "S and M" and Jeremih's "Down On Me" were top hits. (Photo: Dave Hogan/Getty Images/LIFE.com)
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1949: Marilyn Mo...
Dropped from her studio contract and struggling to make ends meet, the aspiring Hollywood star earned $50 bucks by posing nude for photographer Tom Kelley. A few years later, that session (pictured) threatened to ruin her burgeoning career, after a photo popped up in a calendar and, later, in the debut issue of Hugh Hefner's Playboy. These days, doing a little cheesecake is no big whoop -- in fact, many big names (Drew Barrymore, Kim Kardashian, Kim Basinger) have willingly and enthusiastically posed for Playboy. (Photo: Getty Images/LIFE.com)
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1950s and '60s: ...
Before Richard Pryor, before Louis C.K., before George Carlin and his "7 dirty words," there was Lenny Bruce. In the early '60s, the stand-up comedian was arrested several times for using obscenities in his act -- once a cop booked him for saying the word "schmuck." In 1964, Bruce was convicted on obscenity charges, and was sentenced to four months in a workhouse. He died during the appeals process. Decades later, he received a posthumous pardon by New York Gov. George Pataki. (Photo: Julian Wasser/Time and Life Pictures/Getty Images/LIFE.com)
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1950: Ingrid Ber...
It's the kind of story that makes huge tabloid headlines: A beautiful, married film star has an affair on a movie set. But an actress today probably would not face the wrath that Ingrid Bergman did for committing adultery with director Roberto Rossellini (the affair came to light when she became pregnant). The U.S. Senate even addressed the affair, with Colorado's Edwin C. Johnson denouncing Bergman as "a powerful influence for evil." The shame drove the actress to leave Hollywood for Italy; she would not return for several years. Pictured: Bergman in an Italian village during the making of "Stromboli," her first film with Rossellini. (Photo: Gordon Parks/Time and Life Pictures/Getty Images/LIFE.com)
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