Nonsense. You were in a liberal bubble then. There were a huge variety of attitudes but sexism towards women and double standards was completely normal and mainstream, as was homophobia and people used the fear of Aids to go after gay men in the press.
Rape in marriage was only criminalised in 1991.
You are simply and utterly incorrect that society as a whole was more laid back and liberal. There are facts to prove it, not a lot of anecdata about what you and your mates thought.
Remember Peter Lilley's Conservative party conference speech in 1992 and rant about single mothers? And the country had just elected another Conservative government on the back of their "Back to Basics" campaign about traditional morality. There was a massive moral panic about people my age (teens) and how we behaved. Michael Howard's Howard introduced the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. I well remember as I was a law student by then. The Act was massive and cracked down on rave culture, squatter rights, and ended a defendant's traditional right to silence. There was a huge crack down on alternative lifestyles and New Age travellers also.
Mainstream society was Conservative. Big C, small C.
The press of all stripes weaponised misogyny against young women, particularly Mandy Smith and Amanda de Cadenet. No focus whatsoever on the men exploiting them. The British press also operated within a climate of rampant institutionalised homophobia.
Gay marriage was not legalised until 2013 in the UK. David Cameron government. The Civil Partnership Act was 2004 under Tony Blair. Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988 restricting how local councils and authorities spent their budgets, effectively blocking them from funding LGBTQ+ support groups, helplines, library books, and inclusive school sex education wasn't repealed until 2003 in England and Wales.
Get your rose tinted fucking glasses off. We've come a long way since then but there was still plenty of wars to be won.