Seeking Sexual Morality for Our Times
The other day, I read in a newspaper about two separate incidents of a 9-year old and a 10-year old kid found involved in sexual activities. Reacting to this some activists opined that it's time we set-up condom vending machines in schools and some even talked of introducing sex-education from preschool. The incident and the reactions to it have both set me worrying about the future of human society.
I pondered deeply on this issue. When I say deep, I mean to have begun from whether this issue has to be reckoned with as a problem in the first place, to identifying it with a cultural decadence that forebodes a doomed humanity. And, deep thought has always driven me to suspension of judgement.
All the views and the counter views on this subject have only scratched the surface without getting at their implications. None of them seem to sufficiently gauge the magnitude of the problem. Those who have offered a solution seem more concerned about their view than the issue. Dread of public eye and uncritical thinking are evident in their answers. Being a conformist or a non-conformist is vital to them. The views are obviously not well considered.
Either we admit there is no solution to this problem, it being a by-product of the human progress and we do not waste our energies in seeking a solution thereof, or we are prepared to give up our allegiance to uncritical beliefs, though they have been the bedrock of our lives.
Coming back to the issue. Can't we do away with sexual morality altogether? Why, among other moralities, does sex occupy the limelight? Is the insistence on curbing uncontrolled sex instinct baseless? Extra-marital sex, unmarried pregnancy, overdose of sexual knowledge before the right age must have bothered societies of the past. But, we of the 21st century do not see them as threats anymore. Love need not be bound by sexual fidelity. It's only a question of educating people about sexual rights and sexual responsibilities. But, is this education mere information?
Why can't we commend the boy's discovery of a sexual outlet for the feeling that would have troubled him for good number of years? If our psyche is cleared off the age-old taboo associated with sex, then the only cause of concern would be the physical harm the boy might subject himself to. Take care of it, and what he indulged is nothing but a self-actualisation process. And, the sooner one does it, the better. Once we come to accept these ideas, we shall even be able to countenance incest, homosexuality so far as they don't violate other's right to sexuality.
Why, then, is it considered immodest when my mouth waters at the sight of beautiful thighs or when watching a cleavage laid bare? How could I be merely appreciative of her beauty without these so called nasty feeling raging within me? I beg a girl to instruct me in the kind of admiration she expects of me when she flaunts her beautiful body. Is it not too much to expect a voluntary control over one's feelings while they are still the initial sniffings of the mind? Is it always mind over matter and never vice-versa?
Which is that glorified life that produces saner individuals? Individuals who harbour a very broad outlook towards sexuality and at the same time do not bring it to centrestage. Because sexual activists in throwing down the walls surrounding it, could not help going overboard in representing sexuality as the summum bonnum of human existence. Their advocating sexual rights over cultural norms seems to accord with the materialistic view that pleasure is the goal of life.
If mutual consent and sexual responsibility is all it takes, along with non-conformism with the past, then why can't I be sleeping around with anybody? The newfangled propaganda doesn't seem to invoke in me the kindred distinction, rather it abolishes such distinction. It is only culture that brings it out. The hands of culture have shaped my instincts very differently from that of a hog, my discretion comes prior to my impulses.
In the persuasion of the activists, I find that the human capacity to override instinct has been employed to strengthening it. Activists claim that women baring themselves is a celebration of their femininity. Equal rights could be had by asserting their sexual prowess over men. A woman regarded for her sexuality isn't demeaning just as men are recognised for their strength. And, they also wage a parallel war against being treated as sex-objects. To ooze sexuality is their right, but for men to admire it exclusively is unwholesome. I could never comprehend this paradox and also could never understand what these women are doing in an ad for men's underwear. What is that unexplored something apart from sexuality that escapes my notice?
I am not denouncing women, mind you. I am denouncing these so called activists. Women beware; men will always rule you either by strength or by ruse. Your empowerment panders to their voyeurism. Common men may treat you as sex-objects but the activist kind treat you as sex-puppets. They employ you not only for themselves but showcase you before the whole world and make a fortune while you are basking under the false glory of women empowerment.
Does your employer never take into account your sexuality apart from your education, your sweet voice, your interpersonal skills while offering you a job as a secretary, a receptionist and a counsellor?
I pondered deeply on this issue. When I say deep, I mean to have begun from whether this issue has to be reckoned with as a problem in the first place, to identifying it with a cultural decadence that forebodes a doomed humanity. And, deep thought has always driven me to suspension of judgement.
All the views and the counter views on this subject have only scratched the surface without getting at their implications. None of them seem to sufficiently gauge the magnitude of the problem. Those who have offered a solution seem more concerned about their view than the issue. Dread of public eye and uncritical thinking are evident in their answers. Being a conformist or a non-conformist is vital to them. The views are obviously not well considered.
Either we admit there is no solution to this problem, it being a by-product of the human progress and we do not waste our energies in seeking a solution thereof, or we are prepared to give up our allegiance to uncritical beliefs, though they have been the bedrock of our lives.
Coming back to the issue. Can't we do away with sexual morality altogether? Why, among other moralities, does sex occupy the limelight? Is the insistence on curbing uncontrolled sex instinct baseless? Extra-marital sex, unmarried pregnancy, overdose of sexual knowledge before the right age must have bothered societies of the past. But, we of the 21st century do not see them as threats anymore. Love need not be bound by sexual fidelity. It's only a question of educating people about sexual rights and sexual responsibilities. But, is this education mere information?
Why can't we commend the boy's discovery of a sexual outlet for the feeling that would have troubled him for good number of years? If our psyche is cleared off the age-old taboo associated with sex, then the only cause of concern would be the physical harm the boy might subject himself to. Take care of it, and what he indulged is nothing but a self-actualisation process. And, the sooner one does it, the better. Once we come to accept these ideas, we shall even be able to countenance incest, homosexuality so far as they don't violate other's right to sexuality.
Why, then, is it considered immodest when my mouth waters at the sight of beautiful thighs or when watching a cleavage laid bare? How could I be merely appreciative of her beauty without these so called nasty feeling raging within me? I beg a girl to instruct me in the kind of admiration she expects of me when she flaunts her beautiful body. Is it not too much to expect a voluntary control over one's feelings while they are still the initial sniffings of the mind? Is it always mind over matter and never vice-versa?
Which is that glorified life that produces saner individuals? Individuals who harbour a very broad outlook towards sexuality and at the same time do not bring it to centrestage. Because sexual activists in throwing down the walls surrounding it, could not help going overboard in representing sexuality as the summum bonnum of human existence. Their advocating sexual rights over cultural norms seems to accord with the materialistic view that pleasure is the goal of life.
If mutual consent and sexual responsibility is all it takes, along with non-conformism with the past, then why can't I be sleeping around with anybody? The newfangled propaganda doesn't seem to invoke in me the kindred distinction, rather it abolishes such distinction. It is only culture that brings it out. The hands of culture have shaped my instincts very differently from that of a hog, my discretion comes prior to my impulses.
In the persuasion of the activists, I find that the human capacity to override instinct has been employed to strengthening it. Activists claim that women baring themselves is a celebration of their femininity. Equal rights could be had by asserting their sexual prowess over men. A woman regarded for her sexuality isn't demeaning just as men are recognised for their strength. And, they also wage a parallel war against being treated as sex-objects. To ooze sexuality is their right, but for men to admire it exclusively is unwholesome. I could never comprehend this paradox and also could never understand what these women are doing in an ad for men's underwear. What is that unexplored something apart from sexuality that escapes my notice?
I am not denouncing women, mind you. I am denouncing these so called activists. Women beware; men will always rule you either by strength or by ruse. Your empowerment panders to their voyeurism. Common men may treat you as sex-objects but the activist kind treat you as sex-puppets. They employ you not only for themselves but showcase you before the whole world and make a fortune while you are basking under the false glory of women empowerment.
Does your employer never take into account your sexuality apart from your education, your sweet voice, your interpersonal skills while offering you a job as a secretary, a receptionist and a counsellor?
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