The politics of sex is more basic than any other aspect. Sex is a dominant force in human society even if it is "underground" a good share of the time. Without getting too Freudian it also is there when there are no overt signs of it. The politics of sex has become central in this country for many reasons. It also has world wide political meaning and is a dominant factor in our survival as a species in more ways than one. As a biologist, I have a good excuse for my interest in the topic. For a good discussion of sex that is lots of fun I highly recommend the bookDeath and Sex by Tyler Volk and Dorion Sagan. I was motivated to write this diary because of a post on BeingLiberal on facebook today:Rick Santorum Pledges To Ban Government Funding Of Contraceptives, Says Sex Should Only Be For Procreation I normally don'r react to this mindless banter but I think that may be a mistake in this case. I like the way BeingLiberal responded and will let you pursue that through the link. Read on for a discussion of this important topic.
The reason sex is so central to everything is obvious from a biological perspective. The attractiveness, the pleasure, the deeply natural drives and feelings we experience as sexual beings (I should say animals) is why the species has persisted. Yet why all the controversy? Why all the political attempts to control us through our sexuality and especially through making it the subject of so many repressive laws? The assumption put forth is often something like if we were allowed to follow our instincts there would be chaos. The Church picked up on this early on and the union between repressive religious practices and repressive politics is a natural. In his book God is Red: A Native View of Religion Vine Deloria Jr. talks about the creation myths we seem to accept as a valid replacement for evolutionary theory. His perspective on the Christian myth is very interesting and insightful. Imagine what we might be like if we had never been subjected to the idea of a "fall". Imagine what we might be like if we were not taught that when humankind fell the entire creation was also tainted. Imagine what our relationship with the environment might be like if we had not been brainwashed with this debasing myth. Imagine what our attitude towards sex would be if we had not been subjected to the notion that it was in some way behind the fall. These possibilities are hard to imagine and that is, in itself, a testimony to the power of this myth.
It is hard to imagine how much of our worldview and belief structure results from these kinds of teachings, especially when we have all this powerful science and technology to loll in and provide entertainment and diversion to sublimate our sex drive. Yet it is not a happy story. The repression of sex is, in a way, like the prohibition of alcohol and the illegal status of certain chemicals called "drugs". It is interesting to look at cultures where drugs had a role in religion and worship.
The irony of what someone like Santorum has professed is that he goes back to the basic biological truth "sex is for procreation". From that simple truth he gathers all the baggage that religion has added and adds the word "only". Sorry but that is unAmerican and inhuman. Sex has to be for recreation or the species would not be here. Granted that people combine the two when they want children. The reality of life is that to be able to have the power to teach anyone that having fun and pleasure is sin is real power. When you have that kind of power over people you have real control. Therefore sex becomes a central political issue. We might think about a "Freudian politics" to explore this aspect of what is going on in our world today. Attacks on choice. Attacks on gays. Attacks on Planned parenthood. And so on. These political moves would be ridiculous if the public were not already conditioned to feel that sex is "sin" and "dirty". The most natural thing we have is totally perverted by the myths and superstitions that dominate our thinking. The domination is so effective because the ideas are not even close to conscious. They are taught to us as young children and they are very deep in our being by the time we are adults. The psychiatrists and other "helpers" make a good share of their living from this.
Now let's get to another facet of all this. The ads and the whole consumer based economy we are seeing collapse. Sex is central in all of this. As the Churches, etc. try to teach us how bad it is their members go out and seduce to buy and consume using the very same thing they condemn.
The lack of rationality and conscious behavior in humans can not be more evident than when it comes to this very basic aspect of their being. The contradictions and the tensions built into every aspect of our lives is obvious and invisible at the same time. Do you really want a revolution? Do you really want a sane society? Then it must be done by getting rid of the notion that our basic biological drives are "wrong". It must be done by getting rid of any notion that the nature of humans and of the planet were made evil at the time of some mythical creation.
Religious freedom? Religious freedom is not the freedom to dominate everyone's thinking in these ways. Religious freedom is not the freedom to enslave people with fear and an inability to come to grips with their mortality. We have been had and we don't seem to be able to deal with it.
As Occupy wall street evolves I wonder whether or not these considerations will determine how far it can go. I will probably not live to find out, but good luck!