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hiddenmuseWhen I get bored - or I get into a no-attention-span mode - I troll through the various communities in lj-land, to see what is out there.
Some of the communities are disturbing (especially the pro-anorexia groups, and the subdivisions thereof - mainly by religion, sexuality, or clique), and some are just really fucking weird, like the anti-porn communities. (There's one in particular that I can link to ... I'd just prefer to not have anything remotely indicative of porn, pro or con, on the work computer tracking)
What cracked me up about the particular community I'm going to discuss is that one of their "intro surveys" asks for members' 'sexual preference'. Those that have answered this particular survey usually put 'straight', with a few indicating 'straight/asexual'.
*Thinks about the straight/asexual orientation for a few seconds - then stops before risk of an aneurism sets in.*
We are ALL sexual. When you call yourself 'straight', you have pretty much obviated the option of 'asexual' as an orientation.
It's not possible to be simultaneously heterosexual and asexual, because to be asexual, you are saying that you are "not sexual; without sexuality." Calling yourself straight, you're saying that your sexuality is heterosexual, therefore negating the statement.
Perhaps a more valid statement would be for them to call themselves "straight/abstinent" or "straight/celibate", thereby acknowledging their sexuality, as well as their preference to not have sex before marriage or before a committed relationship, whichever the case may be.
I have nothing against their stance - they are allowed their opinions. It just bothers me that they seem to be so misguided in how they've declared their sexuality (or the lack thereof). And, I know, it shouldn't bother me, but it does - because I'd spent so long in a similar haze of obliviousness, unaware of my own sexuality (and no, I don't mean my queerness).
What bothers me is seeing people that don't realize that as human beings, we are sexual, regardless of experience or orientation. Being sexual means that we have the capacity to experience sexual feelings, be sexually active, so on and so forth. We are sexual from the day we come out of the womb, until the day we take our last breath. Boy babies are capable of experiencing erections in utero - so, obviously sexuality is an innate thing.
Unfortunately, well-intended people have taken sexuality and perverted it, turning it into something that society has to be protected from, something to be afraid of - rather than something to be understood. It has been turned into the punchline of jokes, neverending comments made about men and their out-of-control libidos, women and their virtue to be protected, blah blah blah.
At the same time, we're seeing the sexualizing of children and teenagers, but parents aren't willing to discuss sex with their kids, instead turning it over to the government, expecting those doddering deadwoods to come up with the Balm of Gilead to soothe that which ails us all.
We need to educate ourselves, to work past the ignorance and double-talk. In turn, we need to educate our children so they aren't afraid of their sexuality - and don't call themselves "asexual". They're human, not unicellular animals!
Some of the communities are disturbing (especially the pro-anorexia groups, and the subdivisions thereof - mainly by religion, sexuality, or clique), and some are just really fucking weird, like the anti-porn communities. (There's one in particular that I can link to ... I'd just prefer to not have anything remotely indicative of porn, pro or con, on the work computer tracking)
What cracked me up about the particular community I'm going to discuss is that one of their "intro surveys" asks for members' 'sexual preference'. Those that have answered this particular survey usually put 'straight', with a few indicating 'straight/asexual'.
*Thinks about the straight/asexual orientation for a few seconds - then stops before risk of an aneurism sets in.*
We are ALL sexual. When you call yourself 'straight', you have pretty much obviated the option of 'asexual' as an orientation.
It's not possible to be simultaneously heterosexual and asexual, because to be asexual, you are saying that you are "not sexual; without sexuality." Calling yourself straight, you're saying that your sexuality is heterosexual, therefore negating the statement.
Perhaps a more valid statement would be for them to call themselves "straight/abstinent" or "straight/celibate", thereby acknowledging their sexuality, as well as their preference to not have sex before marriage or before a committed relationship, whichever the case may be.
I have nothing against their stance - they are allowed their opinions. It just bothers me that they seem to be so misguided in how they've declared their sexuality (or the lack thereof). And, I know, it shouldn't bother me, but it does - because I'd spent so long in a similar haze of obliviousness, unaware of my own sexuality (and no, I don't mean my queerness).
What bothers me is seeing people that don't realize that as human beings, we are sexual, regardless of experience or orientation. Being sexual means that we have the capacity to experience sexual feelings, be sexually active, so on and so forth. We are sexual from the day we come out of the womb, until the day we take our last breath. Boy babies are capable of experiencing erections in utero - so, obviously sexuality is an innate thing.
Unfortunately, well-intended people have taken sexuality and perverted it, turning it into something that society has to be protected from, something to be afraid of - rather than something to be understood. It has been turned into the punchline of jokes, neverending comments made about men and their out-of-control libidos, women and their virtue to be protected, blah blah blah.
At the same time, we're seeing the sexualizing of children and teenagers, but parents aren't willing to discuss sex with their kids, instead turning it over to the government, expecting those doddering deadwoods to come up with the Balm of Gilead to soothe that which ails us all.
We need to educate ourselves, to work past the ignorance and double-talk. In turn, we need to educate our children so they aren't afraid of their sexuality - and don't call themselves "asexual". They're human, not unicellular animals!
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no subject
Date: 2004-08-11 11:32 am (UTC)What else I thinkis sad is how sex is demonized in our society. I mean, you can have a movie with blood, guts, shootings and stabbings, and it'll only have a PG-13 rating. But you put one sex scene in it and it's suddenly rated R. I just don't understand why violence is okay for children to watch, but not an act of love between two people.
no subject
Date: 2004-08-11 01:17 pm (UTC)Or, I'm just over-estimating the intelligence level of the general population again. ;)