Here's my sub-amateur historian answer:
It's part of a general trend towards personal liberty that began with the Protestant Reformation (starting in 1517), which I'd argue is the most significant event in Western History.
Prior to it, large parts of Western culture (including sexual mores) were dictated by the Roman Catholic Church. The Reformation started as a movement that said each person has his own relationship with God, eliminating the Church as a middleman. Very gradually, this lead to more and more tolerance of individual quirks, because if I have a direct link to God, who are you to tell me what's right and what's wrong?
Then, in the 20th Century, two world wars put women to work. Everyone saw they were capable of performing just as well as men. Public education—allowing everyone access to literacy—increased this trend.
All of this gave Feminism a boost, buttrends
Also in the 20th Century, mass communication became ubiquitous. Repressing sexuality works best when people are cut off from information. We live in a world where that's less and less possible. If I want to learn about sexual positions, pregnancy, birth control,etc
Viet Nam and Watergate eroded people's trust in government and lead to the Generation Gap: disillusioned young people rebelling against their parents' generation. Right about when this was happening, The Pill went on sale. So people were able to have sex without fear or pregnancy, all-the-while thumbing their noses at prudish traditions.
It's part of a general trend towards personal liberty that began with the Protestant Reformation (starting in 1517), which I'd argue is the most significant event in Western History.
Prior to it, large parts of Western culture (including sexual mores) were dictated by the Roman Catholic Church. The Reformation started as a movement that said each person has his own relationship with God, eliminating the Church as a middleman. Very gradually, this lead to more and more tolerance of individual quirks, because if I have a direct link to God, who are you to tell me what's right and what's wrong?
Then, in the 20th Century, two world wars put women to work. Everyone saw they were capable of performing just as well as men. Public education—allowing everyone access to literacy—increased this trend.
All of this gave Feminism a boost, but
Also in the 20th Century, mass communication became ubiquitous. Repressing sexuality works best when people are cut off from information. We live in a world where that's less and less possible. If I want to learn about sexual positions, pregnancy, birth control,
Viet Nam and Watergate eroded people's trust in government and lead to the Generation Gap: disillusioned young people rebelling against their parents' generation. Right about when this was happening, The Pill went on sale. So people were able to have sex without fear or pregnancy, all-the-while thumbing their noses at prudish traditions.
As a Chinese American, I would like the challenge the presumptions of this question. Western world is not liberal about sex from a historical perspective. As far as I know, historically speaking*, Chinese culture are quite liberal with sexual behaviors for men**.
While Chinese sometimes give people the impression that we're rather prudent and reserved, but that's mostly just a facade we're trying to keep. After all, the concept of "face" is very important in Chinese culture. And we're not accustomed to talk about our personal affairs, our emotions and our sexual behaviors with other people, even close friends.
But that doesn't mean we don't do it. Compare to protestant American, traditional Chinese weren't conservative at all. We have government approved brothels, men were encouraged to keepconcubine literatus
And I'm not even talking about Japanese culture, which is actually a lot more liberal than China when it come to sex. I think it's a general misconception about eastern culture in general, that simply because we're more reserved and prudent in appearance, we'rereserved
Sex is part of human behavior, it has always been part of human behavior as common as eating and sleeping. If anything, I think western world (more specifically, Americans) are a lot more conservative than it should be. It's not your damn business what other people do behind close doors, so stop pointing fingers. If you only want to have sex with people you share a romantic relationship with, good for you. Other people don't see things that way. What is there to understand? Some people enjoy steaks, other people enjoy ribs. Some people only have dinner with close friends, other people don't mind having dinner with people they barely know. What's the big deal?
This value is not superior than yours, and your value isn't superior to theirs. People choose to live their lives like this simply because it suits them the best. It's an individual choice, I don't see the point of comparing it.
You say every TV shows have some sexual content, I'd say every TV show has people eating food, dining in restaurants, cooking...that's
You said you don't judge, but that's exactly what you're doing with your question.
* I repeated "historical speak" a couple of times to emphasize that Chinese general attitude towards sex wasn't and still isn't as liberal as before communist took over in 1949. Communists, for some odd reason, were really chaste on principle. (They weren't in practice, but that's another issue). They're very much like the Puritans, who banned all the pornography material, they don't talk about sex or romantic love (because those are evilcapitalism
** Historically speaking, only men enjoy sexual freedom. Women were under strict control regarding their sexual behavior. They have to remain a virgin before marriage, they can only have sex with their husbands while their husbands can have relationship with multiple women and men and visit brothels. After their husbands died, they're not allowed to remarry...
While Chinese sometimes give people the impression that we're rather prudent and reserved, but that's mostly just a facade we're trying to keep. After all, the concept of "face" is very important in Chinese culture. And we're not accustomed to talk about our personal affairs, our emotions and our sexual behaviors with other people, even close friends.
But that doesn't mean we don't do it. Compare to protestant American, traditional Chinese weren't conservative at all. We have government approved brothels, men were encouraged to keep
And I'm not even talking about Japanese culture, which is actually a lot more liberal than China when it come to sex. I think it's a general misconception about eastern culture in general, that simply because we're more reserved and prudent in appearance, we're
Sex is part of human behavior, it has always been part of human behavior as common as eating and sleeping. If anything, I think western world (more specifically, Americans) are a lot more conservative than it should be. It's not your damn business what other people do behind close doors, so stop pointing fingers. If you only want to have sex with people you share a romantic relationship with, good for you. Other people don't see things that way. What is there to understand? Some people enjoy steaks, other people enjoy ribs. Some people only have dinner with close friends, other people don't mind having dinner with people they barely know. What's the big deal?
This value is not superior than yours, and your value isn't superior to theirs. People choose to live their lives like this simply because it suits them the best. It's an individual choice, I don't see the point of comparing it.
You say every TV shows have some sexual content, I'd say every TV show has people eating food, dining in restaurants, cooking...
You said you don't judge, but that's exactly what you're doing with your question.
* I repeated "historical speak" a couple of times to emphasize that Chinese general attitude towards sex wasn't and still isn't as liberal as before communist took over in 1949. Communists, for some odd reason, were really chaste on principle. (They weren't in practice, but that's another issue). They're very much like the Puritans, who banned all the pornography material, they don't talk about sex or romantic love (because those are evil
** Historically speaking, only men enjoy sexual freedom. Women were under strict control regarding their sexual behavior. They have to remain a virgin before marriage, they can only have sex with their husbands while their husbands can have relationship with multiple women and men and visit brothels. After their husbands died, they're not allowed to remarry...
I think there are some assumptions built into this question that make it difficult for me to answer. For instance, having multiple sexual partners does not mean we don't believe in controlling sexual urges. I have been attracted to numerous people in the course of my lifetime, yet I only have sex when I'm in a committed, monogamous relationship.
Likewise, having "sex with multiple partners" and having "sex only when there is a relationship" are not mutually exclusive concepts. Personally, I only have intimate relations with someone when we're in love. The math on that includes a fiancé, a wife for three years, a husband of twelve years and a number of other serious boyfriends or girlfriends over the course of my life so far.
So, to answer your question: yes, Westerners can and do have multiple partners. That doesn't mean we don't value monogamy or fidelity, many people do. Somepeopledon't, they believe those are artificial constraints put in place by society or religious ideology.
Many Westerners also believe it is important to control their sexual urges, to some degree or other. Some Americans choose to wait until marriage to have sex. Others believe that it's unfair or immoral to sleep with someone while being involved with someone else. Some people think the only thing that should dictate sexual activityisopportunity ; we call those people college students. (Yes, I'm joking. A little.)
What I'm trying to say is that there's a lot of middle ground between the kind of committed sexual relationship you describe and the picture you paint of a wild, promiscuous, free-for-all. You'll probably find Americans on every part of that spectrum. Please don't judge us by the content of our television broadcasts. No one deserves such a fate.
Likewise, having "sex with multiple partners" and having "sex only when there is a relationship" are not mutually exclusive concepts. Personally, I only have intimate relations with someone when we're in love. The math on that includes a fiancé, a wife for three years, a husband of twelve years and a number of other serious boyfriends or girlfriends over the course of my life so far.
So, to answer your question: yes, Westerners can and do have multiple partners. That doesn't mean we don't value monogamy or fidelity, many people do. Some
Many Westerners also believe it is important to control their sexual urges, to some degree or other. Some Americans choose to wait until marriage to have sex. Others believe that it's unfair or immoral to sleep with someone while being involved with someone else. Some people think the only thing that should dictate sexual activity
What I'm trying to say is that there's a lot of middle ground between the kind of committed sexual relationship you describe and the picture you paint of a wild, promiscuous, free-for-all. You'll probably find Americans on every part of that spectrum. Please don't judge us by the content of our television broadcasts. No one deserves such a fate.
Because religion is loosing
But why is religion trying to suppress sexual thoughts you might ask?
Because sex is a natural activity that you can't suppress. Sexual desire is like the desire to eat. If you don't get any food (religious fasting), you will think about food all the time. And if you are notalowed
Thebenifit for fail
This way the religion get a firm grip on thebelievers
But why is religion trying to suppress sexual thoughts you might ask?
Because sex is a natural activity that you can't suppress. Sexual desire is like the desire to eat. If you don't get any food (religious fasting), you will think about food all the time. And if you are not
The
This way the religion get a firm grip on the
No comments:
Post a Comment