‘—

Thinking Sex

In “Thinking Sex: Notes from a Radical Theory of the Politics of Sexuality,” Gayle Rubin states that sexuality is taboo in the United States, and in the Western societies in general. Society has been rigidly formed in a frame of thought or religious belief that defines what is accepted as sexual behavior, what is sinful and deviant. Rubin shows how  mechanisms of sexual control operate in our society through the use of law, repressive politics, mental health definitions and ultimately as a form of racism. In the U.S. sexuality is part of the hierarchical order of society and is difficult to discuss it openly.

Rubin shows the characteristics of sexual thought in the U.S. and reveals that sex is viewed as a negative behavior. In our society  sex is considered dangerous and destructive. This view is rooted in the Christian tradition, which condemns sex as sinful and bad. Sex is exempted as a negative force  only when a married couple, heterosexual of course, have sex because of procreation and love. Nevertheless, signs of enjoyment are forbidden, people must feel guilty for having sexual attractions, masturbate, cohabit, or explore their sexuality in any possible way. This perception of sexuality has confined the choices of people in regard their sexual lives. The social norms specify the way individuals should feel or repress emotions, pleasure and passion.  The laws have imposed boundaries in the ways people can use their bodies, and the laws have defined the only accepted way of having relationships with a person or group of people. These regulations are serious and coercive. LGBTQ have been deprived of their freedom, punished and segregated for just being.

There is another important aspect of the sexual though in the U.S. and Rubin describes it as a “hierarchical system of sexual value” (151). With that in mind, we should understand that people who have the most prestige in our society are married, reproductive-heterosexual couples. They are at the top of the social ladder because of their sexual behavior and conformity to the morals and values. They are perceived as socially acceptable, trusted, respectable and could be rewarded with advantages of social mobility. On the other hand, stigma is attached to all those who do not behave in the way religion, the state, the media and most public institutions establish as “normal.”

Moreover, Rubin states that the stigma is rooted in medical and psychiatric censure. Psychiatry condemns sexual behavior as a sign of mental health and judges individuals as emotional inferiors. Sexual preferences are not seen as a personal choice and as an expression of individual’s feelings.  These systems of sexual repression and judgement are meant to divide a line between what is good or what is wrong. If we take a closer look, all these ideas of sexual morality are similar with the ideas of racism, and operate alike segregating people in social classes and limiting their access to resources and social development. Sexuality is supposed to conform with a single standard, but that standard has been constructed by the ruling class. We live in a society where diversity is not valued at all. Variation in sexuality is rejected, as other races and ethnicities are undermined as less important.