Sex-positivity
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Sex-positivity refers to the belief that open-minded acceptance of sex can be a vehicle for social and political reform and to a worldview centered around that belief.
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[edit] Basic beliefs
The beliefs of "sex-positives" can vary widely, but most think that society's view of sex is too restrictive and that changing this is an important social issue. It's the antithesis of the "there's only one way to have sex" idea put forward by magazines.[1] Sex positive beliefs are also tolerant of all sexual orientations and encourages sexual diversity and "experimenting". Many sex-positives see pornography and prostitution as potentially liberating, when meeting certain criteria, and view only certain aspects of them (such as exploitation or a lack of consent) as negative rather than both being inherently wrong. In general, it promotes how to go about having a good experience, rather than categorising certain activities as "good" and "bad" and simply placing the latter off-limits.
[edit] History
Sex-positivity in its modern form began with the 1960's Counterculture when hippies challenged the sexual norms that had been around for centuries. Abortion, interracial marriage, and homosexuality all began to gain more widespread acceptance as people became more open-minded about the potential of sex. This paved the way for the explosive rise in premarital sex and abortions, making the sex-positive movement an enemy of the Phyllis Schlafly in the so-called culture wars. During the early 1980's, women were largely split on sex-positivity, with some happily embracing it as a form of liberation and others fearing the objectification of women. The split ultimately led to the decline of the second-wave feminists. Today, sex-positivity has lost some of its initial steam but lives on through books such as The Ethical Slut.
[edit] Role in feminism
Since the 1980s, many feminists embraced sex-positivity, believing that sexuality would be the next step in achieving complete equality. However, they scared off many older and radical feminists who felt that pornography and prostitution objectified and dehumanized women. The debate spiraled into what became known as the "feminist sex wars". From the 1990s on, sex-positivity was much more accepted among feminists, showing that they had "won" the "war". Sex-positivity still comes under fire from feminist authors such as Ariel Levy and Pamela Paul, who see the movement as selling out to the sexual desires of men. Others agree with sex-positivity but believe that it has edged out and distracted from abortion, LGBT rights, and equality in the workplace.
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[edit] Footnotes
- ↑ See basically any edition of Cosmocking, but this one is more in depth about it.