I can understand why sex so fascinates our species. It probably fascinates nearly every species with a brain. Sex, after all, is the means to reproduction. Thus it is reasonable to suppose evolution would select for individuals who were just short of being fascinated by it to the point of being dysfunctional.
However, what I do not understand is America's near panic and hysteria regarding all things sexual. I recognize that not all Americans are set off by the merest whiff of sexuality. Yes, I know there are many reasonable people among us. Perhaps even a majority of reasonable people. But if so, why does not that majority of reasonable people seem to calm the crazies among us? Why is that majority not more outspoken? And why are the crazies the dominant voices?
I know it's old history, but please consider for a moment Janet Jackson's 2004 Superbowl mishap in which a single one of her nipples was flashed on TV for less than half a second. Did you know the FCC received over a half million complaints for that incident? Moreover, the FCC itself took the matter so seriously that it fined CBS a record amount of money. All for showing the mere glimpse of a nipple.
The propensity of at least a sizable minority of Americans to go bonkers at the merest suggestion of sexuality has been explained to me in various ways. It is a legacy of our Puritan ancestry. A legacy of the Victorian Age. A hold over from the repressed 1950s. Something rooted in Evangelicalism. A reactionary backlash to the 60s and 70s. A sign of true decadence, when the semblance of morality has become more important than the substance of morality. Or, evidence that Americans never really graduate from middle school.
Perhaps. Maybe. Who knows. Some, or even all, of those theories may have a bit of truth to them. But I myself am not sure. I wish I understood the sexual panic and hysteria in America, but I do not. So what am I missing? Are there any notable reasons for it? If so, what are they?
I think it actually is a legacy of the puritanical past (as suggested in your 4th paragraph), sustained by the religious puritanism of the Christian Right. The majority of people are really pretty matter-of-fact about sex, and go into panic mode only about something unfamiliar; observe how rapidly homosexuality has gone from condemned to accepted among the majority as it has become more visible. It's basically the Christian Right that still gets all antsy about it.
ReplyDeleteLess-religious societies such as Europe and Japan suffer much less from panic and hysteria about sexuality than we do, while the more profoundly-religious Islamic societies suffer from it far more.
I think you are making a lot of sense. I would caution you, though, that the popular image of the Puritans as sexually repressed originates with a bit of propaganda from the pen of H.L. Mencken. Mencken liked to blame the Puritans for the repressive Victorian sexual morality that was still prevalent during his day.
DeleteAs it turns out, however, he knew very little about the Puritan attitude towards sex. In reality, the Puritans were quite liberal for their time. For instance, they did not stigmatize per-marital sex, and they tended to see sex in a positive light. I know that goes against the popular image of them, but sometimes popular images are wrong.
I think you make a very good point when you compare Europe and Japan with the US. Thanks for your insight!
Thanks for your kind words. What you say about the Puritans may well be true -- I know little about them -- I was using the word "puritanism" in its colloquial sense, meaning aggressively advocating sexual repression, which is certainly true of the modern Christian Right.
DeleteYou certainly put you finger on it when you describe the Christian right as "aggressively advocating sexual repression"! In fact, you may have beautifully summed up their essence. At least, their essence in terms of their major influence on culture.
DeleteThe term hysteria was coined by Hippocrates, who thought that suffocation and madness arose in women whose uteri had become too light and dry from lack of sexual intercourse and, as a result, wandered upward, compressing the heart, lungs, and diaphragm.
ReplyDeleteXXX