Why Is Sex Taboo?

The other night I sat down for an innocent evening of prime-time television. I watched two mindless sitcoms on one of the networks. “Everyone Loves Raymond” aired a re-run where Marie (the always-butting-in mother-in-law) was being her usual self and infuriating (Raymond’s wife) Deborah. Raymond, being the ‘guy’ that he is, took advantage of that, and was feasting on the ‘Angry Sex’. In the next show, “Two And A Half Men”, Charlie’s mother borrowed his sports car to impress a client and ended up having sex in the back seat… even leaving her bra behind accidentally. Near the end of the show, Jon Cryer was comforting his ex-wife following a break-up with her boyfriend, to the point where they were about to go up to the bedroom and have sex. In between I saw a few commercials for Viagra, Levitra, and Victoria’s Secret.

As I was being bombarded with messages and innuendos of sex, I started to think (as I often do) that it was time to step ‘out of the box’ again, and put this all into perspective. Sooner or later I was bound to get to this topic… my favorite topic... sex! I’d like to say that I’m an expert in this field, but the truth is I’m just another putz with an opinion. The difference is I have a computer, the passion to write, and the chutzpa to publish it.

So much of our culture, our media, our daily routine, our very fiber of existence comes down to sex. You think ‘Sell it with Sex’ is just a marketing ploy? How much of our promotion and advertising is centered on sex? How much of the Internet is pornography? How much sex is the focus of our fashion? The reality is that sex is an integral part of our culture. It’s practically the very root of that “pursuit of happiness” concept. Sex drives us. Sex manipulates us. Sex burns our blood.


Here’s The Irony

While our culture relentlessly shoves sex down our throat 24/7, our society postures sex as taboo. A perfect example is the initiative for abstinence-only education that our stuck-up, religion-based government is wasting our tax dollars on, instead of birth control, traditional contraception, and family planning. Why does our so-called ‘morality’ insist that sex is only for those who are married, and even then only done in private? Why is sex something that the Catholic religion forbids out of wedlock? Why don’t we talk about sex at work and with our friends?

“Oh yes, my husband gave me quite the schtupping last night! We did it every which way I can think of and I had 7 orgasms!”

With certain exceptions (such as Howard Stern) we don’t talk about sex. We’re not supposed to. With the exception of “The Man Show” hosts, we don’t talk about masturbation, yet it’s widely acknowledged that it’s perfectly normal. Those who DO talk about these things are labeled ‘Perverts’ and chastised in our society. But we all do it. We all think it. We all want it. So why is sex so taboo? Why do we continue to cover up nipples and crotches on commercial television? Why is prostitution illegal? Why did Janet Jackson’s tit launch a national crusade for decency?

Of course we all like sex, so why don’t we just condone it? No argument that there needs to be understanding, consideration, protection, maturity, discretion, and responsibility in the process, but why don’t we just admit we like sex, give in to our desires, and be open about it, instead of hiding it and pretending it doesn’t take place ALL THE TIME? What if sex wasn’t a forbidden fruit? Would we crave it as much? Would we be thinking about sex morning, noon, and night if our society and our culture were more open? It’s hard to say.


Here’s The Problem

The problem with our society is that a relatively small group of people have banded together and decided the bounds of decency. Some old ladies in Texas have drawn the line for us of what is acceptable and what is unacceptable. Or perhaps it’s the ‘Religious Right’, who have always thought it was their place to delineate the guidelines of morality. And we’ve bought that code of conduct hook, line, & sinker. They’ve made the decisions for us of what is right and what is wrong, and they’ve set the standards of how we live our lives. And if we don’t conduct ourselves exactly as they say, we’re deviants… we’re perverted... we’re mal-adjusted... we’re disgusting… we’re………. human.